KUALA LUMPUR: Eating in the car, shopping and doing laundry at night are among the petty reasons for divorce in the country which has resulted in more than one-third of marriages in the country end within the first five years, Deputy Women, Family and Community Development Minister Hannah Yeoh (pix) revealed in the Dewan Rakyat today.
According to a study by the National Population and Family Development Board (LPPKN), she said that the first five years of marriage were among the most challenging.
“Among the main reasons for divorce for men is that there is no understanding (56.2%), an unfaithful wife (11.8%) and troublesome in-laws (10%),“ she said.
She was also commenting on an article citing the Selangor Department of Syariah Judiciary, which reported that among reasons given for divorce were wives going on group trips, doing laundry at night, an eating in cars.
“Other reasons include, snoring in bed, wife earning more money than the husband, differences in political opinion and wife enjoying shopping,“ she said.
This had sparked laughter from the MP’s in the hall with Padang Serai MP M. Karupaiya interjecting to say that these group trips were planned by Wanita Umno.
Hannah also joked that she did her laundry at night as the Parliament sessions finished late, to which deputy speaker Nga Kor Ming advised her to send her clothes to the laundromat which sent the Hall in another round of laughter.
Hannah however, said that the rate of divorce is not a laughing matter and the government has to take steps to strengthen the family institution.
“It’s not a laughing matter, they are getting divorced for petty issues. The government will take these steps to ensure marriages are strengthened,“ she said.
Yeoh was answering a question by Kangar MP Noor Amin Ahmad on the breakdown of divorces for couples married for less than five years as well as the main causes.
“Between 2013 and 2017 the Federal Territories Islamic Department recorded 2,932 marriages, with statistics from the other states still being gathered.
“For non-Muslims, 14,440 divorces were recorded in the same period, with Johor the highest at 2,860 cases, followed by the Federal Territories at 2,721 cases and Selangor with 1,858 cases,“ she said.
