Wednesday, October 03, 2007

Shahrizat And Child Protection Plan

I am optimistic. I don't know what Women, Family and Community Development Minister Shahrizat Abdul Jalil has in mind but it looks encouraging from where I'm standing.

She said yesterday that her ministry would be meeting with the Inspector-General of Police, the Attorney-General, and officials from Rukun Tetangga and Rela to discuss ways to ensure the safety of children.

The meeting will be held on Friday.

She said she would be calling all the stakeholders to come up with a system to guarantee their safety.

“We will be working on a child safety protection policy. The incidence of missing children is very distressing.

“Our society must play its role in minimising the abuse of women and children,” she was quoted by the NST as saying.

Shahrizat said this at the IJN in Kuala Lumpur where she presented RM15,000 and gifts to 150 patients in the Mawar, Dahlia and Melor wards.

I don't know whether we're thinking about the same thing, i.e. Amber/Nurin Alert
but if it's about protecting our children's safety, then I'm listening.
Let's hope the meeting will bear fruit. Let's hope Shahrizat is proposing Amber Alert or something akin to it.
At least, it is a constructive start towards establishing a long-term measure on child safety protection.
By the way, I have sent an email to Kak Ijat. I will follow-up with a printed version to be sent to her soonest.

Also read Tembam's and Jasni's (Arwah Nurin's uncle) blogs.

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

Today's Star reports of a 'medium' who raped young girls is on the run. Please release his picture, Mr Policeman. How can we ordinary citizens protect our children if you don't equip us with more information! This man is a confirmed rapist preying on children. Where's his picture?

kimster said...

OKlah. At least they are doing something. Actually the cynical part of me says: NOW they want to do something about it, padahal Nurin's case is not the first one and Datuk has been the portfolio for a while now.

Maybe that's the Malaysian Way kot?
We tolerate mediocrity and then we ask "why ah???"

Anonymous said...

kimster,

possible answers to your question:

1/ general election is near, if the minister doesn't seem to be doing anything radical it might cost her greatly in terms of votes

2/ the minister is really, really touched by this case

3/ the minister is truly appalled by enormity of the crime

whatever the answer, it's been well over two weeks since they found poor nurin's body. well over a month since she was reported missing.

doesn't give me a "top priority" or "most urgent" tag.

kak nuraina and others, i think we all should lead the movement. get the nurin alert off the ground, with or without the minister.

Kak Teh said...

ena, what are we waiting for? A bomoh has raped a ten year old and is now on the run. Something has to be done to protect children. And one of them is a list of sex offenders - start with this pervert of a bomoh. what other evidence do we need - there's a picture of him with the children. Pls also bring up this issue with Shahrizat.

da real deal said...

She should include the ringing in of 8-13 yearolds cycling in the streets at 2am watching illegal racing. Then round up their parents and give them a tongue-lashing session at the balai for not bothering to notice that their 8-13 yearolds are not at home at that hour.

Like it or not, we have to admit that what the IGP said is true. We have to be responsible for our children. We can't leave it to society to guarantee the safety of our children. It's one thing losing a child at school, it's another losing a child because one allowed an 8 year old to wonder at the pasar malam full of strangers. I sure hope the permission wasn't give just to get rid of her just so the parents can watch MAWI on tv in peace!

Rockybru said...

Ena,

I believe it's better late than never.

And I hope Shahrizat has the sense to rope in the bloggers for this exercise. The bloggers have been at the forefront in getting the word out on the Nurin tragedy. Blogs have put pressure on the cops, the minister herself and parents in general in the name of finding answers to questions about our children's safety.

Imagine, even the proposed "register on sex offenders and pedophiles" was a question by Kak Teh to the PM when he was in London. And Kak Teh is a blogger (or journo-blogger, like you). Your blog, Jasni's, Tembam's and Princessjournals have been pounding on this issue and I believe that Shahrizat is calling for tomorrow's meeting partly due to this pressure.

The media is not harping on the proposed register because the PM has said "Yes" to it. Which is good. We all have to work together on this.

I just hope that Shahrizat won't just look at the register because it is a politically-right thing to do.

Thank u.

Hi&Lo said...

Hope it's not hangat2 tahi ayam. Too many sudden deaths of govt initiatives to make me believe this one will stick and last the distance.

zaitgha said...

Nuraina,

I hate to be a sceptic but really hope like hi&lo, that this wont be hangat2 tahi ayam...

But definitely i would do my part if i saw little children running around without adults around by talking to the kids...jangan ada parents datang melenting kat i sudah he he....

Anonymous said...

