KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysian legislators in the poor conservative Muslim northeastern state of Kelantan should marry single mothers to help care for their children, a state representative suggested.

The state's family and health committee chairwoman Wan Ubaidah Omar said that legislators should be awarded prizes for increasing their "quota" of wives.

"What I mean by quota is adding to the number of wives," Wan Ubaidah, a female legislator said, according to Thursday's Star newspaper.

Polygamy is legal in Malaysia for Muslims, who account for 55% of the 28 million population.

According to the Star there are 16,500 single mothers under 60 years of age.