Thursday, 13 February 2014

UNBELIEVABLE SWEDEN

IS that the best you could do to Azizul Raheem Awaluddin and Shalwati Norshal Ms Public Prosecutor?

You accused the real parents of Aisyah, Ammar, Adam and Arif for violating their integrity but chose to ignore the foster parents' violation of the children's integrity and religious beliefs.

The family of the two who are expected to stand trial on trumped up charges wish you the best of luck in your attempt to secure guilty verdicts. We had in the past put up so much faith in the Swedish legal system, the efficiencies of its investigation team and a strong sense of justice but now all these has totally dissolved into thin air when the charges, totally unbelievable, were slapped on Azizul and Shalwati.

We do not need to have legal knowledge to realize that the prosecuting officer was extremely desperate to cover the serious flaws it had committed towards the couple by slapping them with trumped up charges and trying to picture them as monsters and child abusers.

The world has came down hard on Sweden for detaining the couple for almost two months now. More serious offenders were known to be released while awaiting trial but not the two whose alleged offense were disciplining their children.

The excuse that the couple would ran away do not hold water as the court could demand and have kept their passports.

Sweden committed a more serious offense when the children of the couple were taken away and placed under the care of a non-Muslim family. As the result the children has suffered a lot, a fate much worse than the so-called violation of their integrity.

The children's religious beliefs were violated when they were made to have food where non-halal dishes were served too. They children did not eat the non-halal food but when they were asked to wash dishes, including the ones that were used to serve the non-halal food, the children's integrity and religious beliefs were seriously violated. When the children complained about this to the social service, they were told to co-operate with their foster parents.

But when the foster parents found out that the children had complained to the social service, they were severely scolded by the foster parents. Surely something is not right here. Please do not try to tell us that the foster parents do not understand the Muslim way of life. If they are willing to look after the children, they must have knowledge on Islam. Ignorance is no excuse.

The funny thing is that the foster parents are not charged for violating the integrity and religious belief of the children but are asked to be witnesses against the children's parents for alleged abuse! What a classic double standard by a first world nation.



Thursday, 6 February 2014

THE CHILDREN FROM SWEDEN

I am, and I believe we all are, very grateful to the Government of Malaysia which,through diplomatic channels, has managed to bring back the 4 unfortunate children who have been separated from their parents now being detained for having allegedlytransgressed the child rights law in Sweden.

Thankfully, after being forced to live with strangers (foster family) in Sweden they are back in Malaysia, surrounded by familiar faces of their close relatives, although their beloved parents are still not with them. How they yearn for the hugs and kisses of their mother and father, I cannot imagine.

Since their arrival, right from the time they stepped foot at KLIA they have beenhounded by the media. I am fully aware that this is a case of public interest and the people ought to know what has been happening to this unfortunate family. The media hype continues to this day and I suspect come Sunday when the older children start schooling there will yet be another media circus.

I sincerely hope that the media is by now satisfied that they have done what they are supposed to do and has had enough of it. Thereafter please leave them be to settle down and adjust to new environment, and hopefully they will soon be reunited with their parents.

We have always been talking about “in the best interest of the children”, but have we given thought to what they must have gone through? First, they were forcefully separated from their beloved parents and made to live with strangers in an environment alien to them. Then, upon returning to Malaysia they have endlessly been faced with strangers and exposed to the limelight. It is felt that they have been excessively and unnecessarily exposed.

Have a heart! Please observe the photographs of the children, especially the youngest one. They look bewildered and overwhelmed. Despite all the goodies they receive from well-wishers, there was no smile because what they need most right now is the presence of their parents. They are sad and living in pain.

As a social worker, I feel for the children. They need to be protected, and let us allow those who have the responsibility to look after them now to perform their respective duties quietly and without hindrance. We pray that the trauma they had gone through could be cushioned by the close relatives who, I am certain, will shower the care and attention and above all, the love upon these innocent children.

For us the caring members of society, let us now pray for the early return of the parents so that the children can have them back. Only with the return of the parents that the wounds inflicted on these children could be healed in time.

- Datuk Abdullah Malim Baginda