Teen Mums Worrying Trend Lecture Highlights Status Of Newborn By Azlan Othman Bandar Seri Begawan - An alarming trend in teenage pregnancies and children born out of wedlock, including a 13-year-old giving birth to an illegitimate child, were revealed yesterday in a Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD) lecture, organised by Communications and Welfare Body and attended by UBD undergraduates and members of the public. Director of Academy of Brunei Studies, UBD, Datin Hjh Saadiah Bte Datu Derma Wijaya Hj Tamit, delivered a presentation entitled "Legitimate Child Order under Emergency Order (Brunei Islamic Family Law) 1999, Implementation and Difficulties". The number of illegitimate children recorded an all time high two years ago (2005) when 95 teenagers aged below 18 years gave birth, up from 35 in 2004 and 26 in 2003. There were 28 cases in 1 999, 27 in 2000, 23 in 2001 and 24 in 2002. Out of the 95 children born out of wedlock, 52 were girls and 43 boys. It was also revealed that 75 of those were not legally authenticated while the rest were of "unknown status". Eighty-eight of the teenage mothers are Malays while seven are non-Malays. In terms of religion, 92 are Muslims and the rest non-Muslims. The authenticity of a newborn depends on the status of solemnisation of the child's parents, to determine whether the child was conceived in a legal marriage. "Not legally authenticated child" is the term used to describe a child that is born out of wedlock. In Brunei society, such "not legally authenticated child " is also known as "Anak Ampang", "Anak Zina", "Anak Haram" all of which literally means a child horn as a result of adultery (out of wedlock) while in 'Syarak' term, it is described as the child which was born less than six months from the date of marriage registration, or as a result of rape. Datin Hjh Saadiah said among the causes that lead to the rise in the birth of "not legally authenticated children" are unlimited socialising beyond the religious limits including freedom given by the parents, peer influence, misuse of drugs, curiosity and lifestyle that contradicts the norms, values and understandings of the religion. However, newborns delivered by young mothers are given protection by the Community Services Department and counselling is also provided by the relevant authorities. Such illegitimate children could also be adopted should the young mother is not keen to bring up the child. She also highlighted on the rights that arc not provided in the Child Authenticity Order such as in the naming, inheritance, socialising, marriage and death. Rights that are provided in the Child Authenticity Order include financial support, which becomes the responsibility of the mother under Chapter 83 (1) (2) as well as "Wali Perkahwinan" or marriage guardian, (Chapter 8 (7)) appointed by the government of His Majesty. Datin Hjh Saadiah also highlighted the Legitimate Child Order. If a child is born more than six months from the date of marriage registration, then the child is the descendant of the father. If the father does not want to admit that the child is biologically his, then he could deny the descendant rights through "Li’an". -- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin ===================================================== Thursday 19th April 2007 Originally from http://www.brudirect.com/DailyInfo/News/Archive/Apr07/190407/nite01.htm Hosted at http://ourlocalstyle.com