<figure id="attachment_3213762" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3213762" style="width: 1600px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" class="wp-image-3213762 size-full" src="https://media.freemalaysiatoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/0bd8386f-zakiah-orphancare-lifestyle-fmt-191125-1.webp" alt="" width="1600" height="1000" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-3213762" class="wp-caption-text">Zakiah A Rahman, OrphanCare’s general manager, says public perception about adoption is shifting. (Muhammad Rabbani Jamian @ FMT Lifestyle)</figcaption></figure>
PETALING JAYA: With World Children’s Day celebrated today, the reality remains that more than 64,000 children in Malaysia live in institutions.
Since 2008, OrphanCare has been working to change that statistic, driven by the belief that every child deserves the warmth and security of a home.
OrphanCare was founded in 2008 by the late Adnan Mohd Tahir, inspired by the response from Malaysians who wanted to adopt children orphaned by the 2004 tsunami in Aceh.
Today, they continue to champion the reintegration of institutionalised children into family-based care.
“Many people have this misconception that we are an orphanage because of our name,” general manager Zakiah A Rahman told FMT Lifestyle. Rather, their work is centred on keeping or returning children to families, either through reintegration with biological relatives or adoption.
“We want to make sure that every child will live and grow in a family environment,” Zakiah added.
Over the years, OrphanCare has witnessed a shift in society’s attitudes towards adoption.
“People are more aware and open nowadays,” she said. “Even parents who already have biological children want to adopt because they feel they can give the same love to others.”
<figure id="attachment_3213766" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3213766" style="width: 1600px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" class="wp-image-3213766 size-full" src="https://media.freemalaysiatoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/d2e16a36-demo-orphancare-lifestyle-fmt-191125-1.webp" alt="" width="1600" height="1000" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-3213766" class="wp-caption-text">OrphanCare was the first in Malaysia to introduce baby hatches in 2009. (Muhammad Rabbani Jamian @ FMT Lifestyle)</figcaption></figure>
One of OrphanCare’s most significant contributions began in 2009, when it introduced Malaysia’s first baby hatch system, a move that addressed the concern of baby dumping.
During FMT Lifestyle’s visit to their Petaling Jaya centre, they demonstrated how the system works.
The hatches, based on a German system, are air-conditioned and equipped with a weight sensor and a 24-hour alert that notifies staff when a baby is placed inside.
The hatch automatically locks but should the mother have second thoughts, she can use the intercom to talk with staff inside. The cameras do not identify the mother. Babies are collected from the other side, and within 24 hours, they are brought to the hospital.
As of November 2025, there are nine baby hatches operating across Peninsular Malaysia, some run in KPJ Hospitals. Zakiah shared that usage continues to rise, especially at their Damansara hatch.
<figure id="attachment_3213767" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3213767" style="width: 1600px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" class="wp-image-3213767 size-full" src="https://media.freemalaysiatoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/f7062424-hatch-orphancare-lifestyle-fmt-191125-1.webp" alt="" width="1600" height="1000" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-3213767" class="wp-caption-text">The baby hatches are designed to provide a safe, secure, and anonymous space for the babies and the mothers. (Muhammad Rabbani Jamian @ FMT Lifestyle)</figcaption></figure>
“We do not know the hardships and the struggles that these mothers had to go through. Most of the time, their family doesn’t know so they are usually giving birth alone without anyone by their side.”
Without the hatch or walk-in support, the risk of unsafe abandonment of the baby is much higher. “They might simply dump the baby at the roadside or in the toilet as you often read in the newspaper,” she said.
Over the years, OrphanCare has saved 705 babies and children, including both walk-ins and hatch drop-offs. Many have since been reintegrated or adopted into loving homes.
Among OrphanCare’s cases, one recent story continues to stay with Zakiah.
Born out of wedlock, a nine-year-old boy was left with his grandmother as a baby, while his biological parents moved away, eventually married, and built a new family.
When the grandparents could no longer cope, the parents were asked to take him back. But the couple, unable to accept the boy after nine years apart, turned to OrphanCare for help.
When OrphanCare met the child, the team was stunned. “He had never gone to school. He had been on diapers for nine years. Can you imagine? And he was very small for a nine-year-old boy,” Zakiah said.
<figure id="attachment_3213769" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3213769" style="width: 1600px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" class="wp-image-3213769 size-full" src="https://media.freemalaysiatoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/a6083605-building-orphancare-lifestyle-fmt-191125-1.webp" alt="" width="1600" height="1000" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-3213769" class="wp-caption-text">OrphanCare’s Petaling Jaya centre is one of nine facilities across Peninsular Malaysia. (Muhammad Rabbani Jamian @ FMT Lifestyle)</figcaption></figure>
Despite the challenges, they found adoptive parents willing to take him in, a rare choice, as many adopters prefer infants.
“Now he’s going to school, no more diapers. He can write and read. The parents bring him to therapy, swimming classes,” she said. “We are so happy for the boy.”
Beyond child placement, OrphanCare has implemented the “Birth Mother Support Programme” in collaboration with corporations, which offers a 12-month plan covering prenatal and postnatal care, counselling, and entrepreneurial workshops.
“We want to empower mothers, try to blend them back into society so that they don’t feel like outcasts,” Zakiah explained.
The foundation also works to prevent future crises by conducting talks in schools and universities on reproductive health, safe sex and consent.
As Malaysia reflects on World Children’s Day, OrphanCare’s work is a powerful reminder of what a family can change.
Find out more about OrphanCare <a style="color: #ff0000;" href="https://orphancare.org.my/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a> and follow them on <a style="color: #ff0000;" href="https://www.instagram.com/orphancare.foundation/?hl=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Instagram</a> and <a style="color: #ff0000;" href="https://www.facebook.com/OrphanCARE.Foundation.Malaysia/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Facebook</a>.
OrphanCare Foundation 
54, Jalan 5/60 
Bukit Gasing 
46000 Petaling Jaya 
Selangor
Operation hours: 9.00am-5.00pm
Contact: 03-7773 2940

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