JUNE 27 — Although he’s already 15, the teenager, who suffers from cerebral palsy, can only utter three words: “Ibu”, “Ummi” and “Mama”, according to a Harian Metro report. He can’t even say his own name.

This special needs child was severely malnourished and left alone in an apartment covered in his own faeces. When he was found, he was skin and bones and looked half his age. 

The case drew swift condemnation against his mother.

There’s something about a bad mother that evokes such visceral reactions. No one asked about his father.

The mother, who is from Sabah, is a single mother taking care of two children: Muhammad Firdaus and a six-year-old boy. The police say that she sends her younger son to a nanny’s house nearby when she goes out to work.

Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Rohani Abdul Karim said the boy’s father had died in 2012. According to the police, his mother remarried after her first marriage failed but was now separated from her second husband. 

The mother was quoted by Berita Harian last Sunday as saying that she works at a catering company from 8am to midnight every day. She has refuted claims of child neglect, saying she did not know how to get aid from the Welfare Department and that she has been looking to put the teen in a home. We don’t know if he ever went to school.

The minister said on Tuesday that he will be placed at a welfare home once he’s discharged from the hospital. 

His mother is not the only one who failed him; it’s all of us who failed him. 

Was the mother scared off by the Welfare Department’s bureaucracy? Or were their awareness campaigns ineffective? 

The Child Rights Coalition Malaysia (CRCM) said in a 2012 report titled “Status Report on Children’s Rights in Malaysia” that no review has been done to assess the effectiveness and safety of alternative care homes, including government institutions. Some government homes also do not consistently prepare children to transition out of care when they turn 18 and need to get a job. 

What about the government’s policies on children with disabilities? 

CRCM’s report says that children with disabilities lack sufficient access to education and health services. The children’s rights coalition said it’s unlikely that there are enough special education schools, especially at the secondary school level, since they are all located in urban areas.

According to the report, there were 28 special education primary schools, two special education secondary schools, and two special education vocational secondary schools in Malaysia in October 2012. 

There are only a few skilled healthcare providers who can work with children with disabilities, the report noted too.

What about his neighbours? 
Why didn’t any of them talk to his mother and find out more about what was going on in her life? The Star reported the neighbours as saying that they’d not seen the teen in the past year since his nanny moved out.

The teen and his family were living in a flat in Nilai, Negri Sembilan. In a large town or city, apathy is all too common.

We can’t ignore the role of poverty either. 

The mother was likely working in a low-income job and probably just able to make ends meet. Already, most companies in Malaysia don’t provide crèches, much less nurseries for children with special needs.  

When his nanny left, she probably didn’t know who else could take care of him. Without a support network and working 16 hours a day, what options did she have? 

Did she even know that her son suffered from cerebral palsy? Would she have known how to get a diagnosis or treatment for him? Probably not.  

Finally, what about us who are outside the teen’s circle of family and neighbours? 

How do we behave towards people with physical disabilities, mental illnesses or developmental disorders? In Malaysia, it’s still a taboo to go to a psychologist or a psychiatrist. People with mental illnesses are sometimes called derogatory words like “crazy” or “retard”. A certain shopping mall also recently told a blind man and his guide dog to leave the premises. They were not allowed on public transport or taxis either.  

Preventing other children from ending up like the teen is not easy, especially when there are other factors at play like poverty and single motherhood. 

It requires everyone — from his immediate circle to the government and society at large — to play a role in helping children with disabilities and preventing child neglect. 

And I hope against hope that the teen will finally be happy and cared for at the welfare home, despite the odds.

* This is the personal opinion of the columnist.