Adopted Perak Girl Seeks Reunion With Her Biological Family

By KTLeong

A person’s story, begins neither when they’re born, nor ends when they die. To fully understand their story, you have to study the tapestry of lives that are woven around them. Take Perak girl, Claire Olsson for instance.

The telling, and continuation, of her story begins with a phone call to Ipoh Echo from Marie Soskin, a woman educated at the Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus in Klang, Selangor. At 17, Marie went to England for further studies and to this day, she still comes back to Malaysia during Europe’s winter months. Until the 1980s, she kept in touch with the nuns of her Convent in Klang and would often pop in to visit them.

But she mainly lived in Europe (UK, France and Sweden) and while there, she became close friends with Per and Charlotta Olsson. It was in the summer of 1971, over a weekend at the Olsson’s lakeside lodge in Karlstad, Sweden, that Charlotta confided to Marie that she was unable to conceive.

Moved by the plight of her friend, Marie promised that she would help them adopt a child from Malaysia, as she knew very well that there were abandoned children who needed homes; who needed families. A fact she discovered during her days doing charity work with the poor as a young “Joyful Vanguard”, back in the 1960s.

Subsequently, she would visit Kuala Lumpur and get in touch with Mother Monica from her Convent in Klang, who in turn, introduced her to Sister Cyril Carmody from the Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus (CHIJ) in Taiping.

Meanwhile, in the halls of CHIJ Taiping itself, was a little girl with a keloid scar on her upper lip. Born on 31 December 1967, she was named Yong Loke Mooi and admitted into CHIJ Taiping’s orphanage on 4 January 1968, not even a week after she came into this world. Sister Cyril Carmody, who would become her legal guardian and custodian, christened her, as Claire.

Claire was a lovely child but with a prominent scar on her lip and already at over 3 years of age, she was unlikely to be adopted locally. But she was wonderful, and so Marie Soskin arranged for her to be adopted by Per and Charlotta Olsson. On 21 November 1972, her adoption to Per Lennart Olsson and Ann-Charlotte Olsson was notarized and the baby born in Perak as Yong Loke Mooi became Claire Olsson of Sweden.

It was a happy ending but not the end.

The first few years of Claire’s new life in Sweden were idyllic. The Olssons bought a new house in a newly built villasamhälle (planned neighborhood) where only families with children lived. And as the Olssons adjusted to a life of familial bliss, Marie Soskin’s role in their “growing” family would continue.

Back in the 60s, Marie’s charitable works had caught the attention of the Straits Times, who published the article, “Doing good deeds amongst the poor”. That article led to a family in Kampung Kasipillay, Sentul, Kuala Lumpur to contact her about another child who needed a new life.

Once again, the tapestry of life is woven between Marie Soskin and the Olssons, so that when Claire was 5 years old, she was blessed with a sister, Anna Olsson (Chan Wai Chee). The two became very close, like blood sisters, and later claimed that “We never quarreled, ever”. To this day, they live no more than 200 meters from each other.

Claire started schooling at 7 years old and at the age of 9, the family moved to a slightly bigger city so that her father, Per could be closer to his job as a teacher.

However, shortly after that, her mother, Charlotta, suffered a brain tumor. It only took 3 weeks before she passed away.

It was a sad ending but not the end.

Claire remembers her school days fondly. She felt lucky to have had so many good friends at school. She recalled her time in school as being very fun. She started riding horses and did gymnastics throughout her school years.

Unfortunately, Per remarried a woman who had alcohol and mental health problems. Claire and Anna’s new mother was not kind to them and at age 17, which was the legal age in Sweden for children to leave home, Claire was thrown out of the house. She was henceforth looked after by the state for her food and lodging, as well as university education.

It was at this time that Marie Soskin lost touch with the Olsson family. Another sad ending, but again, not the end.

Claire was always quite strong mentally and so, she persevered. She always had a job after school and so, started working in the restaurant industry while also studying at university at the same time. Since 2002, she has worked at Karlstad University, in economics, and has been doing great.

Today, she works and lives with her partner. They have 2 dogs and live in an apartment. They love nature and have a cabin in the mountains of Norway. She likes to run long distances and trains 3 to 4 times a week with a club, and even ran a marathon. She has friends with whom she likes to spend time, as well as a daughter and 2 grandchildren.

She lives a calm and harmonious, but active life, which includes travel. She’s traveled a lot in Europe, a little bit in the USA, and also visited her roots in Malaysia a couple of times as well.

She also managed to successfully track down and reconnect with Marie Soskin at London in September of 2025.

A happy ending but not the end, because now the story continues with that phone call to Ipoh Echo from Marie Soskin. Claire and Anna plan to visit Malaysia soon, and hope that as a result of this article they may connect with their respective families.

If you have any information regarding their families, kindly contact Marie at mariesoskin@gmail.com or her WhatsApp, available on +44-777-563-8948

The following are various documentations which are hoped, can help in locating Claire and Anna’s families. Followed by more family photos.