What more could have been done to protect 4-year-old Megan Khung?

What more could have been done to protect four-year-old Megan Khung from her abusers?

That seems to be the question lingering in the air now that 29-year-old Foo Li Ping and 38-year-old Wong Shi Xiang, the couple who subjected Megan to months of horrific abuse before killing her and burning her body, have been locked away.

Apr 8: MSF says report did not fully describe Megan's injuries

Five days after Foo's and Wong's sentencing, the Ministry of Social & Family Development (MSF) issued a press release detailing the key lessons drawn from past child abuse cases and enhanced protocols that the ministry has in place to strengthen the child protection ecosystem.

In paragraph five of the document, some light was shed on the missed opportunity in documenting and reporting the injuries to the child.

The affiliated social service agency, which was unnamed in the press release, has been made public to be Beyond Social Services (BSS).

BSS runs the preschool, Healthy Start Child Development Centre, that Megan went to.

MSF said the community worker from BSS did not fully describe the severity of Megan's injuries in their report, resulting in "inadequate interventions by the relevant agencies".

The ministry further noted that BSS did not escalate the case to MSF's Child Protective Service (CPS), which would have had the statutory power to remove Megan from the abusive situation.

Plenty that BSS did to protect Megan

But as The Straits Times pointed out, there was plenty that BSS did.

In March 2019, BSS drew up a safety plan for Megan after noticing visible injuries on the girl.

The agency moved Megan out of her mother's house and placed her in the care of her grandmother.

In early April 2019, BSS submitted an incident report to the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA), which detailed Megan's injuries and the safety plan the pre-school put in place.

This was the report that MSF referenced in their media release on Apr. 8, 2025.

The report concluded that Megan had no further injuries and was attending pre-school regularly.

In September 2019, Foo, Megan's mother, withdrew her from the pre-school.

Even though BSS tried to reach Foo through phone calls and messages, she was uncontactable.

A community worker from BSS then consulted a child protection specialist centre, which advised them to work with Megan's grandmother to locate the girl.

In October 2019, the community worker approached the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) to check if Megan was enrolled elsewhere.

ECDA advised the worker to lodge a police report if there were concerns about the girl's whereabouts.

According to BSS, Megan's grandmother was hesitant to lodge a police report, fearing that it would result in her being cut off from her granddaughter.

BSS's caseworkers continued to keep in touch with Megan's grandmother, urging her to reach out to Foo.

It was only in January 2020 that Megan's grandmother consented to file a police report, informing the police that she had lost all contact with Foo and Megan.

Even then, the cruelty that Megan faced went undetected.

On Feb. 21, 2020, she was fatally punched in her stomach.

Her abusers kept her body for months before burning it in a metal barrel on May 8, 2020.

Apr. 11: MSF says it will carry out a further review

MSF's statement was met with a response from those in the social service circle.

The Children's Society pointed out to ST that BSS tried to raise their concerns to relevant agencies, such as the ECDA multiple times.

It's also worth noting that Megan's grandmother lodged a police report in January 2020.

However, the police only managed to apprehend Foo and Wong on Jul. 24, 2020—more than half a year later and after Megan's biological father filed a police report about his missing daughter on Jul. 20, 2020.

Three days after MSF's statement, the ministry issued another media release.

MSF said its initial statement was not meant to imply that "certain parties could have done more".

They clarified that "everyone, including government agencies, has a part to play" in the process of keeping children safe.

"We will therefore carry out a further review on Megan’s case. This will cover the responses of all parties – from the preschool and social service agency to ECDA, Child Protective Service and the police."