GEORGE TOWN – Single mother Loh Siew Hong is now making an appeal for empathy and privacy, following her arduous public search for and subsequent reunion with her three children.
In an open letter, she is also seeking the same for parents like herself who are separated or divorced, and for those whose children have been forcibly removed to be helped to reunite.
Loh also said that parents should not use their kids as emotional tools in disputes.
“I still live in fear that my ex-husband or other people who favour him may track me and my children down.
“I appeal to everyone, to individuals, non-government organisations, and other bodies to continue being empathetic and lend support to victims of domestic violence.
“It is your support that enables and empowers the battered and bruised to regain their confidence and restart life anew,” she wrote in an open letter published by Malaysiakini today.
Loh also thanked the media for the support and reporting on her journey, her legal team, Malaysian Tamilar Kural president David Marshel, Penang Deputy Chief Minister II P. Ramasamy, and Bagan Dalam assemblyman Satees Muniandy for assisting her in her court case.
She also expressed appreciation for the Women’s Centre for Change, which provided shelter and protection and hospital staffers who cared for her after she was battered by her then husband.
Loh also thanked retired diplomat Datuk Noor Farida Mohd Ariffin and Yayasan Chow Kit co-founder Hartini Zainudin for helping to raise funds to purchase a food truck and to pay for her children’s online tuition fees.
“A special word of gratitude must also be delivered to Wanita MCA, headed by Datuk Heng Seai Kie, for the programme that assists domestic violence victims like me with a long-term holistic strategy, and to Beliawanis MCA chief Ivone Low Yi Wen for coordinating this major effort with multiple quarters.”
She added that the initiative covers fundraising, arrangements for her children’s school transfers, fees for the new school term, and future tertiary education plans at Tunku Abdul Rahman University College, as well as new accommodation.
Loh revealed that a clinical psychologist will be providing counselling for her and her children in an effort to overcome trauma from their past.
She is ready to move on and into a new home.
The single mother made national headlines after she was allegedly refused permission to meet her children, whom she had been trying to locate for the past three years since being discharged from the hospital.
She had lost contact with the three children while undergoing treatment for injuries purportedly stemming from an abusive marriage with her ex-husband, Nagashwaran Muniandy.
It was during this void that Nagashwaran is said to have unilaterally converted his children into Islam, following his own conversion, without Loh’s knowledge.
Following the change of faith, Nagashwaran was then convicted and imprisoned for narcotics-related charges and continued to be incarcerated until November.
On February 12, she lodged a police report at the Seberang Prai Utara district police headquarters in Bertam, Penang to look for her children.
She alleged that she was given the runaround by police when seeking for them to enforce a court order in March last year that gave her full custody over the children. – The Vibes, March 5, 2022
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