Authorities in Sabah are concerned over the growing phenomenon of kids marrying kids. To compound the problem, many of them are school dropouts or children of the stateless.

 Matters get even more complicated when the stateless marry Malaysians.

    

State Assistant Minister of Infrastructure Development Pang Yuk Min said there was a growing problem of underage marriages especially in Merotai, his state constituency.

sabah native wedding marriage ethnic groups 250509 03 The minimum age for marriage of a minor in Malaysia is 18 years for a male and 16 for a female, with the consent of parents or guardian.

 

He has come out in support of the proposal that stateless children should be given some form of education or skills training.

Stateless Indonesian children, according to him, have access to education made available by the Indonesian government, but not the others.

“If you visit some of the villages in Merotai, you will come across mothers as young as 14 while their spouses are only slightly older,” said Pang. “They are breeding like rabbits. If left unchecked, Sabah is bound to see a population explosion stemming from these stateless kids.”

He does not consider his own modest input as good enough and wants a statewide survey on the number of stateless children to determine their legal status and factor in the social implications. This is with particular reference to planning for education, health and public facilities.

Pang sees it as a vicious cycle with children from young marriages themselves getting hitched early and getting in the family way.

Most of the girls involved in such marriages are grandmothers themselves by the time they are in their early 30s.

“These child marriages are not registered with the authorities and likewise the birth of the children,” he added.

NONE He cites the case of a girl aged 14 in Kampung Sungai Imam, Merotai, with two children, one two-year-old and the other a baby still in her arms.

“When I first met her, I thought the two-year-old was her sister,” said Pang who confessed he’s at his wits end over such problems in his constituency. “The girl’s husband is also a stateless kid. Both have no birth certificates and they are living in a hut by the river.”

Pang was told by the young mother that her own mother is a local from Semporna with a birth certificate. Her father is a Filipino who fled the family around the time she was born.

“I’ve heard that there are many similar cases in the nearby Kampung Pasir Puteh,” said Pang.

He cited another typical case of a smart girl in Tawau who was not admitted into Year 7 (Form 1) as her birth certificate indicated her mother as an illegal Filipino and her father a local.

The couple reportedly has no marriage certificate and the mother has since returned to the Philippines.

“There are also instances of foreign stateless children marrying local Muslim or Chinese men in the Tawau area,” said Pang. “These marriages are not registered. So, when their children are born out of wedlock, the births are not registered and the children are stateless.”

sabah native wedding marriage ethnic groups 250509 02 The Sabah Women Action Resource Group (Sawo) likewise thinks that the main solution to child marriages is to ensure the affected communities have access to appropriate educational and economic opportunities, and basic infrastructure and amenities.

Generally, child marriages are quite common in the more remote and interior regions of Sabah as well.

Besides Pitas, worst hit areas also include Tenom, Paitan and Kota Marudu.  

Paitan and Kota Marudu are particular hotspots for child marriages, according to social activist Maria Sandra Sho, an outreach co-coordinator with the Catholic Church in Sabah.

The Catholic Church, Sawo, other NGOs and social activists want the state government to step in and get the cooperation of local leaders, district offices and the Mahkamah Anak Negeri (Native Court) to eradicate the problem once and for all.

If cooperation in the fight against child marriages isn't forthcoming, the NGOs and social activists want the authorities to use the big stick in the form of the Child Act and the Penal Code.

Sawo and other NGOs, it is said, have brought specific cases of child marriages to the attention of government agencies but received no response.

Emphasising education

Meanwhile a meet will be held soon in Kota Kinabalu on enhancing awareness on the importance of education. The meet will also address the issue of stateless children who, according to Unesco, is the responsibility of the state.

NONE Sabah Deputy Education Director Maimunah Suhaibul said that parents should encourage their children, including the girls, to continue their studies. “Many drop out even before they reach Year 9 (Form 3).

Input gathered by the Sabah Women’s Advisory Council’s (MPWS) Education Committee for the Sabah Education Department (SED)  shows that most of the problem is in Pitas, Nabawan and Kinabatangan.

Pitas in northern Sabah has, in addition, the dubious distinction of being the poorest district in Malaysia.

For those who have to quit school at 15 to marry and raise a family, it’s not the end of the journey, according to the SED who will lay out a multi-pronged approach to tackle the phenomenon.

Apart from discouraging children dropping out from school and marrying too early, the SED will also encourage their participation in continuing education programmes including tailoring, hairstyling, beauty treatment, make-up, manicure and pedicure, beadwork and sequin sewing, among others.