Children Safety Tips - Tip #2

Be a more concerned society member.

If you see a child sitting in a car alone or walk alone or seems lost or if the child is in any situation that may pose danger to him/her, be a more concerned society member by going to the child. It will be good if you are able to start a conversation with the child but if you are not, do not walk away. Be with the child until his/her parents come to him/her or try to alert the authority. By that we mean to include security guard if that happens in a shopping mall. 

If the child is trapped in a car, alert the authority while pursuading the child to unlock the door. It is important to alert the authority so that your action will not be misunderstood by others. If the child refuses to unlock the door, do not walk away but stay there until his/her parents comes or the authority reaches the place. 

Your decision to stay/keep an eye on the child may save him/her as someone else may be watching and waiting to strike. That someone may be a child predator.

Lesson Not Learnt-Never Ever Leave Your Child in the Car Alone...Event for A Short Period of Time

On 22nd July, we read news report about a baby, Nawal Iris Samsudin who died of suffocation after being left in the car by her mother who attended her school meeting for 5 hours.

Today, just about a month after that tragic incident, we read another news report about a child who was left and locked in the car by her mother. Lucky for him that he was not sleeping (unlike baby Nawal) and was spotted by passers-by who alerted the fire and rescue team. He was saved by the rescue team.

At MfMC, we wonder why the mother in the recent case left her son in the car with the engine off and the door and windows locked. The mother might think that it was a hassle to bring her son along with her and therefore would be easier to just leave the poor boy in the car. If she were to let the engine running and on the air-condition, there is a high possibility that her car may be hijacked. One thing that she might have forgotten or overlooked was that her son might die of suffocation due to her negligence act.

Whatever the excuse is for her to do so, it is always unacceptable to leave the child in the car, albeit for a short period of time. People say that children are priceless and yet, there are parents out there who was more than willing to risks the safety of their child for their own convenience. As we said, whatever the reason is, it is not acceptable.

Now, let's think about having cash of RM20,000 in the car. Would anyone in the right frame of mind, leave the cash in their car unattended and viewable by others from outside the car? While the answer is obviously a big NO (let us know if you disagree), why would parents leave their kids alone in the car? Are they suggesting that their kids are of no value?

We are saddened by the continuous irresponsible act of some parents in this case. They are not many out there but every time they do such silly act, they are risking a life of a child who needs so much protection from their parents and that disturbed many of us.

So if it is such a hassle to bring your kids with you, leave them at home with someone who is capable to take care of them. If you decide to bring them with you, make sure that you do not leave them in the car. 

Many married couples out there who want to have children but they have none. So to those who have children, please appreciate that special gifts from Allah because not everyone is as lucky as you.

  

Children Safety Tips - Tips #1

When you are at crowded areas like shopping complex or carnival with your children, always pay attention to your children. If possible, always hold their hands. If that is not doable make sure that they are always within your sight. If you find it a hassle, leave them at home with someone who is capable to take care of them.

Remember this! If you do not pay attention to your children at crowded areas, someone else may and that someone else may be a child predators.

Better be safe than sorry.

An Act of Irresponsibile Father - He Was Given a Warning Only

It was reported in Sin Chew Daily and reproduced by The Star online about how a 3 year old girl was left by his, what we would like to describe as, "irresponsible father" alone at home had sneaked out from her home in the wee hours and wandered around in a park in Puchong to look for her parent. Apparently her mother was overseas and the father had an appointment with a friend and thought that it was not convenient to bring his daughter along. So he left the daughter all by herself at home.

The rule is simple, when it comes to the safety of our kids, nothing else is more important than that. Appointment with friends could be a normal hang out with friends over a cup of drink. Hence, it was not important at all. Even if it was an appointment with clients, proper arrangement need to be made for someone else whom the father trust to look after the girl, or else, just cancel the appointment. As simple as that. Obviously the father was not able to think properly in this case. Leaving a 3 year old girl at home, all be herself, no matter what time it is, is obviously very dangerous.

So to cut the story short, the girl was reunited with her irresponsible father at the police station where he was let off with a warning by the police personnel at the police station.