Nuraina, this is a proposed letter to the editors of all major papers.I sent it to sos@nurinalert but didn't get through. I would appreciate additions/comments/more names/editing

Dear Sirs,

Assalamualaikum wbh,

My name is Tehsin Begum Mukhtar Ahmad. I am a concerned citizen of Malaysia, as well as a mother of two young girls.

After all the intial drama, tears and horror over Nurin Jazlin’s death, the nation seems to have settled down and forgotten. Her family has not , they cannot. And I as a mother of two lovely young girls too, cannot forget.

I would like to plead with you to PLEASE keep her memory alive, at least until her murderer is found. At the very least, have a picture of her in a corner on the front pages of your esteemed papers, with the caption: “Remember Nurin. Get her killer/s”.

The media can play a big role in making sure that Malaysians never forget and never take things for granted, because it can happen again. Please help prevent that. Keep her memory alive in order to keep the heat on the killer/s and give her some justice.

For all the Nurins, Audrey Melissas, Ang May Hongs…..

PLEASE.

Sincerely,
Tehsin Begum Mukhtar Ahmad

J.T. said...

I hope a concrete plan is put into place to protect children and not just one of those "ideas of the moment" which gets swept under the carpet after a while.

I am with Anonymous@11:33am and Kak Teh on releasing the picture of the 'bomoh'. How are we to protect the children if the police hold back his picture?

In fact, we should be having a programme like "America's Most Wanted". Photos of convicted sex offenders as well as other criminals on the run should be posted all over the place. Huge posters of them (that attract attention) should go up at post offices and other high-traffic areas e.g. supermarkets, malls, train stations, bus stations, taxi stands. A special programme on TV to alert the citizens as well should make a difference.

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Anonymous said...

Da real deal,

You sound like the stoop-eat IGP, or a cross between him and da real deal of Umno - Nazi-ri. Grow up, puny mind! So every time a child is abducted, you tick off the parents and tell them how they should have cared for their kid? You mean, no other factors are respomsible for kids getting abducted, women getting raped, and old ladies getting killed by snatch thieves?

There are other factors, my dear. The streets aren't safe, for one. Perverts are out there just as small minds are on blogosphere causing distress. Our cops are not interested to look for a missing kid who isn't a VVIP's daughter.

Let's find a solution, not someone to blame. That's what lazy, corrupt and stoop-eat people and governments do.

Anonymous said...

Da real deal,

You sound like the stoop-eat IGP, or a cross between him and da real deal of Umno - Nazi-ri. Grow up, puny mind! So every time a child is abducted, you tick off the parents and tell them how they should have cared for their kid? You mean, no other factors are respomsible for kids getting abducted, women getting raped, and old ladies getting killed by snatch thieves?

There are other factors, my dear. The streets aren't safe, for one. Perverts are out there just as small minds are on blogosphere causing distress. Our cops are not interested to look for a missing kid who isn't a VVIP's daughter.

Let's find a solution, not someone to blame. That's what lazy, corrupt and stoop-eat people and governments do.

Anonymous said...

Kak Nuraina,

So apa citer Makcik Ijat. Dah jumper diorang tu? Bual-bual kosong ajer ke? Tak ajak bloggers? Saya tengok yang banyak meninggalkan kesan dalam membahaskan isu Nurin dan keselamatan anak-anak kita adalah penulis-penulis blog, hingga yang bermastautin di luar negara pun ada ambil kisah tentang isu ni.

Chop Makcik Ijat! Jangan biarkan Malaysia lupa pada anak yang bernama Nurin.

da real deal said...

Pro-nurin alert

There's a division of labour in society. You take care of your own children when they are at home with you. You don't let them out like stray cats.

Perhaps you are one of those IT savvy kampong settlers who cares not whether your child is in the house with you in the evening while you're bitching in here. But what the hell, you can always blame the police when it's already too late.

In fact, my puny mind suggests you ask the police to bathe and feed your child for you while you're at that. Also, perhaps you can get the police to sleep with you too in place of your husband, even more convenient if he's left you for a younger babe. I mean, the police is there for everything, right?

I'm not saying that parents deserve it when children are abducted or women like you deserve to be raped but there are a lot of sickos out there (especially if there's one who's is willing to rape you, even if it is out of charity),so we need to be extra cautious as society is not what it used to be.

You just said it; streets aren't safe anymore. So what do you do? Watch MAWI and send your child out just to have some peace watching your favourite nonsense?

Don't be emotional and take responsibility for your family. The police is there to maintain peace, in the streets as best they could, not be your child's nanny.

