PUTRAJAYA, July 17 (Bernama) — Azizul Raheem Awalludin, the Tourism Malaysia officer released after serving a three-month jail term in Sweden for hitting his four children, Thursday reported back for work at the agency’s office, here.
“I need to sort out some work and personal matters,” he said when met by reporters at his office.
Azizul Raheem said he had applied for leave to spend time with his children and would return to work after the Aidilfitri holidays.
He said he now held the post of senior assistant director in Tourism Malaysia but the department he would be attached to had not been determined yet.
Azizul Raheem, who was released on July 9, was charged in Sweden for hitting his children since September 2010 for which he was sentenced to 10 months’ jail, while his wife Shalwati Norshal, a teacher who is on unpaid leave, received a 14-month jail sentence.
However, the sentences were reduced and they only need to serve one third of their respective jail terms.
The couple’s four children are Aisyah, 15, Ammar, 12, Adam, 11, and Ariff, eight.
Asked about his children’s schooling, Azizul Raheem said they would continue to go to school in Kelantan until he decided by the year-end, whether they should remain in Kelantan or continue their schooling in Kuala Lumpur.
“I need to discuss this with my wife when she returns to Malaysia and also with my relatives on the most suitable schools for my children,” he said.
The officer has been with Tourism Malaysia since September 2000. Before serving in Sweden since 2010, he had served with the Tourism Malaysia office in Johannesburg, South Africa from 2006 to 2010.
“My experience in prison has made me more mature in going through my daily life, and I want to improve my work quality,” he said.
–BERNAMA