This is where, we at MfMC do not get it. Section 33 of the Child Act 2001 clearly provides penalty of fine not exceeding RM5000 or imprisonment not exceeding 2 years or both where a parent leaves their child: -

(a) without making reasonable provision for the supervision and care of the child;
(b) for a period which is unreasonable having regard to all the circumstances; or
(c) under conditions which are unreasonable having regard to all the circumstances,

What is mind boggling here is how can the father in this case was let off with merely a warning? Don't we had past cases where we can learn from? Do we have to wait for something to happen to the girl before stern action can be taken against the father? Ooops, wait...if something bad happen to the girl, then the entire nation will be sympathy to the parent and again, no action will be taken against them.

We wonder if Section 33 will be used one day...

Read the news report here.

Parent! Please bother with Your Kid's Online Activity

A girl, Tan Kah Wei was reported to have run away from home in Sri Petaling in mid April this year, allegedly after she befriend a guy on facebook. According to the mother, a week after she left her parent's house, she contacted them and asked for money. She also promised that she would be returning home but that was the last time they spoke to her.

Read the full news here.

We at MfMC pray for the safe return of Tan Kah Wei to her parents soonest possible.

We wrote about the need for parents to know their kids' online activities. Children are naive. They are still at the learning stage. They always thought that they know everything when it is not. They are also going through the stage where they want to explore lots of things. So, it is the parents' responsibilities to ensure that their kids are safe, online and offline all the time.

 

When a Child Goes Missing...The Victim, The Culprit and the Criminal

This story including the name mentioned therein are merely fictitious and any similarity to anyone or to any incident is purely a coincidence.

Asmah, a mother of 2 small kids, Amin aged 5 and Azrul aged 2 was at the kitchen preparing for family lunch. It is the family routine to have lunch together, as Asmah's husband, Azman will come back home for lunch. It was 11:30am and suddenly Asmah reaslised that the salt and sugar have finished. As she needs to get the lunch ready by the time Azman reaches home, she knew that she could not leave the kitchen, as Azrul was sleeping. The only alternative that she had was to ask his eldest son, Amin to go to the nearby sundry shop to buy sugar and salt. She was thinking that it was purely ok for Amin to go to the shop by himself as the shop was just about 100m away from her house and the shop owner knows Amin. Without further thinking, she asked Amin to walk to the shop and in return, she allowed Amin to buy ice cream for himself.

With the money in hand, Amin happily walked to the shop. As he reached the shop, he told the shop owner that he wanted to buy salt and sugar...not forgetting his ice cream. As the transaction completed, Amin walked back to his house while enjoying his ice cream.

The time was 11:50am and Asmah was anxiously waiting for Amin to be home with the sugar and salt. She was thinking of Azman reaches home while the lunch was not ready. While looking at the wall clock, she was thinking where was Amin? Where did he go? In her mind, Amin must have gone to the playground or the neighbour's house instead of coming back home. Thinking of that she was mad. In her mind, she was imagining scolding Amin for loitering around.

The time was 12.15pm and Azman reached home. It was a routine for Amin, the moment he heard the sound of Azman's motorcycle engine, to run towards the door and shouted "Ayah!" to welcome his daddy home. Azman has always waited and enjoyed that moment. Watching Amin run towards him means all the office problem goes away just like that. On that day, Azman was expecting that normal routine. However, as he walked into the house, there was no Amin running towards him. He thought that Amin might be sleeping. He went to the kitchen and saw Asmah was still preparing the lunch. He came from behind and hugged his wife while whispering to her "I love you". He then kissed her on her cheek and forehead. He went to the room but only saw Azrul sleeping. He did not see Amin. He went to the kitchen and asked Asmah about Amin. With the upset voice, Asmah told him about Amin has not come back from the nearby shop. It had been 45 minutes since Amin left home to go to the shop.

Sensing something was not right, Azman quickly turned on his motorbike engine and went to the shop. The shop owner told him that Amin left his shop about 30 min ago. That made Azman really worries about Amin. Where was Amin? Where did he go? What happened to him? Did he lost his way home? Was he kidnapped? All these questions started to play in his mind.

