Tong Leju case│The abused child has bruises and relatives sigh it is useless to resign: the loophole in the system is an accomplice

The “Tongleju”, a subsidiary of the Hong Kong Society for the Protection of Children, was exposed last month for suspected collective child abuse. At least 35 young children, the youngest as young as one year old, were victimized. 20 staff members were arrested, and 18 of them have been charged.

The independent review committee commissioned by the association has completed the first phase of the report on the incident. The report revealed that children in Tongleju continued to be treated rudely, and the management neglected to supervise and never intervened. The executive committee of the Society for the Protection of Children stated that it had accepted Director General Cai Su Shuxian and Tong Leju President Cui Huiying resigned.

In an interview with Hong Kong 01, the aunt of a child who was abused said that the hospital was perfunctory in taking care of the child, and agreed that there were flaws in the institution referred to in the investigation. She mentioned that her nephew has now been discharged from the hospital and was arranged to be admitted to another hospital. She, in the new environment, is obviously more cheerful. "Qu greets her with family knowledge, and she is very happy when she sees children who know how to wave." However, she is worried that the experience of abuse will cast a shadow on her growth.

She also criticized that the existing legal loopholes, including that the mandatory reporting mechanism for child abuse has not yet been enacted, are "accomplices" in causing this incident, making the management feel fearless, "opening and closing one's eyes", and after the accident, it is only necessary to resign. Not to be punished.

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Mrs. Liu's nephew, Ming Tsai (pseudonym), is one year old and 10 months old this year and is one of 35 abused children.

Ming Zai's mother was unable to take care of the children due to health reasons, and Ming Zai was referred and admitted to Tong Le Ju.

Mrs. Liu was not eligible for adoption by relatives because she had been married for less than 3 years, but she regularly visited Ming Tsai.

There are scars on the forehead, tail, keel, and hands. Tong Leju social worker once said that his nephew was not the victim.

She recalled that the day when Tong Leju’s child abuse case was revealed, that is, Christmas Eve last year, was the appointment visit day. When she arrived, the social worker of Tong Leju sent a “reassuring pill” to her, so that she could be relieved, “If you say Mingzi, don’t worry. There are 6 children involved in the case", but she and Ming Zai returned to Tong Le Ju after going out. The dean and others looked solemn and invited her into the conference room for a meeting. They changed their words and said that after checking the CCTV, they suspected that Ming Zai was also abused. He needs to be sent to the hospital for injury examination. According to the photos taken at the scene, Ming Zai has bruises and scratches of about 5 yuan on his forehead and tail keel. There are also bruises on his hands and nail scratches on his buttocks.

After the dean apologized, the attitude was evasive: I feel that I have no intention of apologizing

Mrs. Liu recalled later that the hospital social worker had called the police on December 22 last year to inform him that Ming Zai was injured, but he only said it was "the front servant fell in the shower", but did not know that there would be staff. She was suspected of child abuse and has been reported to the police. "Actually, it's good to think about it. In fact, I already knew about it, but I didn't explain it to my parents?" She pointed out that she complained to the hospital after the incident. She called to apologize, but she felt that the other party's attitude was evasive: "I'm sorry for the late notification, because they are very busy, and the children are under the supervision of the SWD, so I just need to explain to the SWD, I don't feel that I have the heart to apologize."

Ming Tsai's tail keel had bruises and scratches of about 5 yuan in size. Mrs. Lau said that after the investigation report was published, she believed that the injury was not ruled out and was "moved by a child worker's kick" as mentioned in the report.

(provided by respondents)

Ming Zai was finally hospitalized for 12 days. After being judged, it was listed as a case of abuse. After being discharged from the hospital, he was arranged to be admitted to a temporary place in another institution.

Mrs. Liu said that Mingzai was happier than before when he moved to the new institution for only ten days. "Maybe it was because he was with the children who were older than him, and he greeted him according to his family knowledge. When he saw the children who knew how to wave, he was very happy. She also pointed out that Mingzai's performances were also different when he was in Tongleju in the past. "Although I knew that I could do it myself, I would want to hug you, and I was reluctant to leave. Do it yourself."

