As I had highlighted Nor Amira Fatihah Mohammad Rosdi’s disappearance in my blog yesterday, I called her mother this morning to find out if she had been found. Her mother answered my call and was kind enough to inform me that her daughter was safe after ten anxious days of not knowing where she was. She could not divulge details other than the fact that her daughter had kept silent since her return. I pray the child will be fine and I thank whoever provided information to her parents. Imagine waiting ten days before knowing if your child is dead or alive. Imagine ten days of not sleeping well because you worry whether your child will be the next Nurin Jazlin Jazimin? I wouldn’t wish that to happen to anyone. There is no turning back. NURIN Alert must happen and it must happen soon!
The Citizens for NURIN Alert held another meeting last night to chart the direction this loose grouping of concerned individuals would take in the future. No doubt Jasni will fill you in on the details at his blog here, I can tell you that there was an unmistakable sense of commitment among those present. When we had to decide whether we were to remain an ad hoc grouping, I believe no one doubted that there was no turning back. We have to continue what we started and work towards establishing the Nationwide Urgent Response Information Network that we have named the ”NURIN Alert”. This was no mere ”hot air” venting session. As we discussed the pros and cons, we all knew without a doubt that we will have to establish some formal structure. How could any of us, or anyone else for that matter, ignore a more efficient and effective way to address the urgent need to help parents find their missing child?
Meanwhile in the international front we get news that “Swiss approve MMS alarm for missing children” here. Swiss Parliament has voted to introduce a new MMS photo alarm system for missing children who are feared abducted, aimed at finding them as quickly as possible. The MMS alarm is a new departure worldwide in the hunt for missing children. Text messaging is already used in Canada, the United States and France. The move is the political response to the abduction and murder of a five-year-old girl in eastern Switzerland earlier this year. The Ylenia case shocked the country and led to much soul-searching about what more could have been done to save the child. The Senate accepted two motions, both already approved by the House of Representatives, which propose an MMS-based alarm system for missing children and an abduction alarm.
Will our Parliamentarians in Malaysia follow suit with a thumping approval of the NURIN Alert in the Child Protection Policy? Let’s hope nobody plays politics with our children’s safety. This is for the children of this nation, irregardless of race, religion, gender, and political affiliations! KEEP POLITICS OUT OF NURIN ALERT! Don’t play games with our children’s lives!
Thank God, she is safe. Ya, make sure no politics is involved with NURIN alert…any buggers who do so…must bear the blunt from parents/citizens all over Malaysia.
Our thoughts were with her and her family last night. Imagine how many more missing children stories that never make it to the newspapers unless they turn up dead?
Nightwing, this is an issue I am willing to march for!
Agreed. It’s something worthwhile and positive to walk/rally for – for the sake of children and not for power struggle.
Hear ye, hear ye…..!!!
Hi Tembam,glad to know that she’s safe home. At the rate our Gov is going, I doubt if they are concerned about NurinAlert. Nurin’s killer/s are still FREE now and unfortunately will remain free. Statistics shows paedohphiles almost never stop at one case, it’s a continuous “disease” for these perverts, so the chances of him/them striking again is high. In the west, so much is done to protect a child, from Amber Alert to Megan’s law. It’s high time we see some improvement over here. I just got news that a colleague’s sister went missing yesterday night and they are frantically searching for her. Found her car this morning but not the person and my colleague is making a police report now. This seems to be the trend in Malaysia, kidnapping and raping young girls. I am waiting for more infor or photo on this friend so I can put it up in the net as well. (On a lighter and safer side, I am not so young or slim, so I guess no one is interested in me hehe..). It’s not safe anymore and I worry about my 2 girls, 9 & 10 constantly too.
Tumpang lalu….
Mary Kate, really hope they can find her and fast.
Ya, once u have the info, pls let us know…so i can also post on my blog too.
As an eternal optimist who is sorely tested these days, I hope that the government, the media, and the Malaysian community will not fail this time. The law cannot protect any of us if we do not even follow our own laws. Paedophiles are not afraid of any laws we may come up with. They did not think, “Hhhhmmm now which law will I violate?”. They just do what they do because the opportunity presented itself. Laws are man-made after all. When the demon lust strikes, they don’t care whose laws. I pray your statement “This seems to be the trend in Malaysia, kidnapping and raping young girls.” is proven wrong. For the sake of our children I hope and pray that this is not true.
I pray your colleague’s sister will be found safe soon. Let me know and I will post the info too. Only I am confining the Nurin Alerts to the Amber Alert criteria okay?
Take care Mary Kate.
[quote]Swiss Parliament has voted to introduce a new MMS photo alarm system for missing children who are feared abducted, aimed at finding them as quickly as possible. The MMS alarm is a new departure worldwide in the hunt for missing children. Text messaging is already used in Canada, the United States and France.[/quote]
Exactly what I had in mind.
Btw, tembam, I’m still studying the alert system, so not much I can say. Only if we can have two level of alert, for example, orange alert and red alert.
Dear Zainon, memang we know of the wireless alerts. There are views on easy abuse of this MMS wireless technology. What you need to make note of is that the use of MMS had to be approved by the Swiss Parliament and was not put in use by simply anyone. That means it will be under control of an authorised body ie. The Police.
Now I see where your confusion is. The AMBER Alert is not because of the colour. AMBER stands for “America’s Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response”
It was created as a legacy to 9-year-old Amber Hagerman, who was kidnaped while riding her bicycle in Arlington, TX, and then brutally murdered. The AMBER Alert System began in 1996 when Dallas-Fort Worth broadcasters teamed with local police to develop an early warning system to help find abducted children. Other states and communities soon set up their own AMBER plans as the idea was adopted across the nation.
