FLIRTATIOUS MALAYSIAN WOMEN? Ministry denies 39% cheat on husbands

KUALA LUMPUR- The Women, Family and Community Development Ministry has denied a recent media report claiming that 39 per cent of married women in the country cheated on their spouses.

Its deputy minister Datuk Noriah Kasnon said a study by the National Population and Family Development Board (LPPKN) found that adultery was not the main reason for marital break-ups or divorces in this country.

"In fact, the study has found that cheating on spouses is not a serious problem among married couples in this country," she said when winding up the debate on the Supply Bill 2013.

She said according to the study, 41.8 per cent of divorce cases in the country was caused by differences, adultery (six per cent), rejecting polygamy (six per cent) and irresponsible spouse (11.4 per cent).

The report which was published by a Chinese newspaper placed Malaysian women in third place on the issue of cheating on spouses after Ghana (62 per cent) and Thailand (59 per cent).

Noriah said a study carried out by the Malaysia Islamic Development Department on 3,312 couples in 2005 found less that two per cent of married couples admitted cheating on their spouses.

"For counselling cases, the main reasons for divorce were lack of attention from the spouse, irreconciliable differences, abuse of social media, friends' influence, free socialising and impotency, and not adultery," she added.

-- BERNAMA