Deputy Prime Minister Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail attends Parliament in Kuala Lumpur November 12, 2018. — Picture by Azneal Ishak

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 17 — The Women, Family and Community Development Ministry (KPWKM) will discuss with the relevant ministries on making it mandatory for non-Muslim couples who intend to tie the knot to undergo HIV testing.

Its minister, Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, said since non-Muslim marriages follow civil law and carrying out the (HIV) test would involve costs, discussions with the Home Ministry and the Finance Minister were necessary to implement such measures.

She said that for now, there were no provisions that make it compulsory for non-Muslim couples to undergo HIV testing before getting married.

“In principle we support (compulsory HIV testing) but it involves costs and provisions, we do agree and we will work on getting it,” she said when winding up the debate on the Supply Bill 2019 for her ministry at the Dewan Negara today.

Dr Wan Azizah, who is also Deputy Prime Minister, said extending the pre-marital course to non-Muslim couples, was still being discussed with the relevant parties.

She said so far, the outcome of the discussion with members of the ’interfaith council’ had been good and they welcomed the proposal, however some non-governmental organisations (NGOs) were still not in agreement in implementing it in a uniform manner covering the various races and religions.

“This effort is still being carried out by the ministry through LPPKN (National Population and Family Development Board) through a pioneer proposal in Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya. The initial plan was to study the course content, duration from two days to only half a day and the training given to trainers from eligible NGOs,” said Dr Wan Azizah.

Meanwhile, commenting on the disclosure of sexual crime data developed by the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM), Dr Wan Azizah said the data was not displayed openly as there were concerns that it could be manipulated by irresponsible parties.

However, she acknowledged that such data was important for the public to be aware that all parties, especially women, may be prepared with information to protect themselves and to avoid being in dangerous situations.

“The PDRM has warned that it is illegal to make known (sexual crime data) as it could cause anxiety and would not help in controlling the situation.

“However, there is a discussion with my ministry about the existence of “hot spots” where women will be informed about places that could be of risk to their safety,” said Dr Wan Azizah.

In winding up, she also shared details about the increase in the number of women involved in policymaking and also politics.

She said until Dec 14, the number of women in the board of directors in companies incorporated under the Finance Ministry was 17.4 per cent or 43 women of the total 247 appointed board members.

Based on the Bursa Malaysia list up to September 2018, 23 per cent of the top 100 public- listed companies had women on their board of directors.

“Based on the results of the 14th General Election (GE14) issued by the Election Commission (EC), the number of women as members of the Dewan Rakyat stood at 32 or 14.41 per cent compared to 23 women or 10.4 per cent previously.

“As for the representatives in the state assemblies, data showed that there were 62 women from 505 seats or 12.8 per cent compared to 58 or 11.5 per cent previously,” she said. — Bernama