The Star online. News. Nation. Wednesday September 12, 2007
By HAMDAN RAJA ABDULLAH
MUAR: Special squads will be formed by the state to help “street children” found loitering in Johor Baru.
The squads will help and guide these children and provide then with skills training.
State Women, Family and Community Development Committee chairman Dr Robia Kosai said NGOs, organisations and the public would be asked to join hands with the state in the effort.
She said the children, mostly aged between 11 and 19, had been roaming the city, including in the wee hours, although many had parents.
“We want to save these children before they get into trouble and become a nuisance. Plans are under way to set up special squads to help guide, train and advise these children,” she said.
Dr Robia said the state government had set up a special committee to handle the issue, adding that juvenile court advisers in all districts would also be roped in.
She said some of the children were known to be sniffing glue, engaging in casual sex and other immoral activities.
She said these children would usually leave their homes after their parents had gone to bed.
A recent raid in Johor Baru by the Welfare Department resulted in 50 such wayward children being rounded up, she said, adding that most were dropouts.
“We welcome views from the public on how best to tackle this problem. We have to act fast,” she added.
Showing posts with label street children. Show all posts
Showing posts with label street children. Show all posts
Wednesday, 19 September 2007
2007 09: Johor plans to save street children
The Star online. News. Nation. Tuesday September 11, 2007
By HAMDAN RAJA ABDULLAH
MUAR: The Johor Government is looking into undertaking effective measures to help save street children who are becoming a social problem for Johor Baru.
State Women, Family and Community Development Committee chairman Dr Robia Kosai said families, society and non-governmental organisations would also be asked to help expedite the project.
Speaking to reporters here she said the children, aged between 11 and 19, had been roaming the city, including in the wee hours of the night, and that many had parents.
"We have decided to save these children before they are lured into vices, drug addiction or turned into vagabonds and become a public nuisance.
"Plans are underway to even set up special groups of people to help guide, train and advise them towards clean living," she said at a dinner held at the Muar Golf Club here on Monday.
Dr Robia said the state had set up a special committee to look after the welfare of such children besides having teams of juvenile court advisers at all the districts.
She said it had been reported that some of the children had picked up bad habits such as glue sniffing, indulged in wild sex, and some became rape victims.
She said many of the children had parents who did not care for them while some parents did not realise their children's activities after dark, adding that, these children would leave the house after the parents went to bed.
She said a recent raid carried out in Johor Baru by Welfare Department officers managed to round up about 50 such children whose ages ranged between 11 and 19.
She said since most did not attend schools, the state planned to provide them with skills training courses to equip them with work knowledge for their future.
"We are now calling for the public, especially non-governmental organisations, to give their views on ways to protect and care for such children.
"We have to act fast before the street children become a social problem to society," she added.
By HAMDAN RAJA ABDULLAH
MUAR: The Johor Government is looking into undertaking effective measures to help save street children who are becoming a social problem for Johor Baru.
State Women, Family and Community Development Committee chairman Dr Robia Kosai said families, society and non-governmental organisations would also be asked to help expedite the project.
Speaking to reporters here she said the children, aged between 11 and 19, had been roaming the city, including in the wee hours of the night, and that many had parents.
"We have decided to save these children before they are lured into vices, drug addiction or turned into vagabonds and become a public nuisance.
"Plans are underway to even set up special groups of people to help guide, train and advise them towards clean living," she said at a dinner held at the Muar Golf Club here on Monday.
Dr Robia said the state had set up a special committee to look after the welfare of such children besides having teams of juvenile court advisers at all the districts.
She said it had been reported that some of the children had picked up bad habits such as glue sniffing, indulged in wild sex, and some became rape victims.
She said many of the children had parents who did not care for them while some parents did not realise their children's activities after dark, adding that, these children would leave the house after the parents went to bed.
She said a recent raid carried out in Johor Baru by Welfare Department officers managed to round up about 50 such children whose ages ranged between 11 and 19.
She said since most did not attend schools, the state planned to provide them with skills training courses to equip them with work knowledge for their future.
"We are now calling for the public, especially non-governmental organisations, to give their views on ways to protect and care for such children.
"We have to act fast before the street children become a social problem to society," she added.
Monday, 14 May 2007
2007 04: Editorial: From streets to schools
NST online. cloumns. 20/04/07
SOCIETY tends to see street children as social sores who tarnish the tourist landscape and make a general nuisance of themselves with their aimless loitering, hassling for handouts and sleeping in the streets.
