Malaysian state may reward married men who wed single mothers

Kuala Lumpur - A state in Malaysia is proposing that lawmakers who wed single mothers as their second, third or fourth wives be given an award, a news report said Wednesday. Legislators from the north-eastern state of Kelantan who marry single mothers with young children would be helping the state in assisting those women, who are often abandoned without financial aid by their ex-husbands, said state Women, Family and Health chairman Wan Ubaidah Omar.

The government of Kelantan, which is ruled by the hardline opposition Parti Islam SeMalaysia, has often encouraged its married Muslim men to consider widows and single mothers if they intend to remarry.

"Awards should be given to learned House members who take the lead in doing this and also for those who have already married single mothers.

"This would help to reduce the number of single mothers in the state," Wan Ubaidah was quoted as saying by the Star online news portal.

Earlier, she told parliament that there were 16,500-registered single mothers below the age of 60 in Kelantan, adding that the real number was considerably higher.

Wan Ubaidah said the state government spends about 2 million ringgit (571,430 dollars) annually to aid single mothers.