The father of a six-year-old Singaporean schoolgirl, who left to study in Australia after the republic's government banned her from wearing the tudung (Muslim headscaf), said he may bring his family to Malaysia due to financial constraints.

Mohamed Nasser Jamaludin said Malaysia is one of the best options if he can no longer support his family in Melbourne. He would have to spend at least A$12,000 (RM24,868) a year to educate his three children there.

The in-flight services officer is also worried that he may loose his job since he has exceeded the annual leave he applied last month to arrange accommodation for his family in Melbourne.

He told malaysiakini in a telephone interview yesterday that he was forced to stay on as the home-leasing procedure in Australia was lengthy and tedious.

Mohamed Nasser complained that his employer had refused to approve his application for unpaid leave.