Malaysian women launch 'The Obedient Wife Club'

Published : Jun 5, 2011 - 12:59 Updated : Jun 5, 2011 - 12:59

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) - A group of Malaysian Muslim women say they will fight divorce, domestic violence and other problems -- by appealing to wives to be more obedient, one of the organisers said Friday.

Maznah Taufik said "The Obedient Wife Club" being launched Saturday is aimed at drawing women who will be taught how to please their husbands better to prevent them from straying or misbehaving.

"We just want to ask all the wives to be obedient wives so that there will be fewer problems in our society," such as infidelity, divorce and domestic violence, she told AFP.

"Obedient wife means they are trying to entertain their husbands, not only taking care of their food and clothes," Maznah said. "They have to obey their husbands. That's the way Islam also asks."

Malaysia is a Muslim-majority country, with some 60 percent of the population practicing the religion, alongside large ethnic Chinese and Indian communities who are mostly Buddhist, Hindu and Christian.

According to local media, the country's divorce rate doubled from 2002 to 2009, with rates higher among Muslims than non-Muslims.

Maznah said it was also the men's responsibility to teach their wives to be obedient.

"Some wives, they just want to get married for leisure but they don't know the responsibility," she said.

"To entertain their husbands is compulsory. If she doesn't do this, the husband will look for another woman... and the house will break down."

Newly wed couple smiles during their wedding in Selangor near Kuala Lumpur on Saturday. (AFP)

Saturday's launch near the capital Kuala Lumpur will include speeches and a show to demonstrate to women how to be good wives, Maznah said, adding that a similar club was set up in Jordan last month.

Maznah is already involved in another controversial venture -- the Ikhwan Polygamy Club, which was launched in 2009 to promote polygamy. Muslim men in Malaysia can take up to four wives.

She is herself in a polygamous marriage, as the second of her husband's two wives.

In 2010, a study by a Muslim activist group found men in polygamous relationships find it difficult to meet the needs of all their wives and children, and that the result is often unhappy and cash-strapped families.

<한글기사>

이혼, 폭력줄이려면.. 남편을 즐겁게하라?

말레이시아 여성들, '순종적 부인되기' 캠페인벌여

이슬람문화가 주류인 말레이시아에서 한 여성단체가 급증하는 이혼과 가정폭력근절을 위해 부인들이 남편에게 순종적이 되어야 한다는 캠페인을 벌여 화제가 되고 있다.

'순정적 부인되기'라는 이 캠페인은 말레이시아 부인들에게 가사일 뿐만아니라 침대에서 궁극적으로 남편을 즐겁게 해주어야 행복한 결혼생활을 할수 있다고 권고 하고 있다.

또한 남편들은 부인들에게 순종할것을 가르쳐야 한다고.

이 단체의 한 여성은 "부인들이 (침대에서) 남편을 즐겁게 해줘야하는 것은 의무이다. 부인들이 이렇게 하지 않으면 남편들은 다른 여성을 찾을 것이고, 가정을 깨지게 된다," 라고 말했다.

비슷한 캠페인은 요르단에서도 재개되고 있다고.

현지 언론에 따르면, 말레이시아의 2009년 이혼율은 2002년과 비교해 두배로 뛰었고 특히 이슬람교도들의 이혼이 급증했다.

말레이시아 이슬람교도는 중혼이 가능하며 4명의 부인을 둘수 있다.

(Herald Online)