This is despite the boy’s mother, Ling Hang Tsyr, 37, having been sentenced to death last year for abetting her now missing lover in the death of the husband.
Speaking at a press conference today, family members claimed they were still in the dark as to why custody was granted to Ling.
Wong’s family lawyer Christina Teng said the family is seeking justice as it was unfair to leave a young child with Ling’s family as this could lead to mental trauma.
She said the family had applied for custody in November 2012 but the court instead proposed a consent order putting the child custody case on hold until the murder trial was concluded.
“The consent order from the court said the care, custody and control of 9-year-old Joshua Wong was to remain with the mother until the determination of his mother’s guilt in the High Court.
“Now, the five-year trial is over and the mother has been found guilty of her role in abetting in the murder of her husband. She had been sentenced to be hanged.
“But the child is still under the mother’s care. The mother has filed an appeal against her sentence and has refused to return the child.”
She said a court hearing will be held regarding the custody of the child next month.
However, she is questioning the flawed approach that did not consider the merits of leaving the child for six years under the control of the mother’s family.
The child’s statement was never recorded despite being the key witness to the murder, Teng added.
She said the prosecution and welfare officials had been unsuccessful in applying to have the child removed from the mother’s family and put in a welfare centre.
“Despite knowing there was a murder case proceeding and without listening to merits of the case, the court gave control of the child to the mother and rejected applications by the prosecution.
“The judge refused to hear the application by Wong’s parents for custody and also did not follow the United Nations’ international guidelines on protection of a child witness.
“Instead, the judge instructed that the child witness be accompanied by the mother and her lawyer to give a statement.
“How can this be a suitable place for taking a statement from a young child victim?”
Wong’s sister, Hie Huang, said that the last time she met her nephew was last February during Chinese New Year after the court granted their request to see him.
She claimed that her brother wanted his son to be taken care of by his family as the child was the only heir.
Segambut MP Lim Lip Eng, who was also present, said he would bring the matter up to Deputy Prime Minister Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, who is also overseeing matters concerning the rights of children.
Ling and her boyfriend, Tiong King Guan, 35, were accused of abetting the principal accused, Ling Hoe Ing, 28, in killing Wong at his house on Jalan Ulu Sg Merah, in Sibu, at 1.30am on June 14, 2012.
Ling Hoe Ing owed Tiong RM10,000 at the time.
Tiong is still at large while Ling Hoe Ing was jailed 16 years after he pleaded guilty on Oct 1, 2013, to an alternative charge of culpable homicide.
Justice Nurchaya Arshad ordered that Ling Hang Tsyr be held in the Kuching Prison pending the outcome of her appeal against the sentence.