News Update:
In the house-to-house search for Sharlinie, I wonder if the police have been using sniffer dogs to trace her scent as the most effective means to pick up her trail and those of her abductors. It makes no sense to conduct such a massive search, which is now being extended to estates and plantations, without using such trained sniffer dogs. My commentors Miqdad and Munira have discussed this earlier and in reading the recent desperate move to extend the search to a wider area after more than three weeks, it might be wise for the police to consider using these sniffer dogs.
The Star reports here:
“The search for missing five-year-old Sharlinie Mohd Nashar has been extended to more areas as police will move into the interiors, including farms and plantations. Petaling Jaya OCPD Asst Comm Arjunaidi Mohamed said police would carry out the checks to ensure that the abductor had not gone into hiding at such locations thinking that police were only concentrating on urban areas and housing estates.
The same problem arose in the search for Madeleine McCann as Portuguese authorities also failed to use sniffer dogs and a full forensic team in those crucial early hours as reported here. Spanish police then made the decision to use sniffer dogs in the search for 15-year-old Irish teenager Amy Fitzpatrick as reported here and five year old Mari Luz Cortez here who are still missing while a 12-year-old Spanish girl was reported to have foiled an abduction attempt here. I wonder if all these incidences could possibly be linked as i had previously blogged about paedophile rings having been busted in Spain, Ireland, United Kingdom and Portugal? However, the sniffer dog searches have not turned up any useful information.
In the meantime, I found a YouTube video of the search for two-year-old Singapore girl Nur Asyura Mohd Fauzi here who went missing for three days in March 2006 until her body was discovered under a flyover here. She was taken from her bedroom while asleep by her stepfather who was later charged and found guilty of her rape and murder and has been sentenced to death by hanging. It is interesting to note in the video from Straits Times Interactive that Singapore police also does not have an Amber Alert system in place. Maybe if Malaysian police can get the system going the way it should be implemented, we could extend this system to our neighbours.
Watch this two part episode here and here of the TV show “911″ that aired on February 13, 1990 on CBS. Most of the video is a recreation but some of it is actual footage from news coverage or amateur video but the only real part was at the end when the cop is holding the girl while crying. It will make you cry too.
This case happened in Texas in 1989, long before the Amber Alert. The six year old friend was a witness with vital information and the fast action of the police, they were able to recover the child. They did not have any fancy equipment, just the 911 emergency number and a lot common sense all around. Notice nobody ever blamed the parents and also that they really took the little boy seriously as it was the information he provided that enabled the police to plan their strategy. I can’t help wondering if the Royal Malaysian police will ever be able to give us moments such as this, the safe return of an abducted child? In Malaysia, I fear that if your child goes missing, his or her fate is sealed and you may never see your child alive again.
Suddenly the New Straits Times seems to be interested in the image of the police. Today’s ”Editorial: Holding the Thin Blue Line” discusses measures to help restore public confidence and this particular statement points to the root cause of the problem, a reason I might add also applies to the rot in our media!:
At the same time, however, steps must also be taken to improve the calibre of the rank and file. Their level of professionalism has been affected by a lack of training, a former deputy inspector-general of police recently revealed. Indeed, non-officers need to be given more than just basic training to better execute their duties.
Tembam,
i was one of the biggest fan of this show ‘Rescue 911′ since many years back.Lots of things can be learned from this show.I’ll cry every time i watch this show.
Boy…this girl was sure very lucky kid. I believed the reason was becos the action was taken immediately and seriously.There’s no traffic in their area too, so it’s very easy for the criminal’s car to be spotted. HERE….in KL it’s almost impossible to find back anything missing. A friend of mine lost her 3 day old Innova recently.The car was parked at her porch .BUT missing a car wasn’t be as bad as missing a child. I always bear in my mind that should I lost my child, I would never find her alive again SO sebelum apa-apa terjadi, biarlah i bersusah sikit menghantar anak ke hulu hilir asalkan tak hilang langsung dari mata.I’m not strong to face anything like this.
The problem with our masyarakat now is that they think that this ‘thing’ is not going to happen to them.
Where as it can happen to anybody.
