Father challenges decision on daughter’s religion
Thursday March 5, 2009
By SARBAN SINGH
SEREMBAN: A carpenter will appear in the Syariah High Court today to challenge the conversion of his 15-month-old daughter.
Hoo Ying Soon, 28, is questioning the State Islamic Affairs Department’s decision to allow the conversion and the court for giving interim custody of Hoo Joey to his wife, Chew Yin No, 23, who has adopted the name Siti Zubaidah Chew Abdullah.
Hoo, from Taman Orkid in Mantin, is also concerned that his daughter’s Muslim name, Nurul Syuhada Chew Abdullah, did not have his surname.
The couple, both Buddhists, married on Feb 14, 2007.
Hoo said he had been estranged from his wife for the past six months and was shocked to know that Chew had converted through a notice issued by her lawyers on Tuesday night.
“My wife and I had been separated for a couple of months now but I had no knowledge that she wanted to embrace Islam,” he told
The Star.
He said he has no problem if his wife wanted to convert but it was not fair to convert their daughter.
“Isn’t it more appropriate for the department to wait till my wife and I are officially divorced and see who gets the custody of our daughter before deciding if she should be converted to Islam or remain a Buddhist?,” he asked.
Hoo’s lawyer Jay Son Tang said his client would seek the services of a Syariah lawyer for today’s hearing.
“We will adhere to the order by the Syariah High Court.
“In fact, we have also filed a case in the High Court as the marriage was conducted based on civil law,” he said.
Jay said the department’s decision to allow the girl’s conversion was akin to “putting the cart before the horse”.
He said Chew converted the daughter on Feb 3 and told no one about it.
“She returned the girl to Hoo but came back on Feb 18 and took the girl away,” he said.
Jay added that based on court documents, Chew converted to Islam on Jan 28.
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp...955&sec=courts