My Longkang

It was reported in the Berita Harian that the Terengganu government has announced a special award for men who marry four wives. But to marry four wives and receive the special award…the man’s second and third wife must be single mothers with children.

This announced was greeted by applause in the Terengganu State Assembly…….the opposition included :).

State woman and community development committee chairman Wan Mohd Wan Hassan explained that the award was not meant to encourage men to be polygamous but to appreciate those who married single mothers.

A Muslim man can marry four times. That is true. I don’t challenge their right to do so. I can accept that.

On a more personal level, I can never have four wives. If I could, I wouldn’t. I’m a one-gal man. I wouldn’t know how to compartmentalize my life to fit them all in without being unfair to their individual needs and attention. Not to mention the financial burden. To be able to have four wives means a certain degree of financial stability and prosperity. You don’t have to marry some body to help them if the heart is there.

This is not to mean that I don’t recognize the single mothers’ plight. But………. to hand out an award to an individual who marries four times with the condition that his second and third wife are single mothers with children?

I agree with Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil who yesterday said the intention was open to misinterpretation although the intention was honorable “I don’t think there’s a need for it. I know that the programme is supposed to encourage men to help single mothers. But people may see it as an effort to promote polygamy.”