Young brothers' begging ploy exposed

Friday June 6, 2008

Young brothers' begging ploy exposed


TWO brothers were asked to beg for money on the street by their mother, reported Nanyang Siang Pau.

The siblings – aged nine and 12 – were taught to tell the public that they needed the money to treat the younger boy's eye ailment or he would go blind.

Their ploy was exposed when the brothers bumped into Datuk Michael Chong at a restaurant in Petaling Jaya, Selangor, recently.

The MCA Public Services and Complaints Bureau head then took the boys to specialists at the Tun Hussein Onn National Eye Hospital nearby. Chong said the doctor told him that the boy would not become blind as he only had sensitive eyes.

He warned the boys that if they were seen begging again, he would inform the Welfare Department to interfere in the matter.

The unemployed mother, in her 40s, said she was unable to raise four children – aged between 19 months and 13 years old – after she was separated from her husband last November.

Thus, she was forced to ask her sons to lie and beg for money on the streets.

The daily also reported that a total of RM4.13mil was collected from students and teachers from all the 986 Chinese primary schools in the peninsula for the Sichuan earthquake victims. The money was handed to the People's Republic of China ambassador to Malaysia Cheng Yonghua on Wednesday.

The event was witnessed by Deputy Education Minister Dr Wee Ka Siong and Malaysia-China Chamber of Commerce president Datuk Yong Ah Pwi.