Copyright channelnewsasia
SINGAPORE: Following Megan Khung’s fatal abuse case, professionals in the social work sector welcomed the review panel’s recommendations but stressed that the sector still needs more support. With more agencies who were involved in the case acknowledging their part in the lapses that occurred, those who spoke to CNA said they felt relieved that the full facts were released, and also made several suggestions that could prevent such tragedies from happening again. Megan died in February 2020. She was abused for months by her mother Foo Li Ping and the woman's then-boyfriend Brian Wong, before the latter inflicted a fatal punch on the girl. In April, Foo was sentenced to 19 years' jail for abusing her daughter and helping to burn her corpse. Wong was jailed for 30 years and given 17 strokes of the cane for his role in Megan’s death, along with other drug crimes. Social work professionals told CNA they felt “a sense of relief” after the report’s release on Oct 23 that the inadequate response to Megan’s case was no longer attributed solely to community agencies, and that there was more “accountability” across the board. “It was plain to many people in the industry that the responsibility can’t be so singular,” said Ms Cindy Tay, director of home at Children’s Aid Society. “It’s more important that there was a response from the government body to the reactions on the ground.” The social workers were referring to how the public reacted to the Ministry of Social and Family Development’s (MSF) first statement on Apr 8 about the case after Megan Khung’s mother and her then-boyfriend were sentenced to jail. At the time, MSF said that social work agency Beyond Social Services, which operated the preschool where Megan was enrolled, did not fully describe the severity of her injuries in its report that resulted in "inadequate interventions”. Adam (not his real name), a social worker of more than three years, said the way Beyond Social Services was framed at the time put a damper on those working in community agencies. “This brought up a lot of tension and discomfort in the sector. Some people were even thinking of leaving altogether because the community agencies appear to be taking on such a high level of risk and are not supported. “And when something happens, we are independently blamed,” he added.Findings from the review panel identified several key lapses from various agencies when it came to following up on Megan’s case after the information was made known to them. This included shortcomings from MSF’s child protective service and the police. Senior social worker Anne Chew, who has worked in the industry for 20 years, felt that Beyond Social Services “did do their part”. She told CNA that she was happy that a review panel was formed to set the record straight. “Among the social workers, we felt that it was a bit unjustifiable that a lot of the blame seemed to suggest that Beyond Social Services didn’t do enough,” Ms Chew said. Now that the panel has published a report, Ms Chew said the outcome is “fair”. “Finally, it’s not just about one agency not doing the work, but the rest who were supposed to also be involved, there were lapses.” But several social workers CNA spoke to felt the report still needed to address other crucial aspects of social work that Megan’s case manifested. This includes the need to upskill practitioners in child protection, as well as for more ways to alleviate the perennial workload concerns in the sector. Several also cautioned against imposing more standard operating procedures (SOPs) and enforcing procedural compliance in the wake of such incidents without considering the instincts that skilled practitioners need in such child abuse cases.
