8 hours ago
3
SINGAPORE: More than 300 days passed between the moment a preschool teacher first noticed bruises on four-year-old Megan Khung in March 2019 and her death from physical abuse by her mother and her then-boyfriend.
In that time, child protection officers and social workers from various agencies involved in the case had taken actions to escalate Megan’s case to the police, but there were “instances of a lack of clear understanding and communication” among them, a review panel found on Thursday (Oct 23).
Gaps in the child protection ecosystem, as well as procedures that were not followed by officers involved, led to a lack of police and social interventions in the abuse at the time.
In the end, Megan died after suffering more than a year of physical and emotional abuse by her mother Foo Li Ping, and her then-boyfriend Brian Wong.
The panel’s report detailed how it all happened.
January to March 2019: Megan's absence from school raises questions
Megan’s mother moved to a rented apartment in a condominium along Guillemard Road in Jan 2019 after entering into a relationship with Wong in November the previous year.
Before this, Megan and her mother were living with Megan’s maternal grandmother since April 2017.
Megan continued to stay with her grandmother, but would stay over at the rented apartment on some weekends. At the time, Megan was enrolled in the preschool Healthy Start Child Development Centre.
She started to be absent from preschool frequently in the first quarter of 2019, having been absent from Feb 18, 2019 to Mar 18, 2019, with the exception of five days in February.
Staff from Megan’s preschool and a community worker from Beyond Social Services, the social service agency that runs the preschool, communicated with Megan’s mother over WhatsApp regarding her daughter’s absence.
On Mar 9, 2019, Foo told the community worker that Megan was not attending preschool as she had taken “disciplinary action” on her daughter and “did not want the school to think that Megan had been abused”.
Staff members from both the preschool and Beyond Social Services continued to engage the mother on when Megan would return to the preschool and the care arrangements for her daughter.
Mar 19, 2019: Preschool spots bruises on Megan
Megan returned to preschool after a lengthy absence.
Her teachers observed that there were bruises on her body during their routine health and physical check, and alerted the school and Beyond Social Services’ community workers.
Beyond Social Services’ community workers then contacted Megan’s mother and the grandmother for a meeting and spoke to them separately.
When questioned by school staff and Beyond Social Services’ community workers, Megan’s mother said that some of the bruises were due to the disciplinary action inflicted by her, while others were injuries she got when Megan fell while cycling.
The community workers assessed this to be a case of "excessive discipline" and developed a temporary care plan where Megan would stay overnight only at her grandmother’s house until a long-term arrangement was fixed for Megan’s care.
Under this plan, only Megan’s grandmother would drop off and pick Megan up from preschool.
“The temporary care plan was mutually agreed by Foo and Megan’s grandmother and put in place by the end of the day on Mar 19, 2019,” the review panel stated in its report.
Beyond Social Services explained to the panel that the community workers assessed that Megan’s mother was “open and honest about her methods of disciplining Megan” and “expressed willingness” to collaborate with the preschool in learning alternative disciplinary methods.
The social service agency later in 2025 clarified to the panel that the community workers also considered that there were no known prior instances of excessive discipline and “mother and child have shown to have a positive relationship”.
Mar 22, 2019: Grandmother raises concerns over drug use
After a quarrel involving Megan’s grandmother, Foo and Wong, the temporary care plan was adjusted so that Megan had to be returned to the grandmother before 8pm if Foo took her daughter out over the weekend.
On that same evening, the grandmother also expressed concerns about Foo and Wong’s suspected drug-related activities to the community worker.
This information was not included in the incident report submitted to ECDA regarding Megan’s injuries as social workers could not not verify it, Beyond Social Services told the panel.
Apr 5, 2019: Preschool principal on leave
The incident report was sent to ECDA 17 days after the teachers first observed Megan’s bruises as the preschool principal was away on overseas leave.
Findings from the panel noted that at the time the bruises were spotted, the Early Childhood Development Centre Regulations 2018 and Code of Practice did not specify a timeframe for suspected child abuse reports to be made.
That said, the regulations did not specify that only the principal could report an incident to ECDA.
Apart from details of the temporary care plan, the incident report stated that a preschool staff “noted bruises on Megan’s face, arms, thighs, feet and buttocks” on Mar 19, 2019, after Megan was absent from school for a month.
