http://ajw.asahi.com/article/asia/AJ201309270058
A Malaysian program aimed at improving married life for polygamist wives by awarding prize money to "model husbands" is drawing criticism from female activists here.
The Kelantan state government, which says it hopes to set examples for male polygamists, started the program last year, amid a recently increasing number of court-mediated settlements sought by wives, who complain their husbands are unfairly intimate with their other spouses.
Under Islamic law, a man is allowed to have up to four wives in Malaysia under consent by his existing wife or wives and permission of a court. While only 2 percent of all men in the Southeast Asian country are polygamists, the practice is substantially more common in the northern state of Kelantan, where Muslims account for 90 percent of the population. When unregistered marriages are included, about 1,000 men in the state are believed to be getting married more than once a year.
The state program involves selecting "ideal polygamists" and having them provide firsthand advice on how to behave in family life to ensure peaceful marital relationships.
It targets about 200 polygamists in the state solely on the basis of their marriage registrations, regardless of whether they want to be candidates or not.
The eligible men are screened for their jobs and family composition, and their family members are interviewed about how "ideal" they are as husbands, including how often they eat with their wives and if they give their spouses gifts on a regular basis.
The state government plans to name the top five winners by year-end. The top winner will be entitled to receive 1,000 ringgit (31,000 yen, or $310) in prize money, although the men reserve the right to decline the awards.
But Adibah Jodi of Sisters in Islam, a Malaysian advocacy group for women's rights, said the program is irrelevant.
The 39-year-old said some men are using polygamy simply as a means to flaunt their wealth and status. The primary mission of those in the government is to strive to realize a gender-equal society, she added.
A Malaysian program aimed at improving married life for polygamist wives by awarding prize money to "model husbands" is drawing criticism from female activists here.
The Kelantan state government, which says it hopes to set examples for male polygamists, started the program last year, amid a recently increasing number of court-mediated settlements sought by wives, who complain their husbands are unfairly intimate with their other spouses.
Under Islamic law, a man is allowed to have up to four wives in Malaysia under consent by his existing wife or wives and permission of a court. While only 2 percent of all men in the Southeast Asian country are polygamists, the practice is substantially more common in the northern state of Kelantan, where Muslims account for 90 percent of the population. When unregistered marriages are included, about 1,000 men in the state are believed to be getting married more than once a year.
The state program involves selecting "ideal polygamists" and having them provide firsthand advice on how to behave in family life to ensure peaceful marital relationships.
It targets about 200 polygamists in the state solely on the basis of their marriage registrations, regardless of whether they want to be candidates or not.
The eligible men are screened for their jobs and family composition, and their family members are interviewed about how "ideal" they are as husbands, including how often they eat with their wives and if they give their spouses gifts on a regular basis.
The state government plans to name the top five winners by year-end. The top winner will be entitled to receive 1,000 ringgit (31,000 yen, or $310) in prize money, although the men reserve the right to decline the awards.
But Adibah Jodi of Sisters in Islam, a Malaysian advocacy group for women's rights, said the program is irrelevant.
The 39-year-old said some men are using polygamy simply as a means to flaunt their wealth and status. The primary mission of those in the government is to strive to realize a gender-equal society, she added.
