The sustenance concept refers to a mandatory payment from the husband to his wife and children. This concept is implemented in the Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF) and is known as the Involuntary Allotment Order (IAO). The objective of implementing IAO is to help personnel in fulfilling their sustenance obligations, besides helping them to manage other financial liabilities. However, issues concerning insufficient sustenance are still reported among MAF wives and families, even though the IAO policy has been in force for a long time. This study analysed the appropriateness of the IAO policy and the deduction rate in relation to the current level of sustenance sufficient for the family. The deduction rate that meets the current sufficiency level becomes an added value that will be enjoyed by the personnel’s family. Data collection involved content analysis and semi-structured interviews with informants from three different areas of expertise, namely registered counsellors in MAF, administrative officers from UGAT and Head of the Syariah Law Unit in KAGAT. Findings of this study indicate that IAO needs to be improved by considering three factors that act as a guide when determining the optimal sustenance rate, namely assessment of the legislation with reference to Practice Instruction No. 5 2019 - Guidelines for the Sustenance Amount Assessment Scale for Syariah Courts, average sustenance rate established by the courts and the sustenance rate mentioned in Act 77. These three sources can be used as a guide by MAF to improve the IAO rate that is currently being enforced.
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Interview
Mohamed, A. (2023). Issues Pertaining to the Provision of Sustenance by MAF Personnel. Kuala Lumpur. Interview on 8 September 2023.
Mazlan, M. K. bin. (2023). Issues Pertaining to the Provision of Sustenance by MAF Personnel. Interview on 11 September 2023.
Musa, N. A. (2023). The Involuntary Allotment Order in the MAF, Subang. Interview on 12 September 2023.
