The tragic death of a five-year-old boy in Hong Kong, who was starved to death by his 37-year-old mother with a history of drug abuse, has prompted a judge to criticize social services for missing critical warning signs. In her ruling, the judge lamented that the outcome could have been different if social workers had noticed the boy was "just skin and bones." This statement highlights a significant failure in the system, as a Social Welfare Department worker had visited the family just three months before the boy's death in September 2022. During that visit, the worker reported observing "no visible injuries" on the boy's face or any other irregularities.