A 14-year-old boy has been missing since December 28, 2024 (Saturday), after he climbed out of a Buddhist temple in Cameron Highlands, using a lamp post, to ‘seek freedom’.
According to reports by Sin Chew Daily and China Press, the boy’s mother shared that her son was allegedly mistreated while staying at the Buddhist temple’s boarding school, leading him to believe that his parents do not love him.
“We love our child very much and were afraid that he would learn bad things. So, we had him stay in a Buddhist temple. Unexpectedly, he suffered and misunderstood that we did not love him. In fact, we love him very much,” she said.
This all started in March 2023
His parents, who both work in the transportation industry and often had to travel to Port Klang, were worried as there was no one available to take care of and supervise their son. A friend then suggested that they send their son to a Buddhist temple in Rawang, Selangor.
“We pay RM1,000 every month to this temple to take care of our son’s food, clothing, housing and transportation. But, we didn’t expect our son to become thinner and thinner,”
“In early October 2024, we took leave to take our son to Kuala Kurau and Cameron Highlands for fun. And then in mid-October, the (Rawang) temple staff sent our son to a temple in Cameron Highlands without our permission,” she said.
She also recalled how, during their holiday, her son’s eyes were dull as though he was full of worries.
They didn’t see their son for over 2 months
“From mid-October until the end of December, we did not see our son. Children are not allowed to use electrical devices in the temple, so we did not call or send messages to our son. The only photos of our son were sent to us by the temple’s teacher,” she explained.
Then, on December 28, 2024, her son apparently took advantage of the temple’s teacher’s absence to climb out of the teacher’s room window and slide down a lamppost to leave the temple grounds.
It was then revealed by the boy’s sister that he had allegedly been accused by temple staff of doing something wrong, and was punished and humiliated.
“My son never told us his worries. My daughter said that he had told her about the punishments he received at the temple. We were at a loss. We just want him to come home so that we can discuss everything. We don’t blame him. We trust him and ask that he come home,” she added.
CCTV footage shows the boy climbing down the lamp post at 12:58am on December 28, 2024.
He was wearing an orange long-sleeved shirt and blue trousers while carrying a blue backpack and an umbrella.
The temple allegedly lied about finding the boy
“After my son went missing, the temple did not inform us immediately but informed us the next morning. And then, they told us not to act rashly and post this incident online,”
“On the 3rd day after my son went missing, we learned that the temple notified the volunteer patrol team that they had successfully found my son, so we immediately rushed to Cameron Highlands. However, when we arrived at the police station, the police said that there was still no trace of him which made us very disappointed and gave us a strange feeling,” she said.
She then lodged a police report at the Sungai Buloh station, near where they live, and later managed to retrieve her son’s identity card that was being kept at the Buddhist temple in Rawang.
The boy allegedly left a letter stating that he “wanted to find freedom” and was “going to Ipoh”. He also apparently told his parents not to look for him.
“However, he had been penniless for half a month. We are very worried about his safety,” his mother shared.
She is now hoping that the power of the internet and the kindness of the general public will help locate her son and bring him home safely.
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