Baby Hatch

Last week, I heard that the Singapore Government is urging Singaporeans to make.. opps..to have more babies (the childbirth rate is at 1.2 on 2009, compared to the expected 2.2). While one country is calling for more babies, another country seems to have a surplus of it.

I have once written a post on unwanted babies some time ago. It seems that this is still happening. Just look at the newspapers. Daily, there will be 1 or 2 articles on babies being left or abandoned at public areas or being flushed down the public toilet. The latest news was that a newborn baby (with its umbilical cord still attached) was found dead inside a rubbish bin which caught fire earlier that morning.

Today, I am happy to hear that an organization called OrphanCARE has set up a baby 'HATCH' service in Malaysia. Basically, these hatches are for single or unwed mothers who felt that they have no other options to leave the banies at the hatch without being asked any questions. This will certainly help to save the unwanted babies' lives and prevent them from being abandoned at dump sites or drains. This will also help to fulfill the dreams of childless couples. Kudos to OrphanCARE!

Alas, all new ideas always have people who are against it.
The Deputy Minister of Women, Family and Community Department said that the hatches will only encourage more women to abandon their child. Those who approach the Dept, will be provided with counselling and financial assistance. These women are also encouraged to send their unwanted children to the government welfare department.

I was just wondering about something. Please bear with me for a while.
The welfare department has been there for such a long period..any still there is no change in this issue. One of the factors would be because of the 'shariah law' which affected the muslim mothers. If you sent your child to a welfare home, you would need to leave your details to allow the adoption process to take place. And when they do that, if the child is born out of wedlock, the mother would be caned for having sex out of marriage. This might be why there are still babies being dumped everywhere, don't you think so?

I am not saying that we should not follow the shariah law. The law is still law. But what about those babies..? Isn't the prime objective of the baby hatch is to save the babies from gruesome death?

Why don't we give the project a chance. See if it can work out or not. The Govt Dept can take one more step in doing frequent checks on the hatches to ensure no abuse is being done and if they want to, they can take care of the adoption part. The main concern is to save the babies lives first..