The report also said that Megan appeared to be happy and had re-adjusted to the school schedule, and no further injuries have been noted.
However, it was only in August 2020 after Megan’s death that her teacher pointed out 16 different types of injuries she spotted on various parts of Megan’s body in March 2019.
They included: Bruises on various parts of her body such as her buttocks and lower back, wounded lips, red marks and scratches.
The panel noted that the description of Megan’s injuries in the incident report differed from how Megan’s teacher subsequently described them after Megan’s death was discovered on hindsight.
“In particular, the incident report to ECDA did not record that injuries were sustained on the torso area, which included a possible burn mark or wound of some kind and the extent of the other injuries,” the review panel said in its report.
The panel understood that Megan’s teacher recalled that on the day of discovering Megan’s bruises, she had taken photographs of Megan’s injuries and shared these with the community workers and the principal over the course of the day
Although the regulations did not specify how injuries should be described in incident reports, the panel noted that the photographs provided a clear picture of the extent of Megan’s injuries.
Were they to be submitted with the incident report, the photos would have made it plainly evident to ECDA that this was a case of child abuse.
Apr 9, 2019: ECDA receives report
ECDA acknowledged the report sent by the preschool principal on Apr 5, and ECDA’s correspondence with the preschool ended after the principal confirmed that Megan was well and attending preschool regularly.
April to August 2019: Foo delays meeting with community workers
Between April and August 2019, Megan attended preschool regularly and the teacher and community workers worked together to ensure that the temporary care plan was adhered to.
The teachers monitored Megan’s learning and well-being in the classroom while the community workers continued to engage her mother.
From end-April to end-May, the community workers attempted to hold a Family Group Conference involving Megan’s mother and her other caregivers to establish a longer-term care plan for Megan.
“The family group conference aimed to address concerns such as alternative care arrangements in the event Megan were to fall ill while her grandmother was at work, and to arrange a home visit to Wong’s place of residence,” the review panel said.
Although Megan’s mother had initially agreed to the proposed family group conference, the meeting did not take place despite the community workers’ multiple attempts to set up a meeting as her mother gave excuses to put off the meeting.
Sep 5, 2019: Preschool loses contact with Megan
Megan last attended preschool.
On Sep 10, 2019, Megan’s grandmother informed the preschool that Megan was unwell and was being cared for by and staying with her mother.
The fact that the grandmother left Megan with Foo was a breach of the temporary care plan, the panel noted.
Megan’s grandmother subsequently updated the preschool teacher that her mother would bring Megan back to preschool on Sep 17, 2019.
However, this did not happen and community workers were unsuccessful in their attempts to contact her mother.
Sep 17, 2019: Foo withdraws Megan from preschool
Foo emailed the preschool to withdraw Megan, stating that it lacked Chinese language lessons.
Megan’s abuse escalated in this time when she was staying with Foo and Wong.
Megan’s grandmother was not able to physically get in touch with Megan, and she also did not know where Foo stayed.
Nevertheless, the grandmother said she had been in video calls with Megan around Sep 10 to Sep 20, and that Megan “appeared to be fine”, the review panel noted.
Sep 18 to 27, 2019: Beyond Social Services queries other agencies about Megan
While attempting to contact Foo, Beyond Social Services also contacted several agencies and shared information about Megan’s situation.
They did so as concerns for Megan’s safety grew and her whereabouts became unknown when her mother stopped responding.
Between Sep 20 and 25, two calls were made to MSF’s child protective service. However, MSF could only find one of the two calls in its case management system.
Despite a "further comprehensive search" across its hotline records, MSF told CNA it was unable to locate the recording of the other call.
"It is possible that due to technical problems, some audio recordings from the period were not successfully archived. It remains unclear if the same officer was involved in both calls at present," MSF said.
The ministry added that Beyond Social Services has not been able to obtain more details of the other call.
The panel reviewed the transcript of the call that was retrieved from the records and determined that Beyond Social Services could have communicated Megan’s situation more clearly to child protective service, such as a fuller description of the injuries and that a temporary care plan had been established but later breached when the grandmother left Megan with her mother on Sep 10, 2019.
In this call, Beyond Social Services’ community worker had summarised her concerns, including Megan’s bruises, the suspected drug use by her mother and Wong, and the fact that Megan’s whereabouts were unknown.
