Celebrity wedding throws spotlight on divorces

Next week's celebrity marriage of a Malay pop starlet and a just-divorced businessman 20 years her senior has thrown a spotlight on the high divorce rate among Malay Muslims.

Pop diva Siti Nurhaliza, 27, will wed businessman Khalid Jiwa, 47, in a ceremony to be shown live on television, followed by a reception for more than 2,000 people at the convention centre next to the Petronas Towers.

Not everyone is doe-eyed at the impending nuptials. 'What are our morals ... what kind of behaviour are we encouraging,' said lawmaker Ishak Ismail. 'This is a case of a popular singer marrying a man who divorced his wife to tie the knot with a young woman,' he said.

Muslim Malays make up 60 per cent of the country's population, but were involved in 85 per cent of all divorces in 2004.

There are about 500,000 single mothers in Malaysia, 360,000 (72 per cent) of them Malays.

Siti and Mr Khalid ended months of speculation when they announced they would tie the knot on Monday.

The announcement followed Mr Khalid's divorce from his first wife, Tengku Zawyah. The couple, married for 20 years, have four children, aged 8 to 19.