I could only see my kids for an hour, laments single mum

 

Loh Siew Hong is upset she was only able to see her children for about an hour despite earlier promises.

GEORGE TOWN: A single mother, who has to contend with her children being converted to Islam without her permission, was today dealt another blow.

Loh Siew Hong, 34, was told that she could visit her three children only for an hour today and not daily as earlier arranged.

She was served with a letter from the Perlis social welfare department (JKM) about an hour before she arrived at a safe house in Jitra, Kedah, where her children are being kept.

“I was the one who allowed my children to be placed under JKM’s care until my court case is heard.

“I also set the condition that I should get to meet them daily until Feb 21. All this was mentioned in my police report, with JKM officers agreeing to that. Now, they are saying something else”

Loh will have her habeas corpus suit concerning the children’s “detention” by a woman heard by the Kuala Lumpur High Court on Feb 21.

The letter from the welfare department to Loh Siew Hong detailing the conditions of her visit today.

During the one-hour meeting today, Loh said her three children, twin daughters aged 14 and a son aged 10, had vigorously preached to her about Islam.

“My son told me to go to the Hasani book store and buy a religious book. He said I would surely like Islam.

“I told him: ‘Like you, I need time,'” she said, referring to a famous bookstore in Sungai Petani, where they used to live during better times.

Loh said her children also appeared to be very religious, insisting that they go for zohor prayers midway through their meeting.

She also showed a letter given by JKM, which said she was only allowed to visit her kids for a day and no photos should be allowed to be taken.

Loh said today’s visit was strictly time-regulated, with officers waiting to usher her out exactly an hour after she arrived at 1.15pm.

Over the weekend, she had lodged a missing person’s report after her children’s whereabouts were unknown, even by her former husband’s family, where the kids were last staying.

She had divorced her husband last year, with the High Court giving full custody of her three children in December.

Police told her that the children were under the care of the religious authorities in Perlis and later arranged for them to meet her at a police station in Kangar on Sunday. - FMT