THE weekend has been abuzz with news of the early morning fire at the Darul Quran Ittifaqiyah school in Jalan Datuk Keramat which took the lives of 21 students and two teachers last Thursday. Malaysians everywhere sympathise with the victims loved ones and mourn their loss too.

To learn later that it was a premeditated act of arson by a few teenagers over a dispute begs another bigger question. What has happened to the family structure especially among the Malay community that youngsters are allowed out till the early morning hours to carry out this crime?

I hesitate to call it mischief because the act seems so premeditated that the culprits, although juvenile, cannot be let off easily after committing multiple murders and depriving other parents the joy of watching their children grow.

We have to look deeper into the very fabric of our nation future generation. These adolescents were not in school or working. They were on drugs so their funds must come from criminal activities, unless their parents are rich! Could they be part of the snatch thieves on motorcycles roaming around the city looking for victims? Could they be the Mat Rempit who race in the wee hours on souped-up bikes? Would they be the ones who break windows of parked cars just to steal computers, mobile phones, Touch n Go cards and cash for their drug fixes? Would they graduate to bigger criminal activities and be involved in gangs?

Whoever they are, we have to be very concerned that there are marginalised teenagers who are neither going to school nor working or getting vocational training. For them to commit such a heinous crime warrants a deep understanding of the population.

What does the future hold for these youngsters? Why did they resort to criminal activities? Where are the parents?

We cannot be judgemental on their upbringing, no matter how tempting, but we need to look at the main cause lest we end up putting out another fire rather than treating the source, which may be poverty, lack of useful activities for youths, busy urban parents, poor parenting skills or just sheer neglect.

This is where the Welfare Department and the National Population and Family Development Board (LPPKN) can come in to profile these juveniles and plan out a programme to help others who are similarly afflicted to prevent a recurrence of other crimes, especially the rampant snatch thefts.

Our school system is so academic that we have neglected the aspects of moral education, national integration and social responsibilities. We have lost the urge to care for others regardless of race, religion or creed. Academic competitiveness has overridden the moral aspects of education.

Ethnic political affiliations that have divided our country should be set aside in our education system and we should take care of the weaker students and handle the dropouts.

The other issue is the spread over social media of the identities of the juveniles who are alleged to have set the school on fire. The Child Act 2001 protects juveniles in detention.

The source is obviously from the police because the information is directly from the report. The police have to understand the Child Act with regard to confidentiality of juvenile offenders. This is not the first time that police reports meant for senior officers are leaked to social media and if nothing is done, it will not be the last.

There have been other cases where the identities of perpetrators and victims were revealed in social media, resulting in families being ostracised and condemned by neighbours.

While it is good to have freedom of expression and dissemination of news and information, many people do not realise that news on social media is multiplied many times over and may damage people reputations or declare guilt before any court proceedings.

In this case, it is in violation of Section 15 of the Child Act 2001 that explicitly states a fine of RM10,000 or five years imprisonment for revealing the identities of juvenile offenders.

We have to act now to prevent the leaks in the system.

DATUK DR ZULKIFLI ISMAIL

Chairman

Positive Parenting Management Committee

For the Malaysian Paediatric Association

Source : The Star