2006 12: Rep: I’ll do it again to save a child

The Star online. News. Nation. Monday December 18, 2006

By SHARON LING

KUCHING: Lawyer-cum-politician Dominique Ng has no regrets about his failed application for the custody of an allegedly abused child and will not hesitate to do so again.

He said in an interview that he had applied for custody of the three-year-old girl out of concern for her safety and well-being after reading about her plight in the local press.

The girl, who had bruises on her body, had been taken to the Sarawak General Hospital here on Oct 9 by the police, who had received a tip-off.

She was later handed over to the Welfare Department and placed in the Children’s Home in Sri Aman.

In dismissing Ng's application on Friday, the Children’s Court ordered the girl to be returned to her parents but placed several conditions on them, including supervision by the Welfare Department’s protection officer.

“I have children of my own – three girls and a boy – and I love them without exception. Being a parent myself and coming from a family where members live in harmony with each other, I believed that I was a fit and proper person to take custody of the child as provided for by Section 30(1)(b) of the Child Act,” Ng said when asked why he had taken the radical step of applying for custody of a child he had not known before.

He said he was also moved by the nature of the injuries the girl was alleged to have suffered.

“I did not make the decision to seek custody lightly and I had no ulterior motives. It was purely to help the child,” he explained.

He said many people were not aware that children have rights under Malaysian law.

“The overriding principle of the Child Act is that the Children’s Court shall give the best interests of the child paramount consideration (in making any decision), and these interests outweigh parental rights.

“For instance, children have the right to have parents, but in circumstances where parents are incapable of taking care of their child without exposing him to danger or abuse, then the child’s right to a safe environment must be paramount in deciding (with) whom and where the child should live,” he said.

Although Ng's application was dismissed by the court, the Parti Keadilan Rakyat assemblyman for Padungan plans to raise the issue of child protection with its medical and welfare committee.