Mothers like this should not have children!

As a mother myself, I could never understand parents who abused their children or neglect their children. I personally feel parents like that are worse than the bacteria that feeds on pond scum. Why have children in the first place if they end up mistreating the poor child?

Children are like God's gift to parents and they should be treasured no matter what and regardless of their physical or mental conditions. I have known some parents who literally dump their disabled children at homes and never turn back. I have also seen parents who abused their perfectly able children for no apparent reason except maybe due to the parent's own mental disability!

So, what is considered abuse and what isn't? Abuse is when the child is neglected and not cared for and not necessarily mean physical violence. Abuse could be when the child is tortured mentally and left to fend for himself day in day out when he is still so small that he probably should not be allowed to cross the road alone.

Therefore, I am very disgusted when I read about poor ten-year-old Yeap Jia Hui's plight.

Excerpt from The Star:

Home alone boy gets a family

PENANG: Ten-year-old Yeap Jia Hui, who has been living alone in a smelly rubbish-filled apartment at Ferringhi Mutiara Apartment in Batu Ferringhi for almost two years, now has someone to care for him.

Childless housewife Yeap Choon Lean, 59, will be taking Jia Hui home to live with her and her retired carpenter husband in Kuantan, Pahang.

Choon Lean, who is Jia Hui’s maternal grandaunt, had wanted to adopt him when he was born but his mother decided to hold on to him.

“Even before his mother abandoned him, I visited him every two to three months when I was in Penang.

“I do not have children of my own and I am happy to bring him home to Kuantan,” she said yesterday.

A happy-looking Jia Hui said he was delighted to able to live with his grandaunt.

“My grandmother cannot care for me because she is old,” he explained.

The grandmother, Law Ah Eng, 68, lives in an apartment several floors below but her relationship with Jia Hui's mother, Yeap Kim Hong, 46, had been strained for almost a decade.

Jia Hui said his mother gave him an ATM card and visited him every two to three weeks.

“But she has not called or visited me for about two weeks and she has not banked in any money, normally RM20 to RM30 a month,” he said.

He said his schoolmates and teachers did not know of his condition and said he walked to school, bought food after school and attended extra classes three days a week.

“I do my homework before going out with friends and would be home by 8.30pm,” he said.

Jia Hui has five other half-brothers. He is Kim Hong’s fifth son.

“Nobody knows who Jia Hui’s father is,” said Ah Eng, who is also raising Kim Hong’s fourth son.

Although it may seem to come to a happy ending and finally someone wanted to take care of the poor neglected boy, I heard that this was not to be after all.

It seemed that the mother had kicked up a fuss at the Welfare Department, accusing them of trying to take away her son without her consent. The government service being the government service, gave in and did not do anything. They apparently allowed the mother to take him back and warned her to take good care of him.

So, the boy is back in the hell hole his mother put him in.

I don't know anything about the law here, but isn't it wrong for the mother to have neglected her son for the past two years? Isn't there a law to stop her from taking back her son due to such abuse? Isn't leaving an 8-year-old to fend for himself for two years akin to child endangerment? Why isn't the mother charged with child abuse? Isn't it child abuse when she neglected the boy and let him fend for himself in a rubbish filled apartment all alone with only RM20 or RM30 per month to buy food?

Such a woman should not be allowed to have children at all! The welfare department should have taken the boy and given him to his grandaunt and take action against the mother! A mother who heartlessly left an 8-year-old boy to fend for himself should lose all her rights as his mother!

And most importantly, where are all the concerned 'groups' and ministers who would immediately jump into action to launch a 'Save Jia Hui Campaign' like they wanted to do for a full grown non-Malaysian hooker in UK who only happened to have a Malaysian mother?

Update: Welfare exco Phee Boon Poh and Tanjung Bungah assemblyman Teh Yee Cheu visited the boy. The mother refused to give consent for her son to be adopted by the grandaunt and Phee is now looking into using the law to force her to do so.