Baby mix-up case to court finally

Baby mix-up case to court finally

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters): Two Malaysian women of different races
and mistakenly switched at birth 31 years ago appeared in court
on Wednesday seeking damages from the hospital where they were
born.

Wong Yoke Kwan, an ethnic Indian raised by Chinese parents,
and K. Anama, an ethnic Chinese raised by an Indian father and
Chinese mother, are seeking unspecified damages from a hospital
in northern Perak state, their lawyer C.K. Leong said last week.

The women say the mix-up caused neighbours and relatives to
ridicule their families.

They also claim that Wong lost the chance for a better
education because the family which raised her was poor, Leong
told Reuters.

The lawyer said Wong's new mother "suffered" bringing up the
girl whose skin was noticeably darker than her own.

"For the Chinese family it looks very strange to have a child
like that, so everyone in the village thought she had an affair
with an Indian," Leong said.

Chinese, Malaysia's wealthiest ethnic group, make up about 30
percent of the country's population. Indians, at 10 percent, are
among the country's poorest.

Wong, now a housewife, discovered the mistake after someone
pointed out her resemblance to her birth mother in Perak's
capital Ipoh back in 1992. The families confirmed the mistake
with a blood test.

Local newspapers quoted Wong's real father, retired lorry
driver P. Krishnan, as telling the Ipoh High Court last month: "I
would have been able to provide her with a better chance of
progressing in terms of education had there been no mistake."

Wong's new father was a tin miner.

The women filed a suit in 1996, but the hospital argued too
much time had passed to hold a hearing. Malaysia's Court of
Appeal disagreed.