GEORGE TOWN, July 12 -- Every month, about 60 children are placed under the care of Penang's Welfare Department, but only a handful receive adoption applications.

Many are left waiting for a permanent home - a luxury that some of them may never experience.

Penang's social development, welfare and non-Islamic religious affairs committee chairman Lim Siew Khim said the department handles about 12 new child protection cases per district each month.

"These numbers vary by district. For instance, Seberang Perai Tengah recorded 25 cases in April, while Seberang Perai Selatan had five," she told Malay Mail in an interview recently.

Yet despite this steady influx, she said only one or two adoption applications are submitted to the department ...