A single father in Malaysia, unable to support his three young children, made the heartbreaking decision to send them to an orphanage in Teluk Intan, Perak, earlier this month.
According to Sin Chew Daily, Huang Guowei works as a lorry driver for a construction company in Kuala Lumpur (KL), earning a modest RM2,600 (S$800) a month.
He has three children: nine-year-old Zixuan, seven-year-old Ziyi, and five-year-old Zisen.
Source: Sin Chew Daily
Previously, Mr Huang had placed his children in a non-profit children’s home in KL, which charged RM400 (S$120) per month.
To cover the fee, he lived on the bare minimum — a cup of coffee for breakfast, bread for lunch, and rice for dinner.
Even after the home reduced the fee to RM300 (S$90), the cost was still too heavy for him to bear.
Eventually, he applied to transfer his children to Jaz Home, a welfare centre in Teluk Intan that offers care free of charge.
On the day of the move, the home’s chairman and several officials visited the family’s home to bring the children to the facility.
Mr Huang broke down in tears several times as he explained his situation, while his children wept as they said goodbye.
Source: Sin Chew Daily
Mr Huang shared that he married a Vietnamese woman working in Malaysia in 2016, and the couple had three children together.
They later divorced on 30 May 2024, with the court granting him full custody of all three.
Source: Sin Chew Daily
He said that before the ruling, his ex-wife and her relatives had harassed him repeatedly at his home, both during the day and at night.
“I made several police reports,” he said. “The investigating officer eventually summoned my ex-wife’s relatives, and they stopped after receiving a warning.”
At the KL home, the siblings had not attended formal school, joining only informal church learning sessions instead.
Wanting his children to receive a proper education, Mr Huang decided to send them to Jaz Home, where they could live more stably and study regularly.
“I’ll return to Kuala Lumpur for work, but I’ll visit them in Teluk Intan whenever I can,” he said.
Before leaving, he reminded his children to behave, study hard, and stay strong.
His youngest son, Zisen, clung to his leg in tears, prompting him to carry the boy personally to the home.
Source: Sin Chew Daily
“Go to the children’s home and study hard so you can become a police officer,” Mr Huang told him gently.
Despite the emotional farewell, the three siblings have since adjusted positively to life at Jaz Home.
The eldest, Zixuan, told Kosmo! that she and her siblings are thankful to be together and have new friends.
“Here we can study and play with other children. The most important thing is that my brother, sister, and I are not separated,” she said.
“When we grow up, we want to help our father and ease his burden. That’s why we want to study hard and go to university, so we can get good jobs.”
In a Facebook update on Thursday (23 Oct), Jaz Home shared that the father and his children have received an outpouring of compassion and support following media coverage of their story.
Source: Jaz Home on Facebook
The home thanked the public for their kindness and clarified that Mr Huang wishes to continue working to support himself, while his three children are now safe, happy, and well cared for at the centre.
“They have fully settled into our routine, attending school, playing happily, and living a stable and cheerful life surrounded by care and friends,” they wrote.
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Featured image adapted from Sin Chew Daily and Jaz Home on Facebook.