Monday, March 12, 2012

Nurul Nadirah Was Murdered: Was NUR Alert Activated?


Farewell, sweet Nurul.
It is a sad day for us all. We have failed another child.
Little Nurul Nadirah Abdullah who went missing after she left her Seri Delima Flats in Seri Alam (Johor) is dead.

The charred remains that police found last week have been confirmed to be that of the 5 year-old

Here's the NST online report

Could we have prevented her brutal murder? I don't know. But I do know that as a community, we would have helped to look for her in whatever way we could. I'm sure the people of Johor were in one way or another involved in the search for Nurul.

An alert system to locate missing children called NUR (National Urgent Response) Alert is in place.

It was originally called NURIN (Nationwide Urgent Response Information Network) Alert after 8 year-old Nurin Jazlin Jazimin whose brutalized and crumpled body was found in a sports bag in front of a shoplot in PJS 1/48, Petaling Jaya, on Sept 17, nearly a month after, and far from where she had gone missing near her home in Section 1, Wangsa Maju on Aug 20.

NURIN Alert was an initiative (modelled on the highly successful AMBER Alert in the US) of a small group of bloggers after the rape/murder of Nurin.
Remember how Nurin's murder shocked the nation? Shocking too was the initial apathy of the police when Nurin's father, Jazimin Abdul Jalil appealed for help (after he had lodged a report).

So desperate was he that he approached the newspapers and television stations. That got the publicity for Nurin's case.

The idea to have NURIN Alert was for the swift mobilization of assistance from the community including the police and the media, in locating a missing child.

So that no parent would be rendered helpless in face of such an ordeal.

Anyway, Women, Family and Community Development Minister Shahrizat Abdul Jalil finally submitted the proposal for an alert system for missing children to the cabinet which approved it in January last year.

It was renamed NUR Alert, in line with the ministry's brand and because, according to Shahrizat, Nurin's parents might feel offended (not true, at all) or other parents of missing children might feel slighted (oh well, what can I say?).

No matter, what's important is that an alert system and mechanism is now in place to save the lives of missing or abducted children.

According to experts, there is only one reason a child is abducted -- sexual, and if a child is not found within 48 hours, the chances are that he or she may not be alive after that. These days, there is also another reason -- human trafficking.

That is why NUR Alert can go a long way in helping to locate missing children.

But are the police fully utilizing the system?

I don't know. As in little Nurul's case, I was told that the police had sent out mmses. But I don't know whether the NUR Alert was activated and to what extent it was utilised.

Was the media swiftly alerted after it was confirmed that Nurul's disappearance was a bona fide misisng child case? Because that is the first thing they should do. Were the electronic screens and billboards used to disseminate Nurul's picture and details?

I do know that Nurul's parents put up and distributed posters of her. This is effective, to an extent but we have modern electronic and information systems to make things work faster.

It's the same with 7 year-0ld Wan Hazim Mohd Khadir who went missing from his home in Subang Indah last Friday. His parents put up and distributed posters of Hazim.

But the media was not alerted.

Thankfully, Hazim is now safely returned to his family.


My point is - I hope the police nationwide are aware of the NUR Alert and what it is for and how it should be fully utilized.

AMBER Alert has helped saved the lives of hundreds of missing children in the US. Similar mechanisms/systems have been adopted and adapted in other countries.

I'm sure cases of missing children are top priority for the police.

The NUR Alert works on the basis that we are all the eyes and ears as a community to help in cases of missing children.

We have failed Nurin. God knows where Sharlinie and Nisha are.

And now Nurul Nadirah. We hope her killer is caught.

God help our children, if we cannot....

I have said this many times. Take care of your children... Nurin's killer is still at large.

17 comments:

  1. https://www.facebook.com/dafizeck.daudDafizeck9:18 PM

    Datuk,

    And yet as late as yesterday (or two days ago), the Police gave a strong indication that little Dirang was still alive and they were close to solving the case...have they been misled or that's just they way the work, you think? Btw my company Pernec PayPoint will be introducing this Talian NUR Alert FOC at our payphones soon. Hope this will help achieving its objective.Cheers!

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  2. Apparently not. Probably distracted by (the) other battles.

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  3. Anonymous11:08 PM

    If I was not mistaken, in the news (TV) earlier,the police chief of Johor said in an arrogant manner that they are close to solving this case and based on the information they gathered, the child is suppose to be safe.

    Furthermore, there were news that Malaysia is the 19th safest country in the world even surpassing Singapore and European countries.

    This is a very sad day for the country.

    Hashimoto

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  4. Anonymous12:39 AM

    It is sad but again, this is as a result of ignorant and reckless parents. Malaysia should enforce specific act to hold reckless parents responsible for their foolishness in order to protect children.

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  5. Khairul.12:53 AM

    Its time our govt put up a new law to protect children from careless parents...very..very careless parents who could not "care less" for their children. Parents are suppose to protect their children, not taking too easy of any situation that could endanger their children. I don't have any feeling for the parents..sorry!!! They..esp the mother should go to JAIL!!! If u think my opinion is tough, think again what happened to small Nurul Nadirah...

