M'SIA SERIOUS IN TACKLING CONVERSION ISSUE, SAYS MINISTER

KUALA LUMPUR, June 17 (Bernama) -- The setting up a committee dealing with
the issue of conversion and religion change by the Cabinet proves that the
government views the matter seriously, said Minister in the Prime Minister's
Department Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz.

Before the committee was set up, the bills to amend the Law Reform (Marriage
and Divorce) Act 1976, Administration of Islamic Law (Federal Territories) Act
1993 and Islamic Family Law (Federal Territories) Act 1984 had been drafted in
2007, he said.

"Among the amendments proposed touch on the dissolution of marriage, right
to custody of children, maintenance of children and wife and divison of
matrimonial assets.

"The committee had been briefed on the proposed amendments by the
Attorney-General on May 5, 2009," he said in the Lower House of Parliament
Tuesday.

He said the amendments were scheduled to be tabled in Parliament during the
present sitting.

On the claim by M. Kulasegaran, an opposition MP that Malaysia was a secular
country, Nazri said the Federal Constitution clearly states in Article 3 that
Islam is the religion of the Federation.

This, he said, differed from secular countries like United States, India and
Turkey whose constitutions clearly provide that they are secular countries.

"In the Federal Constitution, the word secular is not mentioned anywhere,"
he said.

He said the special status of Islam is also mentioned in the Federal
Constitution and had been recognised by the Federal Court in the case of
Kamariah Ali vs the Kelantan state government.

He said the status of Malaysia as an Islamic country had also been explained
by Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in 2001 and 2007
respectively.

"In his reply in Parliament on Aug 2, 2007, Tun Abdullah said: Malaysia is
neither a secular nor a theocratic country. Malaysia is an Islamic country which
is administered based on the principles of Islam and at the same time holds
strong to the principles of Parliamentary democracy guided by the highest law of
the land -- the Federal Constitution."

-- BERNAMA