Many respectable citizens would like nothing better than to see the authorities harry homeless kids, take them off the streets and put them in the special homes for the wayward. In the case of the waifs and strays who have taken up residence in the alleys and on the sidewalks of Jalan Wong Ah Fook in Johor Baru, the Welfare Department has apparently not been able to accommodate the wishes of the more honourable members of society. Since these street urchins have neither been deserted by their kin nor have been caught begging, the arm of the law has apparently not been long enough to touch them.
But to his credit, the lack of legal restraints does not seem to have deterred Education Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein from addressing the problem of unsupervised children living alone on urban streets. What is more commendable is that his solution lies in getting them off the streets through the education route. This is a refreshing change from the all-too-common law-and-order response as represented in the periodic round ups and arrest of street children for misdemeanours such as vagrancy, peddling contraband goods and washing windscreens. We should neither treat street children as troublemakers who need to be punished nor view them as a social stain that needs to be removed. Many seek refuge on the streets for reasons not of their own making, and most are illiterates with no basic skills to help them get proper jobs. A decent education may help break the "vicious circle with no future" that the minister referred to. If we choose to abandon them to their fate, allow them to grow up without any skills, and let them remain social outcasts, they will turn into heavier social millstones in the future.
Though getting the street-savvy kids of Johor Baru back to school may not be a simple matter of identifying them, we have a pretty good idea of who they are, and we know they have not only run away to escape the unbearable living conditions in their homes but also to get away from the derision and disdain of their schoolmates and teachers. The challenge is in finding them the schools with the supportive teachers and understanding students that could persuade them to leave the streets.
SOCIETY tends to see street children as social sores who tarnish the tourist landscape and make a general nuisance of themselves with their aimless loitering, hassling for handouts and sleeping in the streets.
Many respectable citizens would like nothing better than to see the authorities harry homeless kids, take them off the streets and put them in the special homes for the wayward. In the case of the waifs and strays who have taken up residence in the alleys and on the sidewalks of Jalan Wong Ah Fook in Johor Baru, the Welfare Department has apparently not been able to accommodate the wishes of the more honourable members of society. Since these street urchins have neither been deserted by their kin nor have been caught begging, the arm of the law has apparently not been long enough to touch them.
But to his credit, the lack of legal restraints does not seem to have deterred Education Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein from addressing the problem of unsupervised children living alone on urban streets. What is more commendable is that his solution lies in getting them off the streets through the education route. This is a refreshing change from the all-too-common law-and-order response as represented in the periodic round ups and arrest of street children for misdemeanours such as vagrancy, peddling contraband goods and washing windscreens. We should neither treat street children as troublemakers who need to be punished nor view them as a social stain that needs to be removed. Many seek refuge on the streets for reasons not of their own making, and most are illiterates with no basic skills to help them get proper jobs. A decent education may help break the "vicious circle with no future" that the minister referred to. If we choose to abandon them to their fate, allow them to grow up without any skills, and let them remain social outcasts, they will turn into heavier social millstones in the future.
Though getting the street-savvy kids of Johor Baru back to school may not be a simple matter of identifying them, we have a pretty good idea of who they are, and we know they have not only run away to escape the unbearable living conditions in their homes but also to get away from the derision and disdain of their schoolmates and teachers. The challenge is in finding them the schools with the supportive teachers and understanding students that could persuade them to leave the streets.
Thursday, 10 May 2007
2007 05: Kids ‘glued’ to drugs
The Star online. News. Nation. Tuesday May 8, 2007
By STEPHEN THEN
MIRI: Children as young as seven are getting hooked on drugs and glue-sniffing, and living in wet markets and rubbish dumps here, raising alarm bells among state politicians and community leaders.
Two street kids, aged seven and nine, were rescued on Sunday after they were found slumped among some paper boxes near a rubbish dump next to the high-rise Imperial Hotel and Shopping Complex right in the heart of the city.
Assistant Minister for Infrastructure Development and Communications Lee Kim Shin was shocked to find the children stretched out motionless under a pile of discarded boxes, following a call from a concerned member of the public.
Near to them were cans of glue, which police identified as tyre glue.
The two children refused to disclose their names and where they were from. Policemen in a mobile patrol unit took them to the police station and yesterday handed them over to the state Welfare Department.
“The relevant authorities must deal with this issue as soon as possible. This problem of very young kids getting involved in drugs and glue-sniffing, and living on the streets, must be overcome.
“It is getting serious. I have directed the Welfare Department to help these kids and others like them. Save them from the streets and rehabilitate them fast,” Lee said.
