Unfounded claim of Malaysia as baby-selling hub, says social activist
MIRI: The portrayal of Malaysia as a baby- selling hub by Al Jazeera is a gross misrepresentation on the broadcasting corporation’s part, says a local social activist.
State National Parent-Teacher Association president Wan Zain Syed Mohdzar believed that the documentary, aired by Al Jazeera recently, might have referred to the adoption process in the country but to describe it as ‘babyselling’ was truly ‘unfounded’.
“I am not denying the fact that there are parents who surrender the custody of their children to other people, but they do so because they believe that they would not be able to provide for the children.
“They do this because they believe that the babies would be better off with other families,” he told The Borneo Post here yesterday.
Wan Zain said Al Jazeera did not understand certain adoption processes in Malaysia that involved low-income families with many dependents.
“Some parents who do not have children are willing to spend thousands of ringgit to have a child, but the cases are isolated, not as reported by Al-Jazeera,” he said.
Moreover, Wan Zain also urged parents wanting to put their children up for adoption to do it legally, instead of through syndicates.
He also expected the government to monitor cases involving young married couples, as well as teenage girls who had borne children out of wedlock.
“Adoption through a proper channel is the way to do it,” he stressed.