KUALA LUMPUR – Terengganu’s amendments to its shariah laws on criminal offences yesterday are drawing strong reactions from social media users, who expressed concerns about the worsening stigma and oppression towards women and sexual minorities.
Amendments to the state’s Shariah Criminal Offences (Takzir)(Amendment) Enactment 2022 by the legislative assembly yesterday will now penalise “women acting like men”, “preparation for sodomy”, being pregnant or giving birth to a child out of wedlock and witchcraft and sorcery activities.
The state legislature also approved increased shariah punishments, namely a three-year jail term, a fine of RM5,000 and six lashes. The additions to the enactment and increased penalties still require consent from the Terengganu sultan before they can come into force.
Twitter users, however, are reacting to the issue, with several pointing out the discriminatory impact of the amendments against women.
Consultant Pediatrician Dr Musa Nordin said women alone should not be blamed for out-of-wedlock pregnancies, and also noted the lack of sex education that had contributed to such misconceptions.
“Teenage pregnancies and baby dumping are not solely caused by teenage girls and immoral men. It’s also because there is no comprehensive education about lifestyles and reproductive activity to address the issue of sexual activity among teenagers.
“Educate them! Don’t just punish only!” he tweeted.
Health advocate Azrul Mohd Khalib, Galen Centre for Health and Social Policy chief executive said the amendment making pregnancy and giving birth out of wedlock a punishable offence was “targeting women”.
Other social media users noted how Terengganu is one of the states with a high number of applications for child marriages, and that teenage pregnancies are often a reason for this.
Twitter user @shonzie_marissa said it was bad enough that teenage girls were already stigmatised if they got pregnant, they now would face punishment as well.
“Let’s have the law penalize them too! Only the best legislative decisions from our excellent leaders in Terengganu,” she tweeted sarcastically.
Other Twitter users made political observations about the matter, as Terengganu is run by PAS which is part of the Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition that won the second-highest number of parliamentary seats in the recently concluded general election.
One Twitter user made comparisons between Terengganu under PAS and Selangor under Pakatan Harapan (PH), which recently announced an allocation in its 2023 state budget to provide free sanitary pads to underprivileged women.
@cyrildason highlighted the Terengganu assembly’s other move to ban unisex hair salons and contrasted it with Selangor’s free sanitary pads initiative, saying, “It’s really a no brainer which gov is actually helping the rakyat and is more progressive”.
Another user @annejames44 asked, “Is PAS capable of focusing on real bread and butter issues instead of moral policing? What do voters envisage for their future here on earth?”
Others, like @samd_speaks, wondered out loud what would have happened if PN had formed the federal government after the recent election.
“Should act as dire warning (for the) rest of Malaysia regarding (the) future under PAS. No policy for economic upliftment and development only moral policing,” the Twitter user said.
There were also views that Terengganu voters had made PAS their choice and should thus be respected. Some said that those complaining about the shariah enactments were probably people from outside the state.
“Terengganu has the government they voted for. The laws they pass in their state assembly are tabled by a government they voted for. Their choice,” tweeted social media user @luxentX.
In the 15th general election, PN won 73 federal seats, coming in second after PH (82). No coalition won enough seats to form a new government on its own.
PAS also won all federal seats in Terengganu and Kelantan.
PN chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin had initially claimed he had support from 115 MPs to form a new government.
He subsequently rejected the Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s decree to form a unity government with PH, which now has a pact with Barisan Nasional, Gabungan Parti Sarawak and Gabungan Rakyat Sarawak to form a new administration. – The Vibes, December 2, 2022
