* This article is in conjunction with World Mental Health Day which falls on Oct 10 every year.
After having attended home-based online classes for months, Alina (not her real name) felt nervous at the thought of returning to school.
This 10-year-old girl, who lived here with her single father, not only had to cope with social anxiety but was also ashamed of the scars on her hands and legs as a result of the frequent beatings she endured from her father who had been under too much stress after he lost his job last year following the enforcement of the Movement Control Order