BABIES born out of wedlock between Malay women and their African lovers are not being adopted from shelters, reported Harian Metro.

Pertubuhan Kebajikan Baitul Fiqh, a halfway home for troubled women in Subang, has seen nine such cases since 2009.

Home founder Haliza Abdul Halim said the unwed mothers were usually aged between 17 and 23, adding that there was even one woman who was made pregnant twice by two African men.

“In all these cases, the babies had to be raised by members of the mother’s family or her relatives because no one else wanted to adopt them from our home,” she said.

Haliza said there was even a case where a baby was returned after staying with her adoptive family for only three days. The adoptive family did not hate the baby, she said, but could not bear to face the uncertainty of the child’s future.

“They were unwilling to take the risk of the child being looked down upon by the community – especially after they (adoptive parents) pass away – because of the obvious differences in the baby’s features,” she said.

> Sinar Harian reported that an illegal foreign worker paid dearly for a micro-chip pass, which was supposedly to grant him “immunity” from arrest.

The 38-year-old Indonesian, who paid RM3,700 for the document, was dismayed when he was picked up by Immigration officers during an operation in Segambut on Wednesday.

The worker later told the authorities that he had applied for a legitimate work permit with a private company, which issued the pass granting immunity for one year.

Putrajaya Immigration enforcement director Zahari Abdul Aziz said the company was under investigation.

? Found in Translation is compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with this ' >'sign, it denotes a separate news item.