Just seconds to
lose a child
Under Section 31
of the Child Act 2001, it is stipulated that any person having the care of a
child who abuses, neglects, abandons or exposes the child in a manner likely to
cause him physical or emotional injury, or causes or permits him to be abused,
neglected, abandoned or exposed, is considered as committing an offence and
shall be liable to a fine of up to RM20,000 or up to 10 years' imprisonment, or
both.
Section 33 of the
Act, meanwhile, states that parents who leave their child without reasonable
supervision are liable to a fine of up to RM5,000 or a maximum of two years'
jail, or both.
You
have to drum children’s safety into parents before they even start having
children, so that tragedies like this can be reduced.
With criminals
getting more informed and sophisticated, it is crucial for parents to keep
abreast on safety issues and watch their children closely.
IF only” is arguably one of the most painful phrases in
life. Laden with guilt and regret, these are words that can haunt one for
eternity, especially when they are tied to a fatal mistake involving children.
One can only imagine the regret and grief felt by the
mother of five-year-old Dirang (real name Nurul Nadirah Abdullah) who was found
burnt to death after she was sent out to the shops nearby to buy some instant
noodles last year.
And we can only try to understand the pain felt by the
teacher who left her five-year-old in her car while she popped into school to
finish something quickly, only to find him dead five hours later after she lost
track of the time.
Some may think it heartless and insensitive to question
the parents' sense of responsibility after their traumatic loss, but what is the
solution when similar incidents of parental negligence keep recurring at the
cost of children's lives?
Take last week for example. Even after pictures and news
of six-year-old William Yau Zhen Zhong's disappearance were plastered all
around the country, how many of us still saw young children wandering on their
own in public places; heard announcements of children waiting to be claimed by
their parents at the malls' information counters and walked by parked cars with
young children left unsupervised inside them?
“I won't be surprised if another child goes missing
soon,” says MCA Public Services and Complaints Department head
Datuk Seri Michael Chong.
Parents are not learning from these heartbreaking
incidents, he laments, sharing that over the years he has handled countless
cases of missing children and held press conferences on the issue.
He says he has advised parents to be vigilant about their
children's safety all the time. “For example, we have advised parents not to
allow their children to go out alone or leave them in their car, yet many still
do it.”
These three cases are only a scratch on the surface of
the missing children phenomenon in the country.
In 2011, police records showed that 233 children aged 12
and below went missing while 2012 (up to October) recorded 212 disappearances
of young children in the same age group. In total, 2,938 children (below 18)
were reported missing in 2011 and 2,325 went missing between January and
October last year.
While the number has not been ascertained, many of these
cases involved some degree of negligence on the part of the parents.
As such, there are groups calling for parents of children
who have been abducted, injured or killed, to be investigated for their failure
in protecting their children from harm.
Under Section 31 of the Child Act 2001, it is stipulated
that any person having the care of a child who abuses, neglects, abandons or
exposes the child in a manner likely to cause him physical or emotional injury,
or causes or permits him to be abused, neglected, abandoned or exposed, is
considered as committing an offence and shall be liable to a fine of up to
RM20,000 or up to 10 years' imprisonment, or both.
Section 33 of the Act, meanwhile, states that parents who
leave their child without reasonable supervision are liable to a fine of up to
RM5,000 or a maximum of two years' jail, or both.
Tough love
Some may remember the 1980s as a safer time for children
to run around on their neighbourhood parks or run errands for their family at
the grocery shop down the road.
Still, it was not that safe as the mother of schoolgirl
Ang May Hong regrettably found out in 1987.
Her nine-year-old daughter was abducted when she went to
buy nasi lemak for breakfast near her house. A few hours later, her
mutilated body was found in a deserted house 70m from her house, with signs of
having been sexually assaulted and physically tortured.
“The world has always been dangerous, even back then, so
parents have no excuse for claiming ignorance or not being more vigilant about
their children's safety,” says
Anderson Selvasegaram, executive director of Suka Society, an
organisation advocating safety for children.
As he sees it, many parents take safety for granted.
“Many parents think that it will not be their kid,” he says.
“But sometimes it does happen. Children are snatched from
your hand when you are walking down the road but most of the time, these things
happen because the children are allowed to go out by themselves, or are left
alone at home or in the car.”
Many a time, he argues, parents put their children in a
dangerous situation because they want to take a shortcut or the easy way out.
“For example, if you have to pop into a shop or office,
why can't you take your children with you?”
Hence, he strongly believes that while it is cruel to go
after parents when they lose their child, enforcing the law in the future may
be the only way to make parents take heed of their children's safety.
“You have to be more sensitive about the dangers around
you and take precautions,” Anderson opines.
“In Malaysia, it is generally safe so many people take it
for granted, but when you take things for granted, tragedies like this will
happen.
“We need to get the message across that we cannot afford
negligence when its comes to children's welfare and safety,” he says.
What many parents don't realise, he believes, is that it
only takes a few seconds to abduct a child.
“Many have this misconception that the process of
abducting a child is tedious, that it needs to be well planned. In reality it
is not. It can happen in seconds, at the most, minutes. Your child can be
abducted as soon as they disappear from your sight; if they turn a corner, or
someone gets in the way,” he says, stressing that many perpetrators do not use
violence or aggression to lure a child.
Now criminals are more informed and sophisticated, he
points out. “They have more access to knowledge, they know the dos and don'ts
of how not to be identified. That is why it is crucial that parents keep up
with the developments and keep abreast on safety issues.”
Delicate matter
Referring to the recent case, Malaysian Child Resource
Institute
executive director Brian Lariche highlights the delicacy of
the matter and the fact that it is not always black and white.
“In this instance, the parents realised that they had
made a mistake which caused them to lose their child, and they are already filled
with regret and pain, so is it right to compound their pain further by taking
them to court?”
At the same time, he points out, a child is an individual
with basic rights of being protected.
“This is a dilemma. I don't think that there is an answer
but it should be put out to the public and be debated,” he says.
Suhakam commisioner James Nayagam agrees, saying this is
an issue that needs to be discussed by the public for the sake of the children.
“One area that needs to be addressed is parents'
awareness and attitude towards children's safety,” he says,
“Parents are still careless with their children you go to
a supermarket, restaurants, hotels and even on the streets, you see the
children running around on their own. But now, even the neighbourhood shops are
not safe.”
While he supports legal action against parents who are
found to be negligent, Nagayam clarifies that it should not be a witch hunt.
“We have to look at each case individually,” he stresses.
Lariche agrees. “We need to see how each tragedy happens,
and if the parents were indeed negligent.”
Anderson proposes that safety of children be included in
marriage courses, while leaflets on safety awareness be distributed at the
maternity wards in hospitals.
“You have to drum children's safety into parents before
they even start having children, so that tragedies like this can be reduced.”
Ultimately, says Lariche, a public campaign on the laws
governing children's safety and children's rights needs to be held.
“Every parent needs to be made aware that they are
responsible for keeping their children safe.
Guardians or parents are the key to their children's
wellbeing and safety. If they don't keep children safe, who will?”