But her statement that the grandmother “feels the child is fine (as of the moment)” downplayed the incident, the report found.
In addition, the panel noted that MSF’s child protective service failed to notice the discrepancy between what ought to be Beyond Social Services’ professional assessment of Megan’s safety and the grandmother’s opinion.
Instead, the child protective service accepted the grandmother’s assessment of the risk and stated that it would be difficult to act if the child was not located.
The call thus ended with child protective service advising that if Megan’s grandmother is worried, she can also make a police report where the child in this case is missing and she has concerns over child’s safety.
The panel also pointed out that the child protective service officer did not register the call despite the established processes at that time.
“Had the call been discussed with the supervisor, the supervisor might have requested a call-back and suggested further probing into the case,” the review panel said in its findings.
Sep 25 to 27, 2019: HEART@Fei Yue's child protection specialists roped in
Calls and emails were also made to HEART@Fei Yue’s child protection specialist centre between Sep 25 and Sep 27, 2019.
On Sep 25, 2019, Beyond Social Services called HEART@Fei Yue’s child protection specialist centre and followed up with an email, stating that Beyond Social Services “was looking for referral to triage”.
On Sep 26, 2019, HEART@Fei Yue proposed to Beyond Social Services to “contact all the relevant parties to set up (a) meeting”.
In response, Beyond Social Services explained that if the grandmother informs Megan’s mother or Wong about a meeting with HEART@Fei Yue, there is a risk that they will stop all contact with her and it will become harder to locate Megan.
The grandmother instead asked if the meeting could go ahead with just her present.
On Sep 27, 2019, HEART@Fei Yue sent an email to Beyond Social Services agreeing that Megan’s whereabouts and her welfare was “a pressing concern” and said HEART@Fei Yue “would not be able to make any headway, for any concrete risk assessment or intervention plan if (they) could not locate the child, Megan, and her parent”.
HEART@Fei Yue also suggested that Beyond Social Services continued to encourage the grandmother to find ways to have physical contact with Megan and check-in on her well-being.
HEART@Fei Yue added that it could only take in the case if they had the address of the mother to locate Megan, and told Beyond Social Services to call HEART@Fei Yue’s triage team for consultation if they gather new information.
HEART@Fei Yue explained to the panel that while there were concerns on the case, based on the discussion between the agencies, there was no evidence at that point to suggest that Megan was in imminent danger that required immediate intervention to ensure safety.
Hence, their advice was to locate the child and parent and for more information to be gathered for further assessment.
The panel was of the view that HEART@Fei Yue should have treated Beyond’s call and follow-up email as a referral for HEART@ Fei Yue to take the case, rather than a referral for triage.
Oct 1, 2019: ECDA gives advice for grandmother to seek police help
Beyond Social Services emailed ECDA to ask if Megan was enrolled in other preschools.
Two days later, ECDA advised Beyond Social Services that Megan’s grandmother could consider seeking help from the police if she had concerns about the whereabouts of the child.
Beyond Social Services once again checked Megan’s enrolment status with ECDA on Oct 29, as well as on Jan 10.
ECDA had checked their preschool system on five occasions from Oct 2019 to Jan 2020 and did not find records of Megan’s enrolment in any other preschool.
Oct 4 to 17, 2019: No police report made
Beyond Social Services emailed two SPF officers they knew from unrelated matters to seek general advice.
One SPF officer advised that a police report should be made.
However, this was not done as there was a prevalent impression that a police report about a missing child should be made by a family member, the panel found.
Of the three agencies – MSF’s child protection service, HEART@Fei Yue and ECDA – formally contacted by Beyond Social Services between Sep and Oct 2019, two advised that the grandmother should lodge a police report.
In actuality, there is no need to have a family member lodge a report as the law does not restrict who can do so, the panel noted.
“By early Oct 2019, it should have been clear to Beyond Social Services that they could have gone ahead to lodge a police report themselves,” the review panel said.
The panel also noted that Foo had ceased contact with the community workers and had been uncontactable for some time.
“It should have been clear to BSS that the wishes of the grandmother not to damage her relationship with Foo should no longer take priority over Megan’s safety.”
“Anyone who has information about a crime or suspicious activity can report it to the police. A case of a missing child should have been sufficient cause for concern for anyone with knowledge of it to make a police report,” the panel stated in its report.
