KUCHING: The Ministry of Women, Early Childhood and Community Well-being Development has expressed regret over the abandoning of a baby boy at Mile 9 Jalan Kuching – Serian recently.
Minister Datuk Seri Fatimah Abdullah said it was painful to see the endangering of the baby’s safety.
“Another sad thing is the citizenship status of this innocent baby. In the baby’s birth certificate, the citizenship status of the baby is not determined.
“This will cause complications to get the facilities that are commonly enjoyed as Malaysians,” she said in a statement on Today (Sept 12).
She also said as for the first nine months of this year, a total of four baby dumping cases were recorded.
“From 2017 to this year, there have been a total of 37 baby dumping cases,” she said.
Of the total cases, four were recorded in 2017, 2018 (nine), 2019 (five), 2020 (five), 2021 (10), and Jan to Sept 12 (four).
In the advocacy programme to avoid teenage pregnancy among teenagers and youth, Fatimah said her ministry has always shared awareness about the dangers of teenage pregnancy and preventive measures.
“This includes ensuring they know where is the safe place to go in the event there are out-of-wedlock births,” she said.
She added baby dumping cases happens when couples have sex outside marriage which result in unwanted pregnancies and they do not want their parents, family and the community to know.
“This act is a taboo in our society and it is against religion and tradition. Therefore, a stigmatisation will happen against them,” she said.
