The latest religious edict made by the Pahang religious authority (JAIP), on Oct 12, belittles Malay women, takes away their rights and makes a mockery of the institution of marriage.

Berita Harian Online announced that Muslim couples will be allowed a three-month grace period to ‘legalise’ their ‘illegal marriages’. Couples who married in southern Thailand, are encouraged to do this at JAIP, from Nov 2, 2015 to Feb 3, 2016.

If couples satisfy certain conditions, they need only pay an administration fee.

This move was ostensibly, to ‘protect’ the women, in these illegal marriages, and make them ‘wives’, not ‘kept women’.

On the other hand, it makes a mockery of the whole syariah system, under which husbands need their first wives’ permission to marry another woman, and have the means to treat all their wives equally. This move belittles women and takes away their rights.

The religious authorities in Malaysia do not help Malay women, instead, they assist the Malay men, with legislation which is riddled with loopholes.

The Malay woman is helpless to stop her husband from marrying again. He can just sneak off to southern Thailand with his girlfriend, and marry her.

The amnesty period offered by JAIP was created to ensure that women in these illegal unions have rights, especially if they should become divorced or widowed. It was also meant to ensure that any children of the union would not be denied a birth certificate, because they were born out of wedlock.

One woman who is active in women’s issues said, “The legalisation of polygamous marriages without the consent of the first wife is happening all the time. The syariah courts and Jabatan Agama Islam are not penalising the men. Instead, they help them to make their marriages legal.”

A Malay woman, who denied her husband permission to marry again, said, “These women are stupid. If you had to marry in Thailand, you should suspect that something is wrong. If the man abandons her, she has no rights. Pity the children.

“What will JAIP do if the man refuses to legalise his Thai marriage despite the amnesty? Malay women are so meek, they will not protest about the move to legalise ‘illegal’ Thai marriages.”

In Malaysia, if you are Malay, it is better to be born a man. If you are a man, it is best not to show effeminate tendencies. If you reside in Terengganu, you will be sent to boot camp to ‘toughen’ you up.

Until two decades ago, Malay fathers and grandfathers told their daughters, “Get an education. It will set you free - financially and emotionally. It is liberating to be independent, because you will not be subject to another person’s control.”

Had these fathers observed how women were humiliated by their husbands?

Envy bringing out the worst in Malay men

One elderly Malay man said, “Education has freed many Malay women from moral enslavement, but envy has caused many of today’s Malay men to feel threatened. This envy brings out the worst in the Malay men.

“If he cannot control the women, he will use the law to manipulate them into conforming to his wishes.”

Islam may preach equality between the sexes, but in Malaysia, Malay women are victims of domination by Malay men.

Will the female ‘red shirts’ who are supposedly upholding Malay dignity, fight for respect for Malay women, like those who have been gang-raped, or are victims of domestic violence?

A few decades ago, Malay women commonly wore the selendang (scarf) to cover their hair. There was nothing immoral about it and yet, today, if you ask Malays, including the women, about the selendang, they would say, “The people from that era were uneducated. Today, we are more religious. That is why we wear the tudung.”

Malay women are not even like birds in gilded cages. At least, the owners of these birds are proud to show them off. Malay women must neither be heard, nor seen. They are banned from beauty competitions, prohibited from owning dogs, told-off for their gymnastic prowess or for winning scholarships to Oxford.

The future looks grim for Malay women. Malay women who wear the selendang are scolded because the scarf does not cover the aurat sufficiently. So, they wear the tudung (hijab).

Then, if they wear the tudung, they will be scolded, because their face will corrupt Malay men’s morals and also because her body outline is still visible. So, the Malay women will don the niqab.

Eventually, when she wears the niqab, the Malay men will say that she is flaunting her beauty with her eyes. So, she will adopt the burqa, a heavy black garment, which will cover her from head to foot, with only a small ‘grill’ to see the outside world. She will wear her prison wherever she goes.

Welcome to the new ‘Talibanised’ Malaysia.

From selendang to slavery. Malay women will one day end up as slaves, if Ketuanan Lelaki Melayu (KLM) is allowed to rule supreme.

MARIAM MOKHTAR is a defender of the truth, the admiral-general of the Green Bean Army and president of the Perak Liberation Organisation (PLO).