My three-year search to be reunited with my twin daughters and son has been a harrowing ordeal after all the physical abuse and battery, forcible separation from my offspring and being given the runaround from various quarters.
No words can describe the joy I felt when I was finally able to clutch and embrace my children for the first time after three long tormenting years.
I would like to thank the media for the support and reporting on my journey, my legal team – David Marshall, Prof Ramasamy, and YB Satees Muniandy – for taking up and battling my case successfully in the courts.
Equally important, my heartfelt appreciation to the genuinely concerned people who advised me to lodge a police report against all the assaults, to Women’s Centre for Change in Penang which provided the much-needed shelter and protection, as well as to the hospital staff who treated me when I was hospitalised as a result of the beatings by my ex-husband.
Post-reunion with my children, there have been groups and individuals who have likewise extended donations and support so that we may move forward and rebuild our lives together. In particular, I would like to say thank you to Datuk Noor Farida Ariffin and Chow Kit Children’s Shelter operator Dr Hartini Zainuddin in crowdfunding to raise funds to purchase a food truck and for my children’s online tuition expenses.
A special word of gratitude must also be delivered to Wanita MCA headed by Datuk Heng Seai Kie for spearheading the Emancipation & Empowerment or 2Es programme to assist 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.
This Wanita MCA 2Es initiative covers fundraising; arrangements for my children’s school transfers; fees for the new school term; and future tertiary education plans at TAR UC with a scholarship provided that TAR UC’s terms are met; as well as a new accommodation for us.
These plans are in addition to securing a food stall at TAR UC canteen; introducing an entrepreneur who can help with my business branding and even franchise possibility too as well as arranging with a clinical psychologist to provide counselling for my children and I to overcome the trauma of the past and stand on our own again.
All this goodwill from the various quarters is a blessing and may your kindness bless you in return.
Meanwhile, I would like to clarify any miscommunication that may have arisen over online news reports on 3 March 2022 which reported that purportedly, I had concerns over the viability of an offer by a political party to operate a food stall at a college canteen or that a food truck would serve my needs better.
Allow me to emphasise that it is my aspiration to operate both the food stall at TAR UC canteen, as well as a food truck. As TAR UC canteen closes during semester holidays, the availability of a food truck enables me to operate my food business at different locations during semester breaks, public holidays, weekends and even at night, or for private functions.
In this transition, as my children and I embark on shifting homes and enrolling in a new school, we ask for privacy.
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, NGOs, and other organisations to continue being empathetic and lend support to victims of domestic violence. It is your support, which enables and empowers the battered and bruised to regain their confidence and restart life anew.
At the same time, I also appeal to everyone to be empathetic to other parents, irrespective of gender, who are separated or divorced like myself, whose children have been forcibly removed from them, and to help them to be reunited. I also plea to disputing parents to please, never involve your children as emotional tools against your ex-spouse. All of us love our children and want only the best for our children.
- This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Ova.
