PETALING JAYA: Welcoming the court ruling that quashed the unilateral conversion of three children to Islam, Wanita MCA has called for legislative updates to address future cases.
Wanita MCA national chairman Wong You Fong said the most practical and feasible solution is to start at the legislative level by updating the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act 1976 and the Malay language version of the Federal Constitution.
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"Insert Article 88A into the Act to stipulate that where the party to a marriage has converted to Islam, the religion of any child of the marriage shall remain as the religion of the parties to the marriage prior to the conversion, except where both parties... agree to a conversion of the child to Islam, subject always to the wishes of the child where he or she has attained the age of 18.
"Article 12(4) in the Perlembagaan Persekutuan must be amended to read 'ibubapa', meaning the consent of both parents is required, instead of "ibu atau bapa" (father or mother) at present," she said in a statement on Thursday (Jan 11).
Wong was commenting on the Court of Appeal's decision on Wednesday (Jan 10) to quash the unilateral conversion of single mother Loh Siew Hong's three children to Islam, ruling that the conversion by her ex-husband was null and void.
A three-judge panel chaired by Justice Hadhariah Syed Ismail also ruled that Perlis state law, which states that a child can be unilaterally converted, is unconstitutional.
Wong, a lawyer, said the decision by the appellate court meant that the original religion of Loh's young children as Hindus was restored as shown on their birth certificates.
"This ruling also upholds Loh's constitutional rights as a mother to determine the religion of her children (who are) minors.
"Wanita MCA welcomes the unanimous ruling by the Court of Appeal on Jan 10," she said.
Wong noted that Wanita MCA remains consistent in its stand of objecting to the unilateral conversion of minors by either parent.
"Among the resolutions passed at last year's Wanita MCA AGM was to call on the government to form a special committee (which will work) with religious authorities to introduce a new mechanism to uphold the legal rights of minors and prevent the misuse of unilateral conversion as per Article 12(4) of the Federal Constitution.
"This issue continues to persist," she said.
Successive MCA and Wanita MCA leaders have also always taken a firm stand and practical actions pushing for reforms on issues involving religion, she said.
"In addition to focussing on legislative reforms on religious matters, Wanita MCA established the Legal Advisory and Women's Aid (Lawa) Centre in 2014 to provide legal consultation and assistance for women.
"This includes consultation for single parents in a dilemma over the religious status of their minor children, and other forms of assistance," she added.
