Have a heart: Perlis JKM must unite, not divide spousal abuse victim single mother and her three children

No parent in the right frame of mind would ever desire to be physically separated from his or her school-going children by force, more so a mother who carried her child for 9 months in her womb.

The emotional burden which former spousal abuse victim Loh Siew Hong has been enduring after 3 years of separation and searching for her children who have been allegedly converted without her knowledge is unfathomable.

Hope arose on 14 Feb 2022 after a reunion between Mdm Loh and her 14 year-old twin girls and 10-year old son for the first time after 3 years at the Kangar district police headquarters.

However, this joy was short-lived as an officer from the Perlis Welfare Department (JKM) had reportedly denied Mdm Loh access to her children on 15 Feb 2022. There is no reason for the said welfare officer to have turned Mdm Loh away, so long as her Covid-19 daily RTK antigen tests show negative results – a requirement as conveyed to the mother.

Moreover, both the police and the Perlis JKM have said that Loh has sole custody of the children. It is not within the powers of the said welfare officer to act like a Little Napoleon to prevent the mother from meeting her children.

Based on news reports, these children appear to have been shuffled around to reside at different locations – from the time the father abducted them, placed at a religious NGO in Perlis, to Rumah Taman Sinar Harapan, a Welfare Department facility in Jitra, Kedah under the care of the Perlis JKM, and now allegedly to another home in Arau, Perlis.

Perlis JKM must explain why it relocated the children after just one day without informing Mdm Loh, thereby giving the mother a further runaround. Such regular or abrupt change of abodes is unhealthy towards the children’s mental development or stability. They sow confusion in the children, instill uncertainty and anxiety besides interrupting their studies.

Both the children and mother have suffered emotional torment and yearn to be reunited. There is no need to separate them further. Loh had entrusted placing her offsprings at the Welfare Department to give them time to calm down and until her application hearing on 21 Feb 2022.

Taking into account that the police force is perceived as oblivious or unhelpful towards executing court orders to ensure that minor children in unilateral conversion cases are handed over to the parent whom custody was awarded to (Indira Gandhi’s case), or cases of religious authorities having converted minor children without the consent or knowledge of a non-converting spouse, Perlis JKM can reinstate confidence in government bodies by ensuring a secure reunion between Mdm Loh and her children.

Perlis JKM should stand for the values the Welfare Department of the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development is intended to be: These include safeguarding the welfare of single mothers and underaged children. It should act to unite and not divide families. A compassionate Perlis JKM that empathises with the mother’s dilemma plus her loss of income from her unpaid leave coupled with the expenses she has had to bear in her search will reflect the values of not only JKM but the Ministry as a whole.

Meanwhile, the Legal Advisory and Women’s Aid Centre (LAWA) of Wanita MCA stands ready to extend any counselling and legal advice to Mdm Loh. She may contact our Secretariat at 03-2716 5943.

Datuk Heng Seai Kie

Wanita MCA National Chairperson