On 9 Nov 2015, a Malaysian girl was taken by her father from her relatives’ Johor Bahru home. Due to the father’s history of drug abuse, 2-year-old Angie Tiong’s relatives believed that she was sold for RM12,000 (about S$4,000).
Angie’s relatives made a police report in early Dec, suggesting that Angie was sold to a couple living in Singapore.
Indeed this story of “adoption” — or selling — of a Malaysian toddler feels too complicated to wrap your head around.
Even The Straits Times was confused about the nationality of the couple whom had “adopted” little girl.
In a report dated 2 Jan, the couple was described as Singaporean, but was later said to be a Malaysian couple who are Singaporean Permanent Residents (PR).
LOL.
To ST’s credit, we eventually found out that the wife is Singaporean, and the husband is a Malaysian who is also a Singaporean PR.
MustShareNews.com thus presents to you a breakdown of this convoluted story.
The story gets complicated as Angie’s father gave contradictory answers, and changed his story several times.
The father of Angie claimed that a male friend gave him “a few thousand ringgit” and took Angie for a walk from a budget hotel in Jalan Maju on 9 Nov.
A month later, he lodged a police report saying that his daughter had been “kidnapped” by that friend whom he made on the same day.
Basically, he gave his daughter away to a stranger he had met on the same day and cried kidnap one month later.
Wow.
They allege that Angie’s father had taken her from their Johor Bahru home and sold the little girl to a middleman.
They also said that Angie’s Vietnamese mother had left when the child was 5 months old, and her father was in a “perpetual drug-addled state”.
The relatives of the Malaysian toddler assert that the biological father had confessed to selling his daughter to a law firm with the help of a middleman, and lied to the police that Angie was kidnapped by his friends.
When the deal was done, the middleman took Angie’s legal documents and her passport.
Angie’s uncle Luo Jie Cheng, 49 and her aunt Tiong Mei Ling, 36, requested the adoptive couple to return Angie. However on 31 Dec, the couple failed to return Angie to the Johor Police Headquarters as promised, causing Angie’s aunt and uncle to wait for 5 hours in vain.
The adoptive couple held a press conference today (5 Jan) at the South Johore Chinese Press Club, located a short drive from the Causeway.
Mrs Cannie Wong, Angie’s adoptive mother, a Singaporean in her 40s, said that RM12,000 (S$4,000) was given as “ang pao” money — a token gesture. She explained that the middleman had told her the sum was to tide Angie’s birth father over some debt, hence she believed it was “legally okay”.
Sounds legit.
Mr Wong, a Malaysian Permanent Resident of Singapore was ill and unable to attend the conference.
They were shocked when reports of Angie’s disappearance appeared on the newspaper. Mrs Wong, who revealed that they meant no harm, said:
I didn’t know her family was so complicated. My intentions were purely to adopt her and provide a good family for her.
The couple had asked Mr Yap Yeen Min (below, with Angie), a Malaysian businessman, to help them out with this case by returning Angie to her relatives.
Angie was returned to Johor on 2 Jan and currently being cared for by social workers. According to Malaysian news site Free Malaysia Today, Mr and Mrs Wong took good care of Angie.
Futhermore, in a video showing Mrs Wong speaking at the conference, uploaded by ST, the adoptive mother said that she had treated Angie well, and brought the little girl to attend drawing classes and singing lessons.
Usually, the adoption process takes 5 to 7 months to complete, according to the Ministry of Social and Family Affairs. However, the Wongs were able to get Angie in mid-Nov, which is less than a month from the toddler’s disappearance. Therefore the fact that Ms Wong was able to adopt Angie within such a short period makes the adoption process really dubious.
Furthermore, the father seemed to have the intention to profit from this adoption and had the guts to cry kidnap after giving her away.
Meanwhile, the Malaysian police have already taken the statements of the couple, as well as investigated and remanded Angie’s father, who has been released.
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Featured Image via Free Malaysia Today
With reference to The Straits Times, The New Paper, Asiaone, Asiaone
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