One-hour visits not enough to bond with children, says single mother

GEORGE TOWN: Single mother Loh Siew Hong hopes that the one-hour session with her children will be extended on her next visit.

Loh, 35, wants the Welfare Department to grant her longer hours so that she can be with her children, adding that one hour was not enough time to bond with her children.

"The last time I visited them, I requested an extra 10 to 15 mins from the welfare officer to visit my children which they granted.

"I hope on my next visit, I can visit my children for more than one hour," she told The Star.

Loh said she must first obtain permission from the Welfare Department to visit her children, a requirement that was now imposed by the Perlis Welfare Department.

She said she received the letter in a pdf format through Whatsapp message on Friday (Feb 18) morning stating that she could come and visit her children.

She said previous requirements set by the Welfare Department such as Covid-19 test, no photos during the visit and only an-hour session at the home remained.

Loh said the last time she saw her children on Wednesday (Feb 16), her children were happy and requested her to buy watches for each one of them in their favourite colour which is pink, black and blue.

She also revealed that her children alleged that they were abused by their aunt while under the care of her husband's family.

Loh, who won custody of the children in the High Court in March last year, saw them for the first time in three years outside the Kangar district police headquarters on Monday (Feb 14).

The meeting with the children, a pair of 14-year-old twin girls and 10-year-old son, was brief then.

It was reported that her ex-husband, Nagashwaran Muniandy, had converted to Islam and had also unilaterally converted the children. He was arrested for a drug-related offence and is now in jail in Kelantan.

Loh divorced her husband on March 19, 2019.

Earlier, Loh, with the help of Bagan Dalam assemblyman M. Satees and Tamilar Kural Malaysia president David Marshel, lodged a police report, claiming her children were “illegally” taken away without her knowledge while she was recovering from a fractured leg.

She filed a habeas corpus application at the Kuala Lumpur High Court on Feb 13, asking it to compel the return of her three children.

The children are now under the care of the Perlis Welfare Department until the application is heard on Feb 21.