The two rescued children are believed to be siblings.
A woman shopper identified one of them as a Year Three pupil in her school.
“This kid might have dropped out though,” she said.
There are other such youngsters loitering about the streets of Miri. They can be found near the old market area, along the riverfront shophouses and outside four-digit outlets – areas frequented by drug users.
Here, there are no shelter facilities for boys rescued from the streets. There is a rehabilitation centre for girls called Taman Puteri. The biggest boys’ home in the state is in Kuching.
...........................................
Family takes high-on-glue young boys home
The Star online. News. Nation. Wednesday May 9, 2007
MIRI: The family of the two boys who were found high after sniffing glue took the children home from the Welfare Department.
Sarawak assistant minister for infrastructure, development and communication Lee Kim Shin has asked the department to investigate the matter.
“What has happened cannot be tolerated. I want to find out what happened and whether the parents had abused the children,” he said adding that he would visit the family at the squatter settlement of Pujut Corner.
“The fact that these kids have become addicted to glue and sleep in rubbish dumps show that they have been on the streets for a long time,” he added.
The two street kids, aged seven and nine, were found slumped among paper boxes near a rubbish dump next to the Imperial Hotel and Shopping Complex. Cans of tyre glue were found near them.
In Kuala Lumpur, Malaysian Crime Prevention Foundation vice-chairman Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye said the authorities were drawing up a new legislation to define inhaling of intoxicating substances such as glue-sniffing as an offence under the law.
He said that currently glue-sniffing and inhaling of substances for the purposes of getting “high” were not offences under the Dangerous Drugs Act and the authorities did not have power to act on those committing such acts.
He said the National Anti-Drugs Agency had submitted a proposal on the law to be studied by the Attorney-General’s Office.
Lee, who is former vice-chairman of the National Association for the Prevention of Drug Abuse (Pemadam), said it was high time for a specific law to deal with the inhaling of intoxicating substances.
“The problem is that sniffing glue or inhaling of other substances is not regarded as dangerous, unlike using heroin, opium and designer drugs,” he said.
Lee said there should be a law to give the authorities power to arrest offenders including sending them for rehabilitation.
He added that the while the agency detected fewer than 15 such cases each year, the small figure was misleading.
“There are few cases because the agency does not have the power to act on and arrest people for sniffing glue. The 15 cases mostly involved those who had come forward.”
By STEPHEN THEN
MIRI: Children as young as seven are getting hooked on drugs and glue-sniffing, and living in wet markets and rubbish dumps here, raising alarm bells among state politicians and community leaders.
Two street kids, aged seven and nine, were rescued on Sunday after they were found slumped among some paper boxes near a rubbish dump next to the high-rise Imperial Hotel and Shopping Complex right in the heart of the city.
Assistant Minister for Infrastructure Development and Communications Lee Kim Shin was shocked to find the children stretched out motionless under a pile of discarded boxes, following a call from a concerned member of the public.
Near to them were cans of glue, which police identified as tyre glue.
The two children refused to disclose their names and where they were from. Policemen in a mobile patrol unit took them to the police station and yesterday handed them over to the state Welfare Department.
“The relevant authorities must deal with this issue as soon as possible. This problem of very young kids getting involved in drugs and glue-sniffing, and living on the streets, must be overcome.
“It is getting serious. I have directed the Welfare Department to help these kids and others like them. Save them from the streets and rehabilitate them fast,” Lee said.
The two rescued children are believed to be siblings.
A woman shopper identified one of them as a Year Three pupil in her school.
“This kid might have dropped out though,” she said.
There are other such youngsters loitering about the streets of Miri. They can be found near the old market area, along the riverfront shophouses and outside four-digit outlets – areas frequented by drug users.
Here, there are no shelter facilities for boys rescued from the streets. There is a rehabilitation centre for girls called Taman Puteri. The biggest boys’ home in the state is in Kuching.
...........................................
Family takes high-on-glue young boys home
The Star online. News. Nation. Wednesday May 9, 2007
MIRI: The family of the two boys who were found high after sniffing glue took the children home from the Welfare Department.
Sarawak assistant minister for infrastructure, development and communication Lee Kim Shin has asked the department to investigate the matter.
“What has happened cannot be tolerated. I want to find out what happened and whether the parents had abused the children,” he said adding that he would visit the family at the squatter settlement of Pujut Corner.
“The fact that these kids have become addicted to glue and sleep in rubbish dumps show that they have been on the streets for a long time,” he added.
The two street kids, aged seven and nