Family Of TKW From Cianjur Who Lost 17-year-old Contact Asks Jokowi For Help

Sinta Rismaya (18), a child of TKW from Cianjur, West Java, who has lost contact for 17 years with her mother, hopes for help from President Joko Widodo (ANTARA)

CIANJUR - Sinta Rismaya (18), a child of TKW from Cianjur, West Java, who has lost contact for 17 years with her mother, hopes for President Joko Widodo's help in finding and repatriating her parents. Sinta was abandoned at the age of 8 months and left to work as a maid in Selangor, Malaysia.

"We hope that the government, especially the President of the Republic of Indonesia, Joko Widodo, who is honorable, I ask for his help to return my mother," he said in Cianjur, quoted by Antara, Tuesday, June 1.

For 17 years, he hoped for affection from his mother Ani Hamdanah, like any other child who always gets his mother's attention and affection. The youngest of two siblings from Cibogo Village, Mekargalih Village, Ciranjang District, was abandoned when he was a baby.

So far, he said, he only knew his mother from photos that were still stored in their house. Even during this time, until growing up, he never heard his mother's voice because his last contact with Ani, when Sinta was just over a year old.

"Which child will not miss his mother, moreover I have never met or heard her voice since I was a baby. I really want to meet my mother and hug her, I will not let my mother go again," said Sinta wiping her tears.

The head of Astakira Renewal Cianjur, Ali Hildan, said that he had coordinated with relevant government agencies, including the Indonesian embassy in Malaysia, to immediately find Ani's whereabouts according to the family's request.

"We will do our best to find Ani's whereabouts. Now there is a bright spot, we just need to coordinate with the embassy. We are also coordinating with BNP2TKI and state institutions in Jakarta," he said.

Female Workers (TKW) from Cibogo Village, Mekargakih Village, Ciranjang District, Cianjur, Ani Hamdanah lost contact with her family for 17 years, precisely after leaving for work in Selangor-Malaysia in 2004.

The family, through DPC Astakira Renewal Cianjur, hopes that the government can help find and return Ani, who left her husband and child who was only eight months old at the time.

"We are still trying to find Ani's whereabouts, by coordinating with related agencies and institutions at the center to the Indonesian embassy in Malaysia. We hope to find her as soon as possible and bring her home," said Chairman of Astakira Renewal Cianjur, Ali Hildan in Cianjur.

He explained that since leaving until now, the family has never received any contact or information regarding Ani's whereabouts after six months of working as a housemaid at a merchant's house in the neighboring country.