Thursday March 14, 2013

Four-year-old believed to have been abandoned by parents

By LEONARD PHANG
sarawakstar@thestar.com.my

Uncertain future: A policeman bringing Tini for a check-up at Sarawak General Hospital.

KUCHING: Tini Abdul Rashid, four, had tugged at the heart strings of many readers of The Star in August last year when a picture of him munching away on a stale piece of cake as his parents flattened empty soda cans in the background made the frontpage.

Many people came forward to try and make life a little better for the boy and his family. One good Samaritan had eventually found a decent place for the family to live in Kenyalang Park here and he even helped to secure a job for the boy’s father, Abdul Rashid Zawawi, near their new home.

But at some point in time and for reasons best known to the family, they decided to pack up their belongings and moved back into the familiar squalor of the abandoned house but this time, things might have taken a turn for the worst.

Tini is now believed to be under the care of the Welfare Department after he was surrendered to the police yesterday by a worker of a coffeeshop in Bormill Estate.

The boy is said to have been left with the cook at the coffeeshop by his mother, Siti Aishah Abdullah, 32, at 11am on Monday. She is believed to have told the cook that she was going to attend a wedding at her in-laws’ residence in Samarahan.

The cook eventually left the boy with the worker who brought him home, cleaned him up and clothed him in her children’s clothing. She also gave Tini, who could converse in Iban, a used school bag.

When Tini’s parents still failed to turn up yesterday afternoon, the worker decided to bring the boy to the Sungai Apong police station. The police are believed to have placed the boy under the care of the Welfare Department.

According to some members of the public in Bormill Estate, Tini and his parents could be seen roaming the area daily in search of recyclable items that they could sell for some money.

Reporters had gone to the abandoned house yesterday afternoon in search of Tini’s parents but they were nowhere to be found.

According to residents living nearby, they had not seen the family since Monday.

News

Thursday March 14, 2013

Four-year-old believed to have been abandoned by parents

By LEONARD PHANG sarawakstar@thestar.com.my

By LEONARD PHANG
sarawakstar@thestar.com.my