The two young children frolic in the backyard, watched by mum as they
enjoy the company of their six-week old puppy and play with toys.
Seems like your typical mid-afternoon family scene.
But behind the mother's warm welcome and friendly smile there's a hint
that all is not quite what it should be at this Wilson home. The gates
are padlocked, the house has extra security and every now and again mum
appears to be on edge.
Welcome to the life of Jane Day, the mother who is forever looking over
her shoulder for fear she will again be parted from her children,
Justin (5), and Alison (almost 4).
It's a recurring nightmare. Jane has already been to hell and back to
reclaim her children after they were "taken" from her by her wealthy
Malaysian parents 16 months ago.
It was during a holiday with her parents on the island of Labuan, near
Brunei, in May, 2000, that Jane indicated she wanted to divorce her
Chinese husband, with whom she had already separated, and marry Geoff
Day, a Perth nurse.
To say her news was not well-received is something of an
understatement. She was assaulted by her father and berated by her
mother and sister in front of the children. She was told she had
brought disgrace on the family.
Her father refused to hand the children's passports back (they were
kept in a safe for safe-keeping) and Jane was left with no alternative
but to return home alone.
On march6 this year, Jane was granted an order in the WA Family Court
giving her sole custody. The problem was this order was not recognized
in Malaysia.
When Jane and Geoff went to Malaysia five months ago, they tried to
pick the children up from their school. Although Jane actually had
Alison in her arms momentarily, she was taken back by a teacher and the
matter referred to the principal. He was quite blunt. The legal
guardian of the children was the person who paid the school fees. And
that was Jane's father.
The school called her parents and, Jane said, after they arrived her
father assaulted her in front of the principal, teachers and pupils.
A Kuala Lumpur Court also refused to intervene, even though she
understood her estranged Hong Kong-based husband was planning to take
the children to China.
Jane's big break came when immigration officers prevented the father
from taking Justin and Alison to China, as their passports were out of
date.
"We then got a court order preventing the children from leaving Hong Kong," she said.
Jane subsequently reached an out-of-court agreement with her first husband, giving her sole custody of the children.
Then, after spending three weeks in Hong Kong as a family for the first
time (Jane and Geoff were married last December), they flew back to
Perth, arriving on September 8.
Since then, things have not been easy.
Jane says the children have been "brainwashed" by her parents to
dislike her and "Devil Geoff" and have been given everything they have
wanted.
And the fear of her parents arranging for someone to snatch the children and take them back to Malaysia is real.
"I am by the children's side every night, even though I cannot sleep myself," she said.
"I still feel threatened. I can't leave them alone. I am afraid they will be snatched from my life again."
SOURCE: Canning Times Newspaper,
17/09/2001
local reporter
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