At home, Asmah was no longer upset with Amin. She too, sensing something is not right when Azman did not come back from the shop. She started to worry about Amin's safety. The sense of regret came to visit her. She told herself, I should not have asked Amin to go to the shop. While she was busy thinking about Amin, Azrul woke up. He went to Asmah and asked Asmah to hug him. Asmah did that as part of their routine. All of a sudden, Azrul asked his mother about his brother, Amin. Asmah did not know what and how to answer as she was thinking and praying for Amin's safety.

To cut the story short, Amin had never made it home since he left home to go to the shop that day. The distance between the house and the shop was merely 100m away but something would have happened within that 100m range. When Azman went to work that morning, Amin was still sleeping. He kissed Amin and Azrul before he left home. He could not imagine that it was the last time he got to kiss his son, Amin. Asmah had never thought that asking Amin to go to the shop by himself could result in Amin went missing. She could not imagine that was the last time she saw Amin. 

What had happened to Amin was he was abducted, sold to the syndicate of human trafficking, transported to other country to beg. That would not be all. Amin was then amputated on certain parts of his limbs.

 

Certainly and obviously, Amin was the victim in this case. He was twice the victim. Victim to his mother who did not care enough on his safety and victim to the child predator a.k.a. the criminal who was taking advantage on the helpless poor little boy.

Every time a child goes missing, people talk about the victim and the criminal, be it the abductor, the rapist, the molester, etc. Often, we tend to forget about the culprit, in the above case, it was Asmah, Amin's mother. It was because people will symphatise with Asmah (and her family), though she was the culprit. She was the only reason why Amin went missing. Should she be more careful in taking care of her kids' safety, Amin could have still be with the family. Unfortunately, as adult, lots of us think of what comfort us than the safety of the children. 

It is troublesome to bring the kids to the shop, hence leaving them in the car. 

It is troublesome to go to the shop, hence asking small kids to go, all by themselves.

It is troublesome to accompany kids to the playground, hence asking them to go on their own.

People know that all the above pose risk to the children and expose them to danger, but sad enough, people still do that hoping that nothing will happen.

Section 33 of the Child Act 2001 provides: -

Any person who, being a parent or a guardian or a person for the time being having the care of a child, leaves that child-

(a) without making reasonable provision for the supervision and care of the child;
(b) for a period which is unreasonable having regard to all the circumstances; or
(c) under conditions which are unreasonable having regard to all the circumstances,

commits an offence and shall on conviction be liable to a fine not exceeding five thousand ringgit or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or to both.
 

The above clearly imposes duty of care of a guardian towards a child. I am not sure if this Section 33 has ever been used to charge careless guardian in court. Based on my reading in the newspaper every time a child goes missing, the focus has always been to help find the child and who is the responsible party i.e. the criminal. Often we forget about the real culprit.

  

To solve an issue, we need to always look at the root cause of it. The root cause is always the careless and negligent guardian. Sad to say, we always forget to look at the root cause, hence allowing the next case to happen.

We at Mission for Missing Children is making effort to continuously creating and increase the awareness level among the society on the importance of the safety of our children. We do hope that the authority will play more pro-active role in this matter. 

Child predators strike at the time and in the manner we least expect. Hence, when we thought that it is ok, think twice as chances are, it may not be ok.

Folks, let us be safe than sorry.

Saying the Unnecessary...

It is mind boggling to read about the late William Yau's parents sharing story in the newspaper about them sending their 2 other kids to stay with their grandparents in Melaka for fear of being kidnapped.

This is what William's mother said as quoted in the newspaper "My husband worries that something will happen to them too as we do not know what really happened to William here.” 

The point is, why do they need to announce their plan and where do they "hide" their children from possible kidnapping? It is like telling your enemy about your strategy. It gives advantage to them and disadvantage to you.

William Yau's parents need help!

On the other hand, it is hoped that our newspaper or other form of media to also play their part and filter the news to be broadcasted. If the information obtained does more harm than good, then by all means, we plead not to share the news.

In order not to further spread the news, we decided not to provide the link to the news.