2007 09: The lost child – a common sight in shopping malls

The Star online. News. Nation. Wednesday September 19, 2007

PETALING JAYA: Children regularly get separated from their parents at shopping malls – and often, it is the case of adults allowing their children to wander off on their own.

But the child is usually reunited with the parents thanks to measures put in place by the management who are familiar with dealing with missing children cases.

1 Utama public relations executive Joey Choong said children seen without a guardian would be taken to the customer service counter.

“If parents come to us and report a missing child, our security guards will be alerted and will start looking for the child.

“If there’s a need, we also have recordings from the CCTV cameras which we can play back,” she said.

In the case of Muhammad Nazrin Shamsul Ghazali or Yin, five, the cameras helped in determining that a child had wandered out of the complex.

He was seen walking out of the Sogo department store in March and was missing for several days.

As an added precaution, Sunway Pyramid officials will question parents who show up to claim the child.

“A lost child will usually run to his or her parents as soon as they’re in sight but if we don’t see that happening, then we would be extra careful before handing the child over,” he said.

A representative from Sungei Wang Plaza said an announcement would be made every five minutes until the child is reunited with the parents.

“These cases don’t happen very often. Maybe only about two to three cases a month. It is more likely to happen during the festive season and school holidays,” she said.

Mid Valley Megamall assistant public relations manager Catherine Lim said about five cases of lost children were reported every month in the shopping mall.

“They’re not so much ‘missing’ children. Usually, it’s just a case of being separated from the parents,” she said.

In Penang, Gurney Plaza communications manager Pauline Teh said their security guards were trained to look out for children wandering aimlessly around the complex.

“We have a standard operating procedure when dealing with lost children. Once a lost child has been found, we will either take him or her to the information counter or security department and page for the parents,” she said.