‘She is just like any other person’

SIBU: Like many other little girls, Missclyen Roland loves all things pink.“Pink is her favourite colour.

Her bag is pink, and she has stuffed it with her toys,” said her father Roland Jimbai.

His daughter also loves bone broth and vegetables, said the 49-year-old.

However, Missclyen, who will turn three in May, must deal with a rare condition known as the “Werewolf Syndrome”.

She was born with congenital generalised hypertrichosis, which causes excessive facial and upper body hair.

The Iban girl, the youngest of four children, lives with her family in Bintulu.

Missclyen’s life is not short of love.“Her two elder sisters and a brother adore her.

“To them, she is just like any other normal person. They would feed her and play with her,” said Roland, who works as a welder.

At times, he said Missclyen prefers to be alone and does not want to be disturbed by her siblings while playing with her toys.

According to Roland, the siblings would keep an eye on Missclyen when their homemaker mother, Theresa Gunting, 29, is busy.

The girl came under the public spotlight in September last year when the then King and Queen met her during a “Kembara Kenali Borneo” tour in Bintulu.

According to Bernama, Theresa posted on Facebook about receiving a letter from Istana Negara stating that the then Raja Permaisuri Agong Tunku Azizah Aminah Maimunah Iskandariah had expressed a willingness to “adopt” the girl.

Since then, Roland said his family has led a more peaceful life.“Previously, life had been very difficult for us.

Our neighbours and even strangers never had nice words to say to us. Some would call my daughter the devil’s child. It was painful to hear all these remarks.

“Whenever we brought her out, all the children would immediately run away from us.

“But all that changed after the royal couple referred to Missclyen as ‘anak syurga’ (child of heaven),” said Roland.