The signboard of Melaka’s All Mighty Old Folks Home reads: “Home Away From Home – Caring, Love, And Attention“. Unfortunately, that may not be the case behind closed doors.
Yesterday (Wednesday, 5th October), an 11-second clip that was uploaded by Facebook user Yee Fah Lee showed an elderly woman being physically abused, has since gone viral on social media.
In the short video, the caretaker can be seen scolding the old woman while pointing towards the room, presumedly asking her to return to her bed. He then proceeded to raise his hand and smack her several times on the head even though the woman was trying to shield herself from his attacks.
At the time of writing, the post has received more than 134,000 shares online, while the clip has been viewed 2.7 million times. Many netizens have expressed their disgust and strongly condemned the abuse towards the helpless lady.
“Speechless… Don’t tell me that the nursing home’s owner didn’t knows about this?! And also it looks like (they are used to) abusing/torturing the elderly… hopefully the concerned department will take the necessary action,” said Facebook user Katherine Ang.
Doreen Emma Galistan concurred by commenting, “This should be reported and that man should not be able to work in an old age home as he has no compassion or love for older people. Get rid of him now.”
According to a former staff member, the abuser, aged 56-year-old, had frequently abuse elderly folks in the home. She also alleged that he had previously embezzled public donations for his own gain and at times even neglect feeding the occupants living there.
According to The Star, the state Welfare Department has ordered All Mighty Old Folks Home to close within a week. Datuk Latipah Omar, Chairman of Melaka’s Women, Family Development and Family Committee, announced that all 19 elderly people would be relocated to other homes.
“We found the home not fit for taking care of elderly folks after meeting with occupants and the caretaker,” she was quoted as saying.
The short clip has also been uploaded on YouTube, which you can take a look below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04fxX0iYOeM
Following reports of its closure, All Mighty Old Folks Home’s Facebook page has also been taken down by the administrator.
UPDATE (7th October, 1:30pm):
As it turns out, the Melaka Welfare Department were already well-aware of the ongoing abuse happening at the All Mighty Old Folks Home in Klebang.
“We brought the matter up during our exco meeting and sent our officers to inspect the premises earlier this month. However, we had hoped to solve it internally but with the clip made public, we have to shut the premises down immediately,” Datuk Latipah Omar told The Sun.
All Mighty Old Folks Home has now been shut down. Some of the residents have been relocated to Rumah Seri Kenangan Cheng while several occupants have been sent to a hospital for medical check ups. The elderly lady who was seen in the video was taken by her family members.
The 56-year-old abuser has been taken into custody and is being investigated under Section 366 of the Penal Code, which deals with punishment for acts which endanger the life or personal safety of others.
