‘Megan Khung was a child of Beyond, this incident cannot ever happen again’: Beyond Social Services

SINGAPORE – Megan Khung’s death is a tragedy, and such an incident cannot ever happen again, said Beyond Social Services (BSS) on Oct 23 after a report was released to review the actions of agencies involved in the girl’s case.

BSS is the social service agency that runs the Healthy Start Child Development Centre, the pre-school that Megan had attended.

Four-year-old Megan

died in 2020 after she was physically and emotionally abused

for more than a year by her mother and the woman’s boyfriend.

Teachers and community workers from BSS had made attempts to help the girl before her death.

Megan’s teacher

discovered bruises on Megan on

March 19, 2019

, and reported this internally to the BSS community workers on the same day. The staff then checked with Megan’s mother and grandmother, and put in place a temporary care plan by the end of the same day. Megan was required to stay with her grandmother as part of this plan.

Megan’s teacher also took photographs of her injuries. She was told to delete them as they were taken without a parent’s consent, but she did not do so, feeling that it was important to have a record of the serious nature of the injuries, the panel said.

These pictures were later collected as evidence during police investigations.

BSS reported the bruises to the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) on April 5, 2019, and teachers and community workers ensured the care plan was adhered to between April and August 2019.

When Megan stopped attending pre-school in September 2019 and BSS found out she had started living with her mother, community workers attempted to contact the woman. They later contacted the Ministry of Social and Family Development’s (MSF) Child Protective Service (CPS), child protection specialist agency Heart@Fei Yue, and the police for advice.

After Megan’s mother, Foo Li Ping, and the woman’s boyfriend, Wong Shi Xiang,

were sentenced

, MSF set up a panel in May to review the actions taken by agencies involved in the case of the young girl, including BSS.

President of BSS Alvin Yapp said Beyond acknowledged the panel’s findings that its incident report to the ECDA should have been more detailed and timely.

The panel had found that while the teachers were prompt in reporting Megan’s injuries internally and establishing a care plan, the incident report was sent to ECDA later as the pre-school’s principal was on overseas leave.

But it also noted that at the time, regulations did not specify a timeframe for suspected abuse reports to be made.

“For this, we are deeply sorry. Megan is a child of Beyond, regardless of when the incident happened,” said Mr Yapp.

“We have made changes to how we work, but the truth is that we will always carry with us the weight of knowing we should have done better.”

BSS also acknowledged that it should have made a police report when Megan could not be located. CPS and ECDA had advised BSS that Megan’s grandmother should make a police report.

BSS’ community worker tried to convince the older woman to make a report, but she was hesitant. The panel said that by early October 2019, BSS could have gone ahead to make the report itself.

Mr Yapp said: “For me, it has to be one of the most difficult times since joining the organisation almost 10 years ago, but also (the) most important, because we want to learn from this so that this incident cannot ever happen again.”

The organisation has since implemented three safeguards – requiring staff to keep detailed records of all concerns and follow-ups, escalating a case if a child is uncontactable or unseen for two days, and activating specialist child protection agencies and working closely with them.

“Megan’s passing is a tragedy that has deeply impacted our current and former colleagues. It serves as a timely reminder how vital the role of every professional social worker is, whether directly or indirectly involved in child protection,” Mr Yapp said.

“We remain accountable. We will continue working as one network, and we will keep strengthening our practices so that every child’s safety always comes first.”

In a reply to The Straits Times, BSS said: “Our staff care deeply about the children and families they work with, and this tragedy has affected them personally.”

The staff involved in the case have received counselling, peer support and regular supervision since 2020 to help them cope.

“It is important that our staff feel supported as they continue this difficult but essential work,” BSS said.

The agencies involved in Megan’s case said in a joint response to the review that they acknowledge and accept the findings.

CPS and ECDA said the panel highlighted areas where the two agencies fell short, and both will take steps to rectify the shortcomings.

ECDA said it will continue to improve the training and workflows for pre-schools so that suspected child abuse cases are identified and reported in a timely manner.

CPS acknowledged that all calls made to CPS should have been logged into the system. It has started an internal disciplinary inquiry into why BSS’ calls in September 2019 were not logged.

All incoming calls to the National Anti-Violence and Sexual Harassment Helpline are now automatically recorded, transcribed and logged as case records in the system.

The Singapore Police Force said it will enhance the oversight of cases reported and improve training for officers dealing with sensitive cases like family violence, while Heart@Fei Yue said it will continue to strengthen its work, particularly in circumstances where information is insufficient.

MSF said: “Megan’s case strengthens our resolve to do better, to act sooner, and continue to work tirelessly so that every child in our care is safe, protected and given the chance to thrive.”