YOURSAY | Wrong to ‘manipulate’ children in conversion row

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Loh challenges kids’ conversion, says ex-hubby legally unfit

KUALA LUMPUR: A single mother, who last month obtained custody of her three minor children from the Perlis religious authorities, is now seeking a declaration that her ex-husband was legally unfit to convert them to Islam.

Loh Siew Hong is also asking for a declaration that a provision in the Perlis state enactment that allows for a parent to unilaterally convert minor children is unconstitutional.

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PAS issues ‘stern warning’ against moves to nullify conversion of Loh’s children

PETALING JAYA: PAS has issued a warning against anyone trying to nullify the conversion of single mother Loh Siew Hong’s three children.

“PAS would like to give a stern warning that no party should or try to change the religion of these children,” its information chief, Khairil Nizam Khirudin, said.

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After PAS’ warning, Loh’s lawyers condemn intimidation ahead of challenge against her three kids’ unilateral conversion

KUALA LUMPUR, March 29 ― Hindu mother Loh Siew Hong’s lawyers today condemned any attempts to threaten or intimidate their client for pursuing a court challenge against her Muslim convert ex-husband’s unilateral conversion of her three young children to Islam.

In a statement issued by the law firm Srimurugan & Co representing Loh, it noted that PAS had been reported to have issued a stern warning against Loh for filing a lawsuit to seek to nullify her three children’s unilateral religious conversion.

“We are of the view that any form of threat, expressly or impliedly, or even a warning, discouraging a litigant from pursuing his or her legal right in court, amounts to serious interference with the administration of justice and constitutes criminal contempt of court.

“We condemn any form of intimidation, pressure or smear campaign against Madam Loh Siew Hong,” the law firm said.

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Single mum hopes AG won’t oppose suit over children’s conversion

KUALA LUMPUR: Single mother Loh Siew Hong, who is seeking a declaration that her former husband is legally unfit to convert their minor children to Islam, hopes that Attorney-General Idrus Harun will not oppose her leave application for a judicial review.

Her lawyer, A Srimurugan, said Loh had a genuine grievance and an arguable case.

“We hope the attorney-general will not oppose her application on grounds that it is frivolous and an abuse of the court process,” he told FMT.

Judge Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh will hear the leave application via an online proceeding on May 17.

Srimurugan said sealed copies of court documents will be served on the attorney-general at his office in Putrajaya in a day or two.

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Multi-faith group slams ‘seditious’ call by PAS over conversion case

PETALING JAYA: A group representing non-Muslim faiths has defended a single mother’s bid to nullify the unilateral conversion of her children to Islam, saying it was her constitutional right to do so.

The Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism (MCCBCHST) also said PAS’ warning against such attempts were not only “extreme and seditious”, but contravened the Federal Constitution as well as the Penal Code.

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Loh files police report against PAS leader, preacher

GEORGE TOWN: Loh Siew Hong has filed a police report against a PAS leader for criminal intimidation after the latter issued a “stern warning” against challenging the unilateral conversion of her children.

The mother of three also lodged a police report against a preacher for slander.

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Preacher lodges report to deny Loh Siew Hong’s claims

PETALING JAYA: A counter police report has been lodged on behalf of preacher Firdaus Wong Wai Hung against allegations by single mother Loh Siew Hong, who is seeking to annul the religious conversion of her children.

The report was lodged at Wangsa Maju in Kuala Lumpur. Wong told FMT the aide had filed the report on his behalf “because I’ve tested positive for Covid-19”.

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High Court declares Selangor-born woman ‘not a Muslim’, says her unilateral conversion to Islam at age four invalid

KUALA LUMPUR, April 4 — The High Court has declared a 35-year-old woman — born in Selangor to a Hindu father and an initially Buddhist mother — to be not a person professing the religion of Islam, ruling that her unilateral conversion to Islam at the age of four by her Muslim convert mother was invalid from the start.

The Selangor-born woman had said her case is not about apostasy or leaving the faith of Islam, but was instead about her never being a Muslim in the first place.

This woman, identified only as D to protect her privacy, was born in November 1986 to a non-Muslim couple married under civil laws via the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act 1976. Her late father was of Indian ethnicity, while her mother is of Chinese ethnicity.

D will be turning 36 this year. She has spent the last eight years going to the courts to seek a declaration that she is not a Muslim, in order to have the National Registration Department (NRD) remove the word “Islam” from her identity card.

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In helping Loh, I saw only a struggling mother, says activist

PETALING JAYA: When Hartini Zainudin decided to help Loh Siew Hong, the woman whose children had been unilaterally converted to Islam, all that she saw was a struggling mother trying to rebuild her family.

Race and religion were never a factor for Haritini, co-founder of the Yayasan Chow Kit shelter, when she publicly backed Loh in her custody case and later launched a donation campaign to help Loh set up a food business.

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Court to decide Loh’s bid to quash unilateral conversion of kids on Aug 1

KUALA LUMPUR – Single mother Loh Siew Hong will find out in 10 weeks’ time if her judicial review application to quash the unilateral conversion of her three children to Islam by her ex-husband is allowed by the court. 

This is after the high court here fixed August 1 for the decision of her leave application, in a proceeding held via Zoom today. 
Loh’s lawyer Shamsher Singh Thind said the Attorney-General's Chambers had no objection to Loh’s leave application.

“However, the respondents’ lawyers did (object),” he told The Vibes, adding that a full statement on the matter will be issued to the press later.

Loh had initially filed an application for a judicial review on March 25 to quash her children’s unilateral conversion and is seeking a declaration that a Perlis enactment allowing for such conversions of minors is null and void.

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