KUALA LUMPUR Plans by Malaysia's smallest state to impose a mandatory night curfew on teenagers under 18 have been shot down by the federal government, reports said Saturday.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department in charge of legal affairs Rais Yatim was quoted as saying by The Star that no state government could impose a curfew arbitrarily to curb a person's freedom.

"A person's right to be free is enshrined and guaranteed under the law. Curfews cannot be imposed at anyone's whims and fancy," he said.

The proposal by the northern Perlis state government was unconstitutional and would amount to "false imprisonment," he warned.

Curb negative habits

Perlis chief minister Shahidan Kassim has proposed an eight-hour curfew from 10 pm to restrict youngsters from visiting entertainment outlets such as video arcades, karaoke joints and nightclubs.

He has said the move was meant to curb negative habits, instill higher discipline among youths and discourage the culture of hanging around aimlessly.

The new proposal came on the heels of a controversial state move seen as encouraging polygamy among Muslim men.

Shahidan has come under fire recently from women's groups for proposing to do away with the need to obtain a first wife's written consent to a second marriage to stop men flocking across the border to marry again in less-restrictive Thailand.

No fuss marriages

Islam permits a man to marry four wives but he generally needs the first wife's approval and must prove he has the financial means and ability to treat all wives equally.

Malaysian men often try to escape these strict requirements and get hitched in the Muslim parts of southern Thailand without any such fuss. AFP