Weighing in on the polemic topic of child marriage, Sabah Chief Minister Mohd Shafie Apdal has said that he would be looking into the state mufti’s suggestion that the minimum wage be lowered to 14 for girls, and 16 for boys.
Yes, you’ve read that right: While much of the country is up in arms at the thought of children marrying grown adults, or children marrying other children, one state is out there wondering just how we can lower the bar even more.
Shafie, at the suggestion of mufti Bongsu Aziz Jaafar, has said that the proposal must be studied by other parties who are “more knowledgeable in religious matters.”
“We will study the proposal so that it will be the guidelines at the state level,” he said to media, at the launch of the National Oratory Competition at Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) yesterday.
Asked about the campaign to raise the age of marriage to 18 for women, he rebutted that the “difference in opinions” must be taken into account, and all sides considered, before anything becomes law.
While we’re not sure which “sides” he is referring to, we can’t help but be appalled by the suggestion that anyone whose opinion is that adults should be allowed to marry children needs to be taken into consideration at all.
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