©The Sunday Star (Used
by permission)
Point of View: By Tun Hanif Omar
Finding somebody’s child under any circumstances, particularly one who does
not look abandoned at all, does not entitle you to the “finders, keepers”
principle.
EVEN as I was typing out my last column, I was engulfed by concern for the
safety of little Nazrin a.k.a Yin who went missing outside the Sogo Shopping
Complex, Kuala Lumpur, on March 31.
Here was a hyperactive five–year–old boy who had left his father’s side and
walked out into bustling Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman to disappear into thin air,
or into somebody’s arms. Both are frightening prospects to any parent at any
time, particularly after a search of several hours and checks with the police
and hospitals had proved fruitless.
The one thing that gave me a good feeling at that stage was the overwhelming
wave of concern and sympathy that swept our society. People and organisations of
all hues and cultures couldn’t care less of what race he was; he was just a
vulnerable child who could be in dire danger.
In those two weeks we were all concerned Malaysians; some helping out across
several states while so many others offered group and individual prayers for the
child’s safety. If we can manifest this same kind of feeling for each other
every time, a sympathy that cuts across racial and religious differences, we
will more sooner than later be the united nation we want to be.
Remember how Cik Rozita of Kajang praised those Chinese doctors and temple
committees in the Taman Kota Jaya area of Kota Tinggi who selflessly treated and
fed her relatives and other victims of the December 2006, Johor floods without
regard for race, religion or the lack of publicity for their efforts? They are
the stuff that helps to make the sturdiest Malaysian tree.
While I am grateful that Yin has been returned to his parents safely by none
other than the Myanmar refugee couple who found and kept him, I would score a
negative for his father for being so careless in looking after him, particularly
since he knew that Yin was hyperactive. He saw a shirt that he liked, not even
one that he really needed, and he forgot about his “special” child.
Under his circumstances, he should have taken turns with his wife to look after
their child or leash the child to him as my daughter used to do with her own
when they were small.
As a former police officer who has seen children disappear or taken away never
to return or to be found murdered and mutilated, I would strongly encourage
parents to take the safety of their children more seriously.
Why do we forget so soon that recent incident where the child of a Myanmar
couple in Kuala Lumpur wandered out of the house in the midst of a celebration
only to be found dead near the house with both hands severed? Don’t we remember
the case of the primary schoolboy in Klang who was taken away by a female
stranger outside the school gate some 13 years ago? I don’t think he has been
found. And the case of the primary schoolgirl a few years earlier who went out
into the Jalan Tun Razak–Jalan Ipoh junction in the early hours to buy nasi
lemak for breakfast only to be found dead and sexually mutilated?
I can quote several more cases. Although such incidents don’t happen every day,
the point is, there are all kinds of denizens out there in the public domain
among our citizens, immigrants and illegal immigrants.
In his despair, Yin’s parents’ first concern was the safe return of his child.
They assured whoever might have taken him to just return him and there would be
no questions asked. I would have done and said the same thing. So, when the
Myanmar couple were arrested by the police for investigation into possible
abduction, Yin’s parents were deluged by numerous SMS condemning them for
reneging on their promise and expressing sympathy for the Mymmar refugee couple
“who had kindly cared for Yin”, “who did not know that there was a search for
Yin as they do not read the papers nor watch television”. “They did not know the
law!”
My friends, were you among those who sent out these SMS? I hope not because I
cannot believe that even in Mymmar or among the Rohingyas, finding somebody’s
child under any circumstances, particularly one who does not look abandoned at
all, entitles you to the “finders, keepers” principle. I am sure the Mymmar
couple themselves do not subscribe to that principle in respect of their own
children. So, why didn’t they report to the police or some convenient authority
their finding of Yin? Why didn’t they consult their friends and relatives?
Instead, they lied to their neighbours about the circumstances of Yin’s
appearance in their midst! They changed his name! I am sure that they could have
coaxed out of even a five–year–old boy the name by which he is known!
If we do not show such people that their act of depriving a family of its member
is a serious crime, even though they did not mistreat the child, our streets
will be even less safe in a short while. Why those SMS senders cannot see this,
is beyond me. Why, the boy was kept for 15 days!
No doubt the boy was returned by the couple safely but that should mitigate, not
absolve them. Would they have returned the boy if there had been no such
unprecedented hue and cry, and publicity that, with each passing day, would have
made their secret more precarious to keep? Were they not also motivated by the
promise of “no questions will be asked” coupled by the offer of a reward for his
return? These can be powerful incentives to a refugee couple eking out a living.
We have thousands of such “refugees” in our country, particularly around Kuala
Lumpur. Most are destitute, living from hand to mouth. Some survive by begging
and by turning their children into beggars.
The UNHCR has a duty not to give their “refugee stamp” to people who are so
clearly economic migrants who have illegally entered Malaysia but, if they do,
then it is absolutely their responsibility to care for them so that they do not
become yet another local social problem.
The idea of the UNHCR is good and necessary but sometimes its officials may be
motivated more by the desire to justify their own existence!