NURAINA A SAMAD said...

pro-nurin alert & da real deal,

thank you both for coming in to share your views.
i know cyberspace and using nicks in cyberspace allow you to speak your minds, no holds barred, as it were.

we may not agree with one another, but, heck, we need to say our piece.
that said, we all agree that parents are responsible for the safety of their children, parents need to be vigilante, the police are responsible for keeping our streets safe, the police are no one's nanny and so on.

but please. let's not cast aspersion by making unwarranted remarks about anyone's concern or lack of it, over the safety of their children.
very NOT nice to say things like --let's hope it's not a case of they wanting her out of the way so they could watch Mawi.
how dare anyone assume that her parents were wantonly irresponsible and negligent!

so,folks, i'm not asking you to be nice, but cut the crap, ok?

thank you, my dear readers.

kimster said...

better late than never.
Yeah, I've heard that before.

They keep giving the same excuses every time.

Cuba la buat kerja dan jalankan tanggungjawab tu for a change.

da real deal said...

Nuraina,

I deal with these people every week and you may think it's cruel or even impossible to think that parents do that sort of thing, but they do.

This is the mentality that we're faced with dealing with them. For instance, real story; did you know that a bloke who owns a few dwellings in a settlement hit by the floods last year, who is living in a medium cost flat, sent his son to sleep in the village hall just so they can get the benefit from the govt and because of that, there were double accounting for the victims? Sick huh? But it happened.

Latest true story; couple of weeks back, I organised an event for single mothers and handed out some provisions. Can you imagine my disgust when we discovered some of those in charge of the respective recepients actually took home provisions not belonging to them leaving me with a few short?

Who would imagine that happening in the holy month of Ramadhan?

So, I'm not being nasty. I'm just telling it like it is. Working voluntarily with these people every week, I get a first hand experience of what they are made of instead of reporting it from a third party.

I hope you will appreciate that.

Thank you.

NURAINA A SAMAD said...

da real deal,

no.. i wasnt judging you. i wasnt accsing you of being nasty.
you do have a point.
in the course of your voluntary work, you have met with people who lie and cheat, who are irresponsible, who are selfish, and possibly more.
i dont blame you for feeling disgust adn contempt for such people.

there are all sorts of human beings in this world.
but i do believe that we cannot generalise.
in this instance, we are talking about Nurin Jazlin's parents.
perhaps your experience has made you immuned to such a situation.
you may not agree but i think, while we can apportion some blame on the parents, i don;t think we should be judging them in the way you have, likening them to those who have been really really bad.

i do appreciate your views and your experiences. indeed, kudos to you for the work that you do.

da real deal said...

....while we can apportion some blame on the parents....

Thank you very much. This was what I was looking for. It seems most people are happy to blame the police 24/7 while they forget that the parents too were partly to be blamed.

Perhaps I was out of line when I said they were engrossed with Mawi while letting their child go out and I apologise to them as well as the rest in here.

I do however want to air my grouses as to the Malays' obsession with reality shows. I just want to relate to you another true story which utterly disgusted me.

Remember the time when Tun first attacked the PM's policies? Well the folks on the ground were up in arms against the old man and even asked him to shut up while in retirement. I invited about 50 of the local leaders to my house one evening to explain the situation that has rocked the nation. Do you know what they asked me to do? "Can you please switch on Akademi Fantasia? Can we continue discussing the Tun issue after the AF results?". This coming from the ladies and gentlemen grassroots leaders of the Party that best represents the Malay race. It makes me sick to witness this mentality in them, which led me to my generalization.

I'm sorry to have caused you much distress over my attitude but the situation amongst the Malays is in high distress, and while I'm aware of it and think nothing of covering it up, they seem like hippies in the 70s high on drugs, with their akedemi fantasia and emotional crap!

Nuraina, our race is going to the dogs. They are turned into beggars and are quick to be ungrateful to the govt whenever 1 out of 10 of their requests is not granted. They are narcotized with jom heboh and the likes and we can't get them to show any patriotism unless we throw in Siti Nurhaliza or Mawi on the stage.

God Help us get out of this mess!

NURAINA A SAMAD said...

da real deal,

you have been meeting some really "poor" Malays. No wonder you are pissed off.

i can understand why you're so fed-up.

but, no, i am not distressed by what you wrote. I am distressed by the state of the malays.

in this area, we think alike.
this is the malay malaise -- i've always wondered, as Muslims, we are taught to be many good things,
but you know where the highest cases of incest and rapes? in malay core areas.
and the perpetrators are -- malays, of course.

and who visit porno sites? surfers in the kelantan and terengganu.

and yeah... who watch reality shows such as AF? the malays, of course.
but on the reality show preoccupation, i wouldn't be too hard on them.

but your example of the group wanting to watch AF before anything else? -- now that is bad!

Let's pray that God help us because, as I understand it, God will not help us if we don't help ourselves.