By Melissa Sim

ABOUT 18 months ago, when a pupil from Stamford Primary School ran away, principal Yong Cheng Huat headed a team that searched the Geylang Bahru area he frequented.

It was one of several times the 52-year-old Mr Yong had gone beyond the call of duty to help the boy, who came from a troubled background.

For that work and his efforts in bridging gaps between schools and social welfare agencies, Mr Yong was awarded the Family Violence Dialogue Group Appreciation Award yesterday.

The honour goes to those who promote cooperation between agencies like the police, hospitals, government ministries and voluntary welfare organisations.

Mr Yong joined four other individuals and four groups in winning the award. The plaudits were handed out yesterday at the National Family Violence Networking Symposium, which brought together 450 professionals to talk about young victims of abuse and how to break the cycle of inter-generational violence.

The number of child abuse cases last year hit 98, up from 58 in 2006. But it was an improvement from the 101 cases in 2005, according to official figures.

Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister for the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS), said the role of protecting vulnerable persons is a shared responsibility.

Effective protection needs 'active involvement of professionals, the community, and people who are in regular contact with the families', he said.

Mr Yong has been helping the pupil who ran away for the last three years. He said the boy came from a troubled home and was dying for attention.

'He saw me coming across the corridor, so he put a few stolen wallets on the floor, and then folded them back and put them in his bag.'

Mr Yong referred the case to a Family Service Centre, a voluntary welfare organisation which deals with troubled families. When there was no progress in his behaviour, he notified the MCYS.

The symposium yesterday also marked the launch of the revised manual on the management of child abuse in Singapore.

A new chapter on child sexual abuse was added. In this chapter, for example, there are guidelines on how joint interviews - involving both the police and the social worker - should be done. This would prevent a child from recounting an unpleasant episode numerous times.

This article was first published in The Straits Times on Oct 3, 2008.

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