https://www.scmp.com/rss/506310/feed Shirley Tay is a reporter at GovInsider, and has previously reported for CNBC. She recently graduated from the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Her favourite subjects in school were Mathematics, Science and English, and she aspired to be a teacher, but Mary had to cast those dreams aside when she married and became pregnant at 12 years old. A Sarawak native from the Penan tribe in Malaysia, Mary, now 14, is just one among hundreds of children from the state’s indigenous communities to have married before reaching adulthood. From 2011 to 2016, the Sarawak Council for Customs and Traditions recorded 1,472 child marriages among non-Muslim... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3089845/married-12-mother-13-malaysian-child-brides-story?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3089845/married-12-mother-13-malaysian-child-brides-story?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 21 Jun 2020 05:00:06 +0000 Childhood friends Iris, Mary and Sarah were once typical teenage girls – they did homework together, took selfies, and wandered along the unpaved roads of their village, Long Menapa, in the Malaysian state of Sarawak. Their village is a three-hour drive from the nearest secondary school, and seven hours from the nearest town. Iris, the eldest of the girls, is 16. Mary and Sarah are 14. Each of them enjoyed school and look back on their time in education fondly. But it has been two years since... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3089844/malaysian-children-young-12-are-getting-married-and-its-legal?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3089844/malaysian-children-young-12-are-getting-married-and-its-legal?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 21 Jun 2020 03:30:17 +0000