GEORGE TOWN: Now that her children are back with her, single mother Loh Siew Hong is busy getting them everything they need – and foremost on her mind is their education.

       Loh said her children have big dreams. One of her daughters aspires to be a police officer while the other wants to be a counsellor or lawyer.

       “As for my son, he wants to repair big drones when he grows up,” she laughed.

       She is now looking around for schools to enrol them in.

       “Since my children are staying with me in Kuala Lumpur now, I need to transfer them to new schools. I want to send them to schools nearby, but I don’t know which ones yet,” Loh added.

       Before this, her two 14-year-old twin daughters were in a religious school while her 10-year-old son was in a tahfiz school.

       Loh said she would do everything in her power to give her three children happy and normal lives.

       “I want to buy them things and let them enjoy life.

       “They are asking me if I can get them books, colour pencils, clothes and even comfortable beds.

       “They hope to get bicycles and tablets like other normal kids. I will do my best to ensure a proper education for them and to make them feel at home,” she said, holding back tears.

       Loh, who currently works as an assistant chef, is also thinking about starting a food truck business to increase her income stream and save money for the children’s education.

       “I love cooking and even studied culinary arts at a community college. If I had a food truck, I could sell food at various places.

       “That way, I could earn more money to save up for my children’s education,” she said.

       For now, Loh has taken unpaid leave to spend time bonding with her children.

       “Since the school holidays will begin soon (on Feb 25), I am planning to apply for extended unpaid leave to spend more time with them.

       “I will take them to Genting Highlands for the holidays but first, I will have to buy them some new clothes,” the 35-year-old said, adding that all three kids had been fully vaccinated against Covid-19.

       On Monday, the Kuala Lumpur High Court allowed Loh’s habeas corpus application and ordered the children to be released from the Social Welfare Department’s care and back into her custody and care.

       After Loh’s divorce in 2019, the High Court previously granted her sole custody of the children.

       Loh, however, lost contact with her children for three years after a hospital stay caused by injuries allegedly due to domestic abuse.

       He ex-husband, an Indian-Muslim convert, had taken the children to Perlis and arranged for them to be converted to Islam.

       He has since been arrested for a drug offence and is now in prison in Kelantan.