Push for a safer community

IT is now close to nine months since the disappearance of five-year-old Sharlinie Mohd Nashar. Efforts that have been made by several quarters, including the police have not been fruitful so far to locate the girl.

Surely and undoubtedly, the hearts of all Malaysians go out to the aggrieved parents who are longing to see their daughter return and be united with the family.

The disappearance of Sharlinie and the tragic killing of Nurin Jazimin are stark reminders that crime knows no race or religion and all Malaysians must never take the safety of their children for granted.

In the wake of heinous criminal acts against children such as kidnap, assault, abuse, sodomy, rape and even murder, we need to do more to educate children on how to protect themselves. Protection of children must start from the parents and the home.

Parents must know where their children are all the time.

Children must be taught to be suspicious of strangers and not be lured by people unknown to them. Schools can play an important role in this regard.

I strongly advocate that child safety education must be introduced in primary schools as innocent schoolchildren can prove to be most vulnerable to criminals.

Local authorities need to identify more areas for installation of CCTVs and pay closer attention to good lighting along back lanes and dark alleys.

With the rising crime rate and frequent public concerns about safety issues, the MCPF wished to emphasise the need to push for the “Safe Community” concept.

The definition of a “Safe Community” is one in which people live, work and play safely and healthily.

Besides improving the lives of individuals, safe communities create many common benefits, such as improved safety for the public, less crimes, improved productivity and competitiveness, lower health-care costs, and a reduction in other social expenditure.

However, a safe community can only be realised if the private and public sectors work together as partners to improve the safety and health of citizens.