Life of a mother in ISA,Malaysia.

‘I was told to strip twice’, sole woman ISA detainee tells Suhakam.

A female Internal Security Act detainee told a Malaysian Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) inquiry that police officers ordered her to strip naked on two occasions and also threatened to arrest her children.

Ng Chooi Choon, 56, was detained for allegedly falsifying travel documents and being involved in the trafficking of migrant workers.

The mother of three, who also recruited foreign women to work in local nightspots, is the only female ISA detainee being held at the Kamunting Detention Centre in Taiping, Perak.

“I was asked by a constable and a corporal to take off my clothes. I was thinking maybe they wanted a free show.

“I told him that I was old enough to be their mother and then told them that they should go home and see their own mother, but I had no choice as I was in custody. They stood there and had a good look,” she told the Suhakam panel which consisted of commissioners Harun Hashim, Hamdan Adnan and Asiah Abu Samah.

Ng, who hails from Kuala Lumpur, said she was held at the Pandan Indah police station and later transferred to the Jalan Bandar police station before being sent to Kamunting where she is serving a two-year detention order, which can be extended indefinitely.

According to Ng, she was told by the police to strip twice. However, she did not specify where the alleged incidents took place.

“I reported it to the authorities only when I came to Kamunting because I was afraid the police would put pins and needles into me,” she told the inquiry.

“I also told the police officers [involved] in the incident that what they did was between themselves and their God,” she added.

Ng said the police had told her that under the ISA, she would not be allowed to meet family members or lawyers.

When told by commissioner Hamdan that it was her constitutional right to seek legal counsel, she replied: “I think those issues are too deep for me.”

She also said that police had threatened to arrest her children if she did not cooperate.

Ng later appealed to the commission for an early release, claiming that her children were being harassed by her ex-husband.

“My children need me now. My husband is trying to pimp one of my daughters so he can have an easy life. When I was around he would be afraid of going near them but now that I am inside, I cannot do anything [to protect them].

“My son who wanted to be a police officer, and was a national [sharp] shooter, also had his dreams squashed with my arrest. I want to rebuild his confidence again when I go out,” said Ng, who immediately broke down and cried.

Malaysian government should demolish this torture camp rather than increasing the number of detainees and its torture levels day by day.

ISA-stands for Internal Security Act or Internal Satanic Act?