By Benson Ang

THE 5-year-old was at risk - he was left to wander the neighbourhood alone for most of the day with no money for food or drink.

Simply crossing the road would have carried great danger for the unsupervised child.

He also faced another risk - in order to keep him safe, the Child Protection Service (CPS) may have had to step in and take him in their care, separating him from his parents.

But thanks to a medical centre assistant, the community centre and a welfare group that worked with the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS), this did not happen.

It began in September last year when the boy was spotted walking around alone all day, along Clementi West Street 2.

For three weeks, Ms Adelene Ho, 41, an assistant at the Lifeline Medical Centre, would see him whenever she opened the doors to the clinic at 8.45am every day.

He would sit outside her clinic, looking at the passers-by. Sometimes, he would play at the nearby playground.

He would walk along the provision shops nearby, and ask passers-by to buy him ice-cream, sweets and biscuits.

Ms Ho would see him in the area until about 8pm each day, before he would disappear, and reappear the next day.
She would buy a packet of milk or some cookies for him every day.

But as the weeks passed, she got worried.

On 11 Sep last year, she informed the clinic doctor, Dr Tan Tiong Poh, who called the police immediately.
The police took the boy home that same day.

It turned out that the mother, a patient at the Institute of Mental Health, was deemed incapable of taking care of him.

His father had also been in a drug rehabilitation centre (DRC), and was then only recently released, said a spokesman for welfare group Beyond Social Services.

The police informed MCYS soon after. The Ministry referred the case to Beyond, said the spokesman.

The welfare group then informed the West Coast Community Centre (CC).

On 13 Sep last year, Madam Georginia Gn, chairwomen of the CC's women's executive committee, together with a Beyond community worker, found the boy loitering outside the clinic again.

They took him home.

Subsequently, Madam Gn and the vice-chairwoman of the women's executive committee, Madam Ku Yoke Peng, visited the boy's family on three separate occasions, giving them food rations such as rice, instant noodles, and biscuits.

They also arranged for the boy's parents to attend a Meet the People session, but the parents did not show up.

It is not known exactly when this meeting was scheduled to take place.

Relatives will help out

During this period, community workers from Beyond and an MCYS officer also visited the boy's family to see how they could help.

Beyond has since September last year arranged for the boy, who is now 6, to be placed in a childcare centre near his aunt's place at subsidised fees which the father has paid for.

Since then, the boy's aunt and uncle have also agreed to take care of him on weekdays. The boy would visit his parents at home on weekends.

The boy's uncle and aunt could not be contacted for an interview.

It is understood the boy's father has been back in DRC since last week.

The New Paper understands that the boy's aunt and uncle will now take care of him on weekends too.

This article was first published in The New Paper