Other useful references:
http://www.amberalert.gov/
http://tembam.wordpress.com/2007/10/22/they-never-forgot-amber-hagerman-why-should-we-forget-nurin/
http://tembam.wordpress.com/2007/10/07/amber-alert-malaysia-bila-lagi/
http://tembam.wordpress.com/2007/09/23/shut-up-and-do-something-about-it/
http://tembam.wordpress.com/2007/09/24/lets-have-a-nurin-alert/
Sorry. Forgot to explain. I thought you can read my mind.
Both level of alert are meant to handle different criteria of incident. For example:
A mother lost a child in a supermarket – orange alert (local announcement, small search team etc.)
Situation 1 – if the child was found, alert goes off.
Situation 2 – after 4 hours, or then…after thorough search and getting feedbacks, found out that someone had abducted the child..go to red alert (national alert, mms, larger search team, posters etc).
I think it is good to have two level of alert system because as the above example, maybe the child was really abducted and the abductor heard about that people are searching for the child, so he quickly dispersed leaving the child behind. Otherwise, if we have to wait for the 5 criteria in amber alert, maybe the abductor had made his move ahead of everybody, and we may end up finding a dead body instead…why..just because some red tape can’t allow alerting the public.
dear Tembam and Nightwing, the “person” I said missing is missing no more. She stayed overnight @ someone’s place and didnt called home, causing panic to so many people, not very smart person, but thanks for the concern though. And yes, tembam, I do hope that I am wrong about the “trend” of kidnapping etc. You know I told my kids Auntie Tembam sent her love and hugs and they asked me who you are. So, I said “she’s a friend from the net, the blog, someone I met in cyberspace”, and it was so good to know there are so many nice people around sharing the common passion for a better Malaysia. While our politics took a nosedive, it’s a joy to know many other cyber friends
have a great weekend (see, its thursday and I am thinking of the weekend – post langkawi blues)
Hi Zainon! I see what you were trying to say about the colours. Although I see the merit, you must try to understand that the AMBER Alert works on very strict criteria and is issued only when there is strong indication that the child’s life is in danger. There is a risk to be taken in judgment and who dares to take the responsibility to decide? You must understand that the point of the AMBER Alert is to race against time and to rescue the child alive. This is also to avoid triggering too many alerts that it dilutes the effectiveness and reduces the sense of urgency. Usually the Amber Alert is triggered in cases of very young missing children aged 10 and below. Sometimes this is a judgment call, especially in parental abductions. If there is possibility that the parent is known to be violent or vengeful and may kill the child as revenge against the mother, an AMBER Alert should be triggered.
That does not mean that we can only use the AMBER Alert. I believe there are many other systems that supplement the use of the AMBER Alert. This include initiatives that supplements it for cases that don’t meet the criteria including the following:
http://www.achildismissing.org/
http://www.operationlookout.org/index.htm
https://www.wirelessamberalerts.org/index.jsp
There is no restriction for other types of systems to exist. The AMBER Alert is only used when the situation is most critical and time is of extreme importance. What we want is police to take charge and the media to immediately inform the public. If the missing child does not meet the criteria or it involves a person with disability or even elderly person that goes missing, then the other systems can be used.
Not sure if this answers your question. But you must remember this system has been tried and tested since 1996. Prior to that many other campaigns were done eg. Code Adam for shopping malls, milk cartons etc We can try everything, as long as we can rescue the child alive. Do we have any other choice? We might consider all possibilities in the alert as you suggest. Also keep in mind that the alert should be triggered locally say for Sabah and Sarawak unless we fear the child might be transported across the border. Now do you see how important it is for the police to take control? Who makes all these decisions? Imagine how many false alarms can be triggered?
As I said, please study the AMBER Alert system in detail and I am sure all your questions will be answered. There are no wrong ideas to save a child. What we need is better coordination and a more effective manner of doing so don’t you agree? The very reason for the AMBER Alert!
Hi Mary Kate. So relieved to know she is safe. Yes, Auntie Tembam getting more tembam from sitting in office. Wish I could take a break to Langkawi too. Not to worry. I am giving it my all to get the NURIN Alert going Mary Kate. Better than bellyaching about everything. We will need you too soon!
Cheers.
Okay, okay…
Jangan marah! Kongsi ilmu……. : )
[...] Tembam was kind enough to update me that the missing child has been found! Nor Amira is safely home and if you did your bit to help spread the news THANK YOU! Its irrelevant if you did help or not, just do your bit in educating the masses.As bloggers we have certain reach soo posting things like this will educate.You never know if someone reading may just have the right answers in solving these crimes! This is the fundamentals behind the Nurin Alert, lets help those who are doing something about it and it will pay dividends…I’m sure! [...]
Thanks for the update!Glad she has been found! Its awesome that you are initiating these alerts, cause your my guide!:)
http://www.abinesh.com/delirium/posts/missing-child-found/
Hi Tembam, re alerts, here we have ‘amber alerts’ flashed on highway signs across the highway immediately confirmed by cops child is abducted.
Very effective too.
If free drop by for coffee, UL.
Hi Abinesh, thanks for your effort bro. So glad it turned out okay ya! Definitely see the merits in blogging if bloggers like you can understand what the NURIN Alert is all about! Blog on bro!
Hi Zainon, camtu lah! Mesti senyum selalu! You learned something, I learned something and everyone benefits. Way to go bro!
Lee, what can I say? I took a sip of your newly brewed cup of coffee yesterday. Delicious! But am waiting for a nice day to curl up and enjoy the full cup of that aromatic brew. You can really write you know. I wonder if men read books like Mills and Boons and all those romance novels that made my friends and I giddy with dreams of marrying Mr Right. Does he exist in reality? Now that the years have passed I realised Mr Right is the man you love with all your heart, flaws and all. Will come for more java if you don’t mind sir! Make mine a double expresso!