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KLANG: The Selangor government will meet the children rescued from 18 care homes in the state before deciding on the next course of action.
State women and family empowerment, social welfare and care economy committee chairman Anfaal Saari (pic) said she would visit the children today to find out what could be done for them in terms of protection and counselling.
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“The state Welfare Department has the facilities and expertise to conduct counselling sessions for the children and these will be arranged soon,’’ she said when contacted yesterday.
Anfaal said the rescued children were placed in government-related children’s homes in the state and in Negri Sembilan.
“I checked for places here for the children removed from the care centres in Selangor, but all were packed and so some had to be sent to Negri Sembilan,’’ she added.
Anfaal said it was concerning to find out that the perpetrators were allegedly hiding behind a religious facade while carrying out their dastardly activities.
“Not only was religion tarnished but children were grossly exploited and taught immoral and unethical conduct,’’ she said.
The exco member said the state would continue to propagate awareness among not just care home operators, but also the public and netizens on the dos and dont’s in dealing with children.
She cited the recent Abang Bas case with many netizens commenting that he was just joking with the children although it was a clear case of sexual misconduct.
Mohamad Norhadhim Sari, 24, was charged in court for making indecent comments regarding a nine-year-old girl who was among his passengers.
Childline Foundation executive director Datin PH Wong said the crux of the problem was that the Care Centres Act 1993 governed all homes with no regulations specifically for children’s homes.
“The problem is that Malaysia does not have an integrated system as there are various homes coming under the same Act but falling within the jurisdiction of different ministries,’’ she said.
She said children’s care homes must be categorised separately as children were more vulnerable.
“Children’s homes cannot be lumped together with other care homes such as those for senior citizens and special needs. The Act must be reviewed and revamped,’’ she said.
Wong said ideally, there must be regulations for all the different types of homes under the Act to curb untoward incidents.