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  6. bruno7:59 AM

    Nuraina,when events like this happened the authorities or agencies concerned should spring into action first instead of asking questions.Here they want to sit on their hands,ask questions first and know all the facts before taking action.By then,most of the time it will be too late.Of course sometimes it might be a hoax.

    In the US some parents do it for the publicity.When they are caught they have to pay a fine and do jail time.The latest was sometime last year when a mother reported that her son went up a ballon.She had to do six months time plus pay the wages of the people involved in three days search.She wanted to go on a show on TV,was her excuse.

    In Malaysia and the US the PDRM and the US police are worlds apart.In Malaysia some of the members of the PDRM are an corrupt,abusive,ignorant and incompetent lot.They think that they have immunity from the law.And in Malaysia it is very hard to take action against the PDRM.

    In the US there are some corrupt, ignorant,abusive and incompetent police personnel too.But in the US it is very easy to take action on the civil service.All one has to do is call 311.An operator will answer take down some particulars and two or three days later a complaint form will be in your mailbox.

    One week after sending in the form,one will received a reply from the internal affairs department that they will contact and want to talk to you.If you called 911 the response time will be around 2-4 minutes.

    In Malaysia to file a complain and have action taken against the police will take months and years if it ever see daylight.You might even have to hired lawyers too.And if you call 999 it will take ages for the police to show up,if the robbers are well armed.

    It is the mentality of the personnel of the civil service.If people at the top has an tidak apa attitude,the bottom will follow.Also the honest guys will be persecuted and the corrupted will be galivanting around.For example take the former head of the CCID and six of his subordinates.

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  7. dafizeck: i'm not sure why the police at that point believed that Dirang was still alive. I know that they detained 4 people (relatives) including Dirang's bioligical father.

    With missing children, i don't have faith in the police or their endurance/sustainance/patience in searching for missing children.

    Perhaps they hold the belief that after they've done what they can in the first few days, the rest they leave to God...

    There have been amazing and unbelievable success stories of missing/abducted children being found in the US and the UK...mostly through pilice untiring effort. sometimes, luck...but luck through untiring effort.

    Good to know that your company is picking up from the NUR Alert effort. Good Luck!

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  8. Nuraina,the reason that the US and UK police have amazing success rate in missing and abducted children cases,is because they have specially trained personnel in charge of these cases.And they do not give up easily, and will turn places upside down,if they have too.Sometimes with dozens of police personnel and hundreds of volunteers.

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  9. GUiKP: :-(

    hashimoto: sad.

    anon@12:39AM: yes...in Nurul's case, her parents are accountable and responsible for her safety. But I wouldn't blame them entirely or i wouldn't want to make them suffer further...i'm sure they have sufered enough. it is always easy to put the blame on someone. we all wish she had not gone out of her little flat, down the stairs, to buy maggi...perhaps something she had been used to doing...
    i wouldn't do allow my child to do that. but i don't live in a flat, near a grocery shop...
    i had a maid when my kids were small, and i do regular grocery from my neighbourhood shop.

    i've seen kids in flats and kampung, who go in and out of their homes to play around without any adult supervision....so brave, so independent.. that's becaue they've always believed that their neighbourhoods are safe, until something bad happens...

    when i was a child, i don't know whether it wsa true or a way adults wanted us kids to stay indoors -- they put the fear of bai culik and in us..

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  10. khairul: oh..have a heart. i know what you mean. i'm with you on parents' responsibility...

    bruno: there is so much we need to improve, isn't there?

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  11. bruno(@11:07am): yes, i agree.

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  12. Quiet5:04 PM

    So sad :( You're safe now lil' dirang, up in the heavens there, keep on smiling for all of us down here, 'k :) The world will miss you.

    Also, the link to Nurin Alert from your page doesn't seem to work, it takes me to some inappropriate site! Want to know more about the system.

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  13. if it was up to me, i'd probably make some improvements to the current alert system. instead of having the police send out the mms when a report is made, why not let the parents themselves initiate it, via an sms for instance. for this to work, a pic and the name of the child would have pre registered with the police. this would ensure faster distribution of a potential case. furthermore, the mms would be sent out to all mobile users within the coverage of the parent's cell tower, and also all adjacent towers; so as to box the suspect within a defined area. mobile users in this have top opt out (instead of current opt in) to exclude themselves frm getting the mmses. i have a daughter of my own..and i guess u knw the feeling when u read about this sort of thing on the news..

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  14. ikanez: sending mmses is part of the alert system. but not the only thing. the police, after ascertaining the status of the missing child, are required to activate the system by first inform the media so that the story (including pix) can be flashed and the rest follows. It is by far a very effective system. Invariably, it is the parents who spread the word or distribute posters. The thing is that our poliec are not aware of Nur Alert.

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  15. I read about Dirang in the star newspaper 3 days after she went missing, and received MMS alert 7 days after she was missing. So if Nur alert is functioning, it is not fast enough.
    It's neither trending in twitter nor in the ITIS billboard...and I agreed with you, it should be name NURIN alert so that we remember the shudder and seriousness of this matter.

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  16. Hi Nuraina. I have been thinking of precious little Nurul and wondering exactly what you wondered - Was NUR ALERT activated in Nurul's case and I stumbled upon your blog. What is the point of having NUR ALERT if its not used? What can we do to ensure it is used?

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