Malaysian men are acquiring Vietnamese brides for up to RM30,000 from agents who parade young, attractive girls in rural coffee shops.

The practice has been described as "sickening and immoral" by Michael Chong, head of the MCA public service and complaints department, the Star newspaper said.

MCA is a political party and member of the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition.

"It is a sickening practice and shames our nation. Women should be treated as equals and by no means are they to be paraded and sold in such a manner," Chong told the Star .

"This is definitely not showing respect to women."

He said the girls are sold for RM20,000-30,000 each and are paid for on the spot and taken away by local men.

"The prettier and sexier the girl, the higher price she fetches," Chong said.

He said most of the girls are from poor families and hope for a better life by marrying Malaysian men - mostly divorced, rich or old.

Popular in rural spots

He said the authorities have no power to stop the unscrupulous agents as most of them had registered businesses.

"We cannot stop them from making money by selling foreign girls for marriages. But we can definitely stop them from parading the girls," Chong said, adding that he would inform the Vietnamese embassy in Malaysia if the parades continued.

"The Vietnamese authorities can then be on the look-out for the agents when they enter Vietnam to recruit more girls," he added.

"The practice of parading the girls and selling them off to local singles or divorced men mostly take place in rural areas that are highly populated with Vietnamese," he said.

Some of the small towns in Malaysia with large Vietnamese populations are in Triang and Jerantut in Pahang, he said.

He said that this way the prospective husbands are saved the "hassle" of traveling to Vietnam to see his future bride and then bring her back to Malaysia to register the marriage.

Inform women of legal rights

The All Women's Action Society (Awam), a group that champions the rights of women in Malaysia, called on authorities to investigate the circumstances of the Vietnamese women.

"Instead of rushing to judge, we need to understand why it is that the women are in this position," said Awam's president, Judith Loh-Koh.

"It is of the utmost necessity to establish if they consented to the marriage. Even if the answer is yes, under what circumstances do they consent?" Loh-Koh told AFP .

She said foreign women who marry Malaysian men should also be made aware of their legal rights, since they are economically dependant on their husbands.