COMMENT | Before Umar Faruq Abdullah, there was Surendran Shanker. Before Surendran Shanker, there was Sivabalan Subramaniam. Before Sivabalan Subramaniam, there was A Ganapathy. Before A Ganapathy, Gunasegaran Rajasundram and Dhamendran Narayanasamy, there was Chandran Perumal.

At 47 years old, Chandran was considered a “star employee” among the lorry drivers at LM Partners Sdn Bhd. He worked hard to earn him a “special vehicle” at the construction sites. He also understood enough that he needed to get along with everyone and avoid arguments since he was an outsider.

But above all he was quiet. And the only thing that could make him happy, it seems, was his family. Twice a week, he would travel 300km back to Johor to see his wife and six girls - the youngest was only five. Of the RM4,500 he earns every month, he gives RM3,000 to his wife as household expenses. Having a big and loving family was the greatest joy of his life.

One day, he heard that an Indonesian woman wanted to give her child up for adoption to avoid the child’s stateless status...