Megan Khung died in February 2020 at the age of four after suffering over a year of horrific abuse by her mother and her then boyfriend. - Shin Min Daily News via ST/ANN
SINGAPORE: The Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) will conduct a further review of the case of Megan Khung, who died in February 2020 at the age of four after suffering over a year of horrific abuse by her mother and the woman’s then boyfriend.
The latest review will cover the responses of all parties involved, said the MSF on April 11. This includes Beyond Social Services, which runs the pre-school that Megan attended, the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA), the MSF’s Child Protective Service and the police. The ministry also said it would include additional information that Beyond had shared with the MSF after the ministry issued an earlier statement on April 8.
MSF said it will publish the conclusions after the review is done.
The MSF had said on April 8 that the incident report that Beyond sent to ECDA did not fully describe the severity of Megan’s injuries, as compared with the evidence presented in the court documents when Megan’s mother and her partner were being charged. “This resulted in inadequate interventions by the relevant agencies,” the MSF said then.
Beyond had made multiple efforts to protect Megan when it suspected abuse, including drawing up a plan to keep Megan safe – moving her out of her mother’s house to temporarily live under the care of her grandmother, and flagging concerns to ECDA and a child protection specialist centre.
ECDA is the regulatory authority for pre-schools here.
Megan’s mother, Foo Li Ping, 29, was sentenced to 19 years in jail on April 3. Foo’s then boyfriend, Wong Shi Xiang, 38, was sentenced to 30 years’ jail and 17 strokes of the cane.
In its statement released on April 11, the MSF said its April 8 statement was released with the aim of identifying areas where the ministry can strengthen interventions to keep children safe.
It added: “Since then, we have received feedback that the statement may have come across as implying that certain parties could have done more to avoid the tragic death of Megan Khung. In fact, our aim is to continually strengthen our system, so that we can better protect our children. Everyone, including government agencies, has a part to play in this process.”
The April 11 statement said the MSF will continue to work closely with all its partners in the child protection ecosystem to uphold the safety and well-being of every child. “We deeply appreciate the tireless efforts of all social service professionals who work to protect children from abuse and save lives,” the statement read. - The Straits Times/ANN
