Pimping your children

This local film is rated P13. Our censors must have been sleeping, but perhaps they were too excited to think rationally.

COMMENT

My friend Scott suggested I should watch a local movie called “Suami Aku Ustaz”, claiming I would find it “pretty interesting”.

Intrigued, I hopped into my car, drove to Mid Valley, bought myself a packet of Twisties and sat comfortably in the theatre, waiting for Adi Putra and Nora Danish, Malaysia’s two darlings, to sweep me off my feet.

Two hours later, my feet were still implanted to the floor. So was my jaw.

I could not believe what I saw.

“Suami Aku Ustaz”, an adaptation of a best-selling novel of the same title, tells of Nur Alisa, a cheeky 17-year-old who is forced by her parents to marry her teacher, Ustaz Hafiz, who also happens to be her cousin and is eleven years her senior.

While child marriage (marriage below the age of 18) across the globe is caused by many factors, including poverty, lack of educational opportunities, culture and gender inequality, only in Malaysia would parents choose to marry off their underage daughter for something as dumb as to facilitate babysitting.

Yes, in the movie, Alisa marries her teacher simply because her parents worry about leaving her alone during their pilgrimage to Mecca.

What? Seriously? Hang on, there is more.

This P13-classified rubbish – err, I mean movie – focuses on how the ustaz wins his rebellious young bride’s heart by being a sweetheart and exceptionally romantic – at home, at school and even during classes. The movie ends with Alisa accepting her husband in the bedroom.

Yes, bedroom.

As I watched the movie in disbelief, I observed a group of teenage girls giggling, totally enjoying the cheesy scenes. And a few rows away in the fairly empty theatre were a few adults seated with youngsters – most probably their children – sipping their carbonated drinks and munching popcorn.

Parents bringing their children to watch a movie promoting child marriage? Fantastic!

Get this – Malaysia has adopted a United Nations resolution to end child marriages BUT our Syariah Law sets legal minimum age to get married at 16.

Brilliant – girls under the age of 16 cannot legally drive or vote or buy cigarettes or even watch certain movies. But they can get married. Legally married!

Mind you, because we have such loopholes in our law, every year thousands of marriage applications involving underage children are received and approved by the authorities.

If everyone agrees that child marriage needs to be ended, why is it still very much rampant in Malaysia? Why are we not amending our law? And why the heck are we promoting it on our big screen?

Can someone please tell me whatever happened to our Minister of Women, Family and Community Development, who has been talking about protecting children?

Where is our National Fatwa Council who have made statements declaring child marriage as an unhealthy practice in this era?

In my honest opinion, a movie such as “Suami Aku Ustaz” is highly detrimental to our teenagers as it gives out a wrong message that it is okay for child marriages as much as it is okay to be sexually active as a child.

No. Child marriage is not okay. Married kids often leave school and become totally dependent on their husbands, lacking skills and education they so much need for a good future. On top of that, their young body and mind are not ready for activities meant for adults.

Over the years, there have been many cases involving teenage sex, rape, child pregnancy and baby dumping. In 2012, a 19-year-old boy married his 13-year-old girlfriend after having sex with her. In 2013, a 40-year-old man married a 13-year-old girl after allegedly raping her. In 2014, a 14-year-old girl ran away with her Indonesian boyfriend to live with him.

Are we encouraging such incidents?

I wonder if the officers at the Malaysian Censorship Board (LPF) took a short nap while reviewing this film or perhaps they got too excited and distracted. Seriously, how can you release a movie promoting child marriage and, on top of that, classify it as P13? Hello, Ministry of Home Affairs, anybody home?

To those who plan on catching this movie, for God’s sake, please leave your kids at home.