Chew: Specialists to examine disabled children at RKKC

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Chew (front) taking a closer look of the fenced cubicle during her visit to  Rumah Kebajikan Kanak-kanak Cacat in Batu Gajah yesterday. — Bernama photo

Chew (front) taking a closer look of the fenced cubicle during her visit to Rumah Kebajikan Kanak-kanak Cacat in Batu Gajah yesterday. — Bernama photo

BATU GAJAH: The Women, Family and Community Development Ministry has instructed that inmates at a welfare home for disabled children here to be examined by medical experts to determine the proper treatment and care for them.

Deputy Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun said it was also to determine whether the action by the management of the home in placing inmates with chronic mental problem in fenced cubicle like a cage was appropriate.

“If the condition of the occupants is serious, there is possibly the need to place them in fenced cubicle, but only during the night,” she told reporters after visiting the home, Rumah Kebajikan Kanak-kanak Cacat (RKKC), yesterday.

Chew said this in response to a picture, with a caption ‘Malaysian Girl Discovers Shocking Scene of Disabled Kids Locked Up In Cages Like Dogs’ that went viral on the social media.

On Monday, RKKC chairman R Sivalingam clarified that 10 occupants of the home were placed in the cubicle for safety reason due to their chronic mental condition and that it was only done during bedtime and when they were given their bath.

Chew said the ministry would also send the caretakers at the home, which housed 47 inmates aged between 10 and 60, for courses and training.

Following the incident, Chew said the ministry would conduct spot checks at welfare homes nationwide to ensure the occupants were well-cared for. — Bernama