KUALA LUMPUR – A distraught Singaporean mother has been left in the lurch since May as she attempts to secure an interim order from the Johor Bahru Shariah High Court to reunite with her son, whom she claims was kidnapped and brought to Malaysia by her ex-husband.
The mother, Cuban-born Daylin Limonte Alvarez, 36, applied to the Johor shariah court on July 10 to enforce a Singaporean shariah judicial order granting her primary guardianship of her son, Caleb Liang Wei Luqman Limonte, 6.
Alvarez last saw Caleb on May 25 when her ex-husband, Singaporean national Luqman Liang Hsien Masoon, took him for the weekend. He did not return the child when supposed to and left the republic for Malaysia with the boy.
Pending the Malaysian shariah court’s decision on enforcing the custodial order by Singapore, Alvarez has also filed another application for an interim order seeking immediate temporary guardianship of Caleb.
However, although almost five months have passed since Alvarez filed the two court applications in Johor, there has been little progress, causing the mother to live on edge as she worries about the wellbeing of her son.
“The complication is that each application process requires the papers to be served on my ex-husband, but there’s no way for me to know where he is.
“I have to apply for substituted service (serving documents via message or emails) and all this takes a long time,” Alvarez told Scoop.
The Singapore citizen has told authorities that she believes her ex-husband and son are staying at an apartment in Johor Bahru.
She said the Singapore Consulate in Johor Bahru confirmed with the Malaysian Immigration Department that Caleb and Luqman entered the country via the Woodlands Checkpoint on May 27.
“The (Singapore) vice-consul requested to be informed if (Luqman) tries to exit Malaysia, but since we have not received any such notification, I assume that he and Caleb are still in Malaysia.
“Luqman is not responding to my communications and it looks like his handphone number is no longer in use.
“His friends are looking out for him on social media on my behalf, but he seems to be gone (from all platforms),” she added, noting that the duo’s visa had lapsed on June 27.
As of November 22, Alvarez has also filed two reports at the central Johor Bahru police station, both of which she claims have yet to yield meaningful action from authorities as a court order is required for police to initiate a search.
Language barriers have made it difficult to deal with agencies here, she added.
Weekly visit turned nightmare
Luqman and Alvarez, who is currently employed as a marketing officer, dated for two years before tying the knot in late 2017. Caleb was born the following year.
The couple separated in 2019 and officially divorced in 2021, with the Singapore Shariah court initially granting them shared custody of Caleb, before awarding Alvarez with more jurisdiction over the child.
“In the beginning, Caleb stayed with me, and Luqman and I shared custody in terms of education, hospitalisation and religion.
“Last year, I was made the decision-maker for education and the guardian of (Caleb’s) passport (as) the father had been very unreasonable for some time,” Alvarez said.
She clarified that while either parent is at liberty to bring their son overseas, Luqman can only do so when he has custody of the boy on weekends, and is also required to inform the mother prior to such trips.
Alvarez’s ordeal began when Luqman refused to return Caleb after a two-day visit that began on May 25, forcing Alvarez to turn to Singapore police.
“The police came, but Luqman refused to hand over the child. We left after he promised to take Caleb to school the next day, but Caleb never made it to school,” she said.
Singapore’s Immigration & Checkpoints Authority confirmed Luqman and Caleb’s entry to Malaysia a week after a missing persons report was lodged.
Labelling her previous marriage as “toxic”, Alvarez believes Luqman would not harm their child, asserting that the worst he could do is “manipulate” Caleb as a way of lashing out at her.
However, she expressed worry if the situation were to potentially take a drastic turn, citing the fact that Malaysia is not a signatory to the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.
Malaysia has not adopted the convention, which is a multilateral treaty aimed at ensuring the expeditious return of a child who was wrongfully abducted overseas by a parent, as it could contradict existing Shariah laws.
“It’s easy (for Luqman) to disappear,” Alvarez said.
Those with information on Luqman or Caleb’s whereabouts can reach out to police or Alvarez via a website set up to raise awareness on the case. – November 23, 2024