October 2019 to January 2020: Grandmother hesitant to file police report
Beyond Social Services remained in contact with Megan’s grandmother during this three-month period and advised her to make a police report.
The grandmother was initially still in contact with Foo, but by November 2019, her calls were blocked.
Foo’s brother tried to make contact with her, but was told not to interfere with her affairs.
The grandmother remained hesitant to file a police report, fearing that it would cause Megan’s mother to go into hiding, which would make it more difficult to contact her.
Beyond Social Services’ community worker visited Wong’s last known residence and checked with neighbours to gather any information about Megan and her mother’s whereabouts, but were unsuccessful.
Jan 17, 2020: Police report made, but officers failed to follow processes
More than four months after Megan was last seen at preschool on Sept 5, 2019, a community worker from Beyond Social Services accompanied Megan’s grandmother to lodge a police report.
The investigation officer assigned to the case assessed the matter to be a case of child discipline with low safety concern and told her officer-in-charge that she would attempt to contact and trace Megan’s mother.
The Singapore Police Force told the panel that the investigation officer had made this low-risk assessment as Beyond Social Services had earlier determined it to be a case of “excessive discipline” and that there were no other reports of suspected abuse.
The investigation officer also considered that Megan was with her biological mother.
After the police report was made, the officer-in-charge checked all the reports lodged during the shift and noticed Megan’s case.
The case was tagged under the investigation officer as one that had “an element of child discipline”.
The officer-in-charge intended to raise this report for discussion in the regular case review sessions by supervisors the following day.
However, after speaking to the investigation officer, who said she would follow up with contacting and tracing Foo, he decided not to do so.
Meanwhile, the investigation officer attempted to locate Megan and her mother for about two weeks.
She was subsequently deployed for COVID-19 related duties, and did not follow up on the case thereafter.
When reviewing the actions undertaken by the investigation officer and the officer-in-charge, SPF found that the investigation officer should have surfaced the case to her supervisor when she was unable to contact Megan’s mother.
This would have allowed the officer-in-charge to provide guidance on the investigation approach for such cases to ensure the case was followed up.
“Had Megan’s case been followed up on appropriately in Jan 2020, the likelihood of Megan being located earlier would have been higher,” the review panel said in its findings.
Feb 22, 2020: Megan dies from abuse
In the months leading up to her death, Megan suffered multiple forms of physical abuse under Foo and Wong, who also subjected her to humiliating acts, such as forcing her to wear her soiled diaper on her head.
Megan was also deprived of food, was not allowed to wear any clothes, and was made to sleep in a planter box outside the master bedroom, where she was exposed to the heat of the sun.
Investigations into Megan’s mother, Wong and a third person, Nouvelle Chua, revealed that Megan had been abused at a rented apartment at Guillemard Road and died on Feb 22, 2020.
Her death occurred a day after she was punched in the stomach by Wong.
Court documents showed that Megan’s body was later burned in a metal barrel and her ashes were scattered later that day in the sea at East Coast Park.
On Jul 20, Megan’s grandmother and her biological father lodged separate police reports.
On Jul 23, the police found Foo and Wong in their rented apartment. Both were arrested for murder with common intention.
Chua was arrested a day later for child abuse and consumption of controlled drugs.
Responding to queries from CNA, SPF said that when the second and third reports were made in July, the "red flags" were clearer.
There was concern over Foo and the deceased’s safety, and as Foo was warded in a hospital at that time, there was also concern as to who was taking care of the deceased, said SPF.
"The reports were also flagged by the duty (investigation officer) to the duty (officer-in-charge) and the case was escalated to the regular case review sessions with supervisors, as per established police procedures," said SPF.
The case was then classified as a missing person's case, with the officers following up on it immediately. Foo and Wong were found shortly after and arrested.
Foo was sentenced to 19 years’ jail on Apr 3, 2025 for allowing the death of a child, child abuse and impeding investigations by disposing of a corpse. Another charge of child abuse was taken into consideration.
Wong was sentenced to 30 years’ jail and 17 strokes of the cane for culpable homicide, impeding investigations by disposing of a corpse, drug trafficking and drug consumption. Another 11 charges, most of which were drug related, were taken into consideration.
