Swedish smackdown

The four children of Swedish detained couple, Azizul Raheem and Norshal Shalwati; (from left) Aishah Azizul Raheem, Ammar, Adam and Arif.

MALAYSIANS have been making waves in their forays overseas. Cases of one or other from our ranks hitting the news headlines – in our news media, if nowhere else, show us up in any number of light. We have produced world beaters, as we have produced world cheaters.

In the field of commerce, Malaysian businesses have begun to strut on the global stage with some measure of confidence. Such are the strides being made that the memories of the Dawn Raid that took British Plantation company Guthrie ‘home’ back in the 1970s are being stirred and revived, for some very much long in the tooth.

Sports has contributed its rare burst of global conquest, and in the case of squash queen Nicole David, utter domination!

In between her exploits from one world class tournament to the next, what’s there, we fear, would sustain interest in Malaysians making the news?

Just when we thought the train would come to a halt, a sliver of light shone from, of all places; Sweden.

Astro Awani – that’s us, here at this station – first broke the news of the plight of the Norshal family facing the twisted rigours Swedish justice, when many failed to give it much thought.

One of us came across a Facebook posting discussing the plight of the family focussing on the haplessness of seemingly everyone when Eastern sensibilities run foul of Scandinavian certitude. In the course of disciplining their male son, they used a measure of corporal disciplining that is the 'de rigeur' in any good Muslim child rearing manual.

This was however, liberal, topsy turvy Sweden. A country whose social mores deem it unwise – whose legislature made it downright illegal – for any form of smacking as a method of nurturing! For that the Malaysian husband and wife are now facing the grinding bureaucracy that is Swedish justice.

Like some common criminals, they have spent more than a month in remand and their four children taken into foster care – Swedish-style. Going by precedent, they face the prospect of being charged, and if found guilty, lose custody.

Friends of Shalwati rallied to her cause here in Malaysia and set up a Facebook page giving moral support. So sensitive are they of the repercussions that any form deemed to border on badgering or painting the Swedish system in less than positive light, it was taken down when Awani got wind of their predicament.

Daily the Awani coverage took off from where they left off leading right up to the first court date in Stockholm on January 30 in which our journalist flew all the way to snowy Stockholm. The wheels of justice grind ever so slowly and Sweden is no exception.

A second court appearance has been scheduled in the first week of February. The system being what it is, the couple continues to be held in remand and separated from their children.

Drastic situations call for drastic measures; and for any ordinary Malaysian family unit, this is nothing short of drastically dramatic!

Flying in like some omnipotent saviour, our foreign ministry team led by deputy minister Datuk Hamzah Zainuddin plucked the kids from the clutches of Swedish welfare system and flew them home on Friday. The circumstances of their ‘escape’ – if indeed that was the ‘bring-them-home-operation’ was one – raising quite a few eyebrows in the process.

The deputy minister was rather unhelpfully cryptic when telling the media that he had to speak in coded language with Norshal to prevent the Swedes from deciphering the conversation among the Malaysians held in custody.

His response to media prodding gives the impression that a bit of subterfuge was employed to lull the Swedes.

Ostensibly, the mission was to offer a suitable Muslim Malaysian foster family for the continued care of the kids to replace the Swedish one.

In the event I do not think that the wall of Swedish immigration integrity had been breached in any way by the actions of the Malaysian delegation. If it did, no doubt a pair of Grippens might have been scrambled by the Swedish Air Force to force down the plane with the Malaysians on board as it was winging its way back to KL.

So Mr Minister, there was no need to be so overly dramatic in the portrayal of this ‘rescue’ mission.

Where was their first port of call when they touched down on Malaysian soil on Saturday? Into the warm bosom of the Prime Minister and his wife, bless them! During the public made-for-TV welcome, our First Lady reinforced the ‘extra-diplomatic prowess’ held in reserve just in case the mission failed.

TV3 made great play of her assurance that she was ready to leverage on her personal pull with the King and Queen of Sweden for the kids’ return.

Later on, the Foreign ministry added a bit more fluff into the muddle by thanking the Swedish authorities for their role in facilitating the return. Why then, Mr Minister, was there a need for you to have communicated in code back in Stockholm?

But all that is water under the bridge. The kids no longer have to put up with Swedish strictures and can be guaranteed of kiddie care Kelantan-style.

The eldest sister, at 16 conducted herself quite confidently when facing local media, no doubt having spent her formative education years overseas.

Now faced with the prospect of grappling with the well-known straightjacket of the local Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan system, I know which ‘punishment’ is more palatable – but that is just me!

Prising them away from totally from the Swedish environment might perhaps be doing the kids an educational disservice after all – perhaps?

Everyone’s thoughts however, will surely be with their parents, whose fate is still up for the Swedish courts to decide. Datin Sri Rosmah might still have to make that phone call after all.