Rosita Harum said it was "the most precious moment" of her life when she was reunited with her father, a former leprosy patient, after they were separated for 61 years by a Malaysian policy that quarantined people with the disease.

Born to ethnic Chinese parents, Harum, 66, was adopted by a Muslim couple. After her foster parents died, she embarked on a search for her biological parents during which she found that both had developed leprosy.

Two years later she met her biological father, who was 95, with the help of a nonprofit support group for leprosy patients. He died not too long after.