Kak T,
Ms. Sabrina here has raised an interesting point (esp. point No. 2) regarding the recent abduction attempt in Puchong.
Without jumping to conclusions, this could possibly strengthen my previous point regarding the mobility status of the abductor, do you reckon?
Hi Yatie, yes the girl was lucky that her little friend was smart enough not only to run as fast as he could to inform an adult but also to remember the details. This must have been in one of those small towns in the US with lots of wide open spaces and small country lanes. What I find very interesting is the immediate response of the neighbours in alerting everyone. Had they not done that, the police would have had a lot of difficulty trying to mobilise a search party as they were just a small unit in that part of the country.
There was no Amber Alert yet but the neighbour’s wife immediately started calling everyone in the phone book while her husband went from house to house gathering a search party. Those cars covered all the other roads, while police chose to wait at the most strategic exit point and they were alert enough to spot the speeding brown car. Had the public just sat in their homes expecting the police to do everything, the child would not have been saved in time. I agree that KL is a big city and it would be easy for an abductor to disappear into the crowd. There has to be an efficient system to conduct these sort of emergency alerts in the KL congestion.
What I am most concerned about is the lack of awareness among Malaysian children themselves. Remember when Nini was taken it took the sister some time before she actually returned home to inform her mother. Furthermore, there have not been any information forthcoming from the residents of Taman Medan who might have seen something unusual in the area. The 12-year-old girl who witnessed the abduction attempt on her 5-year-old cousin in Puchong also kept quite about it until a few hours later when she informed her mother (as in Sabrina’s comment pointed out by Munira). Did she not realise the importance of that information in catching the man in the black van and maybe the little boy allegedly in the van? How come they cannot think like that little boy did in the 911 episode.
Yatie, as a teacher, you have to teach the children some common sense in situations like this. Also, I wish parents would stop letting their children play outside on pavements unsupervised. Life has been too easy for us Malaysians that parents have become careless and ignorant of the dangers. I see this all the time in public places. They are just tragedies waiting to happen. There should be a very clear campaign to educate people at all levels about this with messages from the police themselves. Forget about those artistic adverts like that girl on the swing. They should send out a clear and strong message about child safety like that police education video produced by St Louis County in my previous post.
Education is very important if we are going to change people’s mindsets about their children’s safety.
Munira, as Steph has cautioned before, the Chinese newspapers do tend to exagerate their reports. However, I wonder why the lady held a press conference instead of informing the police. I’d much rather if the police held the press conference. Also, if she had the licence plate number the police could search it really fast in their database of registered vehicles. Chances are it is a stolen vehicle. Police should question the 12-year-old and get a photofit of the man who allegedly tried to abduct her cousin. The woman who supposedly helped should also come forward but there has been no mention of this on TV. But then our media have been known to care for a story only when a dead body shows up, so an abduction attempt witnessed by a child may not be news enough. But I do hope police will look into this matter seriously. In fact, they should ask the public who may know of any child abduction attempt in their area to come froward to assist police as there could be a syndicate operating and a pattern to target certain neigbourhoods. The perps might not only be mobile, there could also be more than one gang. Also, the could be those copycat crmies of opportunity as well. They should not overlook all possibilities.
Tembam,
I’ve told my principal that every week, we’ll spend sometime during the assembly to talk about safety, drugs, smoking and moral values.Students nowadays are not only too brave with strangers, they even follow them and have sex to them. You will be shocked to discover worst cases in our schools.Secondary school children have worst problem than the primary. Anyhow, will do my best whatever i can.
Good for you Yatie. Be sure not to scare them too much but for them to be careful. Have a buddy system, Tell them to scream and run if anyone tries to grab them. Tell them to walk away from the sidewalk and far away from the cars so no one can grab them and bundle them into a car. Have a meeting with the PTA on how important it is for parents to be sure their children are not left stranded outside school till late. It’s these very young children that worry me the most, those aged like Nini and Nurin because they are so helpless. Those older kids have a different set of problems that you will need to approach differently. Life is hard for teachers nowadays I know. Parents have to work with the school if they intend to salvage their children. We try Yatie, insyaAllah! Your efforts might save another child from becoming a victim. Take care and all the best in your efforts!