The Independent Review Committee explained the progress of the investigation yesterday. The first phase of the report revealed that the children of Tongleju were "continuously" treated rudely, including slaps, ear-pulling and kicks. We believe that the management of Tongleju had already noticed that the children were being treated rudely, but Never intervening, there have been many findings, such as the “complete breakdown” of the mutual supervision system among the peers of child care workers, and even passing on bad work patterns to newcomers.

The Independent Review Committee suggested that the senior leaders of the association should resign and replace the staff of Tong Leju. Xia Mu, the chairman of the executive committee of the Association for the Protection of Children, bowed and apologized for the incident yesterday, saying that the director general of the association Cai Su Shuxian and the director of Tong Leju had been accepted. Choi Hye-young resigned.

Cai Su Shuxian, director-general of the Society for the Protection of Children, has resigned. The society has started the recruitment process for the director-general and is looking for a successor.

(file picture)

Xia Mu (left), Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Hong Kong Society for the Protection of Children, bowed to apologize to the public and the children concerned. He described being shocked by the incident and stated that he had accepted the resignation of the Director General of the Society for the Protection of Children, Cai Su Shuxian, and the Director of Tong Leju, Cui Huiying, effective immediately.

(Photo by Lu Yiming)

I agree with the report that Tong Le Ju is a cover for each other.

Mrs. Liu agrees with the report that there are flaws in Tong Le Ju, and they protect each other, which eventually led to the accident causing many young children to suffer, but she worries that some of the recommendations of the review committee may not be effective.

She mentioned that Tong Leju has a high turnover rate, and this incident has made the organization notorious, and it is believed that it will be difficult to attract new recruits, and the institution may be "reshuffled" at any time. The whereabouts are still worrying, "Although they have no part in the abuse, but they are suspected of covering up and not reporting their knowledge, even if they have no choice but to do child care work, parents will actually be worried. In fact, they should " Punishment.”

Although they have no part in the abuse, they are suspected of covering up and not reporting their knowledge. Even if they are no longer able to work in the Children's Leju, but they will do the work of returning children later, in fact, parents will be worried, and in fact, they should be punished.

Mrs. Liu, the relative of the abused child

She also hopes that Tong Le Ju can be thoroughly reformed, including the reorganization of the internal culture and complaint mechanism, and the need to encrypt the number of closed-circuit televisions in the hospital, and improve the visiting arrangements, such as allowing visiting parents to check whether the children have skin injuries, etc., or refer to In other residential practices, parents are notified by video call immediately in case of injury, and photos are taken for record.

The failure to legislate the reporting mechanism for child abuse is an accomplice: will the management be strict with employees if there is a law?

There have been a series of child abuse cases in Hong Kong, but the mandatory reporting mechanism for suspected child abuse cases has not yet been enacted. Mrs. Liu believes that the existing legal loopholes are the "accomplices" in this incident. She also mentioned that the management is duty-bound, even if two people have asked She resigned, but she does not need to bear criminal responsibility, and it is like getting away with impunity. "If there was a law, would the management be strict with the employees, and would it be closed?" She also exclaimed that the management only needs to After resigning, "I can't pursue it, I feel that I can't live with the class children."

▼1.26 The Society for the Protection of Children released a report involving “Tongleju”▼

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The Social Welfare Department will be stationed at the "Tongleju" on January 17

01 Direct Attack・Tongleju｜Children's Club Director-General Cai Su Shuxian returned to the office on the first day of resignation and did not respond to the child abuse case of Tongleju | It is too early to say whether some words in the report downplay the actual situation and whether it needs to be closed | Huang Jiachun points out that rude methods are common among employees, and it is necessary to gradually change blood and reform the Tongleju case | Labour and Welfare Bureau said that protecting children would violate the requirements of SWD and must consider whether It is appropriate to subsidize Tongleju and treat children harshly. The SWD cannot realize that Tongleju is abusing children.