GEORGE TOWN: Single mother Loh Siew Hong is elated with the High Court decision to dismiss an application by the Perlis Islamic Religious and Malay Customs Council (MAIPs).

       The High Court had dismissed an application by MAIPs to intervene in divorce proceedings for the purpose of varying the custody order granted for her three children.

       "I am happy. What I want now is to take care of them and they also want to take care of me," she said on Wednesday (June 15).

       Loh, a Hindu Chinese, was divorced from her husband Nagashwaran Muniandy on March 19, 2019, and was awarded sole custody of her children by the High Court.

       She had been unable to see her children for three years after her ex-husband allegedly took them away and later unilaterally converted them to Islam in Perlis.

       ALSO READ: MAIPs has legal interest to intervene in Loh’s divorce petition, court heard

       The Perlis Religious Department had claimed that state laws allowed for unilateral conversions, although the Federal Court previously ruled that both parents must consent, in line with the Federal Constitution.

       On Feb 21, the three siblings, who were under the care of the Welfare Department, were returned to Loh after the High Court allowed Loh's habeas corpus application.

       Loh's lawyer Dr Shamsher Singh Thind said the court ruled that MAIPs had no right to be included as one of the parties in the children's lives, and had failed to prove that it was needed by the children.

       "The children are not orphans and they still have their parents who are the rightful party in this proceeding," he told the media.

       Shamser said the court also ruled that the children did not belong to MAIPs and are now living in Selangor, not Perlis.

       The proceedings were conducted after MAIPs sought to change terms relating to the children’s custody previously given to Loh in divorce proceedings last year, to enable it to provide Islamic education and training as well as tithes to her 14-year-old twin daughters and 10-year-old son.

       MAIPs claimed the application was made because the children were converted to Islam by their father in 2020.