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BBC Radio 4 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced BBC Home Service.

BBC Radio 4

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Crossing Continents

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BBC Radio 4 LW

Crossing Continents: Malaysia's Runaway Children

Factual

Malaysia's Indigenous Underclass

10/12/2015

Malaysia's Runaway Children

BBC Radio 4 - Crossing Continents, Malaysia's Runaway Children

Five school children starve to death in the Malaysian jungle. Why weren't they protected?

Five school children starve to death in the Malaysian jungle. Lucy Ash reports on how their deaths have provoked an anguished debate about education and what it means to be Malay.

The deaths of five school children in Malaysia have provoked an anguished debate about education and what it means to be Malay. The children ran away from their boarding school in Kelantan State and died of starvation in the jungle. They were afraid of harsh punishment from their teachers. Two girls survived eating grass and wild fruits but were found emaciated and close to death 47 days later. The children came from the Orang Asli community, one of the poorest and most marginalised in the country. For Crossing Continents, Lucy Ash travels to the remote region where the children came from and talks to their bereaved parents. Many families are now refusing to send their children to school and campaigners accuse the government of not doing enough to protect rights of the Orang Asli community. Jane Beresford producing.

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