Fatimah says civil law only allows monogamy, after Kuching man allegedly marries two wives

KUCHING (March 12): A man can only wed one woman under the country’s civil marriage, even though some may claim to have married more than one, said Minister of Women, Childhood and Community Wellbeing Development Dato Sri Fatimah Abdullah.

She said this after being asked by reporters regarding a story of a local man who sparked a frenzy on social media for purportedly marrying two women in a wedding reception at a restaurant here on Monday night.

“According to the civil marriage laws in the country, a man can only have one wife. I don’t know whether this man has registered his marriage or not,” she said when meeting reporters at her residence today.

Fatimah went on to say the National Registration Department (NRD) had informed her the event, which gained widespread attention on social media, was in fact not a legal marriage ceremony and instead was a dinner gather, with the label of ‘wedding’ being applied informally.

She said the matter was out of her ministry’s jurisdiction.

“I can’t say much – from what I know, it was just a dinner organised by the man; as told to me by a source from NRD. The matter is out of my jurisdiction anyway,” she said.

Photos depicting the wedding reception, which shows the groom alongside the brides, are circulating on Facebook. One of the photos shows both the brides and groom donning traditional Chinese wedding costumes, while another showed the groom joining hands with his brides in a Western-style marriage attire.

This received immediate reactions from netizens, mostly expressing their heartfelt congratulations and awe to the newly-weds.

Although polygamy is legal in Malaysia in the form of polygyny (one man and up to four wives), it is only allowed for Muslims.

For non-Muslims, polygamy is banned under the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act 1976, as it only recognises monogamy and any other marriage is considered unlawful.

Meanwhile, the official NRD website states a person who has been legally married under any law cannot legally marry another person while this marriage is still ongoing either in Malaysia or in any other country.

According to the website, if a person who has been legally married under a certain law, religion or custom marries again during the continuation of the marriage and during the spouse’s lifetime, then he is deemed to have committed an offence under Section 494 of Penal Code.