Chin Swee Road family said relatives minding toddler, no reason to suspect death: Desmond Lee

SINGAPORE — The birth of the two-year-old toddler whose remains were found in a Chin Swee Road flat last month — more than five years after she died — was registered, Parliament was told on Monday (Oct 7).

But the child’s disappearance went undetected as her family had told social workers that she was being looked after by relatives, and authorities had no reason to suspect that she had come to any harm, said Social and Family Development Minister Desmond Lee.

Responding to questions filed by four Members of Parliament (MPs) in the first parliamentary session after the child’s parents were charged with murder last month, he added: “A two-year-old child will generally have no interaction, on a regular basis, with agencies.”

The couple cannot be named due to a gag order protecting the identities of their other children. They are accused of killing their daughter in March 2014, although police found the remains in a one-room rental flat on the eighth storey of Block 52 Chin Swee Road only on Sept 10.

The dead toddler would have been seven years old this year if she had lived. Reports by Chinese newspapers stated that the toddler’s remains were found in a metal pot.

The questions were posed by Workers’ Party Non-Constituency MPs Daniel Goh and Dennis Tan Lip Fong, MP for Holland-Bukit Timah Group Representative Constituency (GRC) Christopher de Souza, and Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC MP Chong Kee Hiong.

They had asked if the death of the child could have been picked up earlier, and whether agencies could have detected the child’s absence from educational and other records.

When giving his reply in a written response, Mr Lee declined to elaborate on the details surrounding the case as the matter is before the courts.

He said what members of the family said and did in their interactions with each of the different agencies and organisations that were in contact with them over the years “is relevant to ongoing investigations and criminal proceedings” and that he therefore should not go into specific detail.

He added: “But what I will say is this: Based on what the family members had said at that time, and the interactions that the family had with the different agencies, the officers and social workers did not suspect that the child had gone missing or had come to any harm.”

“The family had said that the child was being looked after by relatives.”

Agencies that were in touch included the Ministry of Social and Family Development’s Social Service Office and Child Protective Service, Home Team agencies, the Ministry of Education (MOE), the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) and family services centres.

The family had approached the Social Service Office to apply for financial assistance, which then linked the family up with a family service centre for general support to improve the family and children’s well-being, said Mr Lee.

The Child Protective Service is typically involved to ascertain whether the children residing in the household are adequately provided for. They will work with the family to put in place a plan to address the concerns.

Meanwhile, ECDA had engaged the family as part of its preschool outreach programme, which would have outreach agencies reach out to lower-income families with children not enrolled in preschool.

The agencies would typically help the child’s caregiver or parents understand the importance of preschool education, help facilitate the enrolment of the child in a preschool if requested, and refer to them to other help agencies if necessary.

If the family is uncontactable or unresponsive despite numerous visit attempts, ECDA and the outreach agencies would then reach out to local community partners and work with them to try to engage the family when they are more receptive.

As for MOE, it relies on several measures to reach out to parents whose children failed to participate in the Primary One registration exercise. These include sending reminder letters and offering help to place the children in primary schools. It is only in cases where there is no response to the reminder letters that MOE sends liaison officers to conduct home visits.

If a child is not staying with his or her parents, MOE will work with various agencies to try to contact the child’s caregivers, Mr Lee added.

Since police investigations began, it has become known that the couple have both been in remand since June last year for unrelated offences.

The mother is now serving a jail sentence of five years and two months over drug and theft charges, while the father was facing three pending charges, including one for rioting with four others on April 5 last year, before he was charged with murder.

Neighbours earlier told TODAY that the couple has at least three other children.

Addressing the wellbeing of these other children on Monday, Mr Lee reassured MPs that the children are all being taken care of under alternative care arrangements, while he noted that his ministry will continue to provide necessary support to ensure the children’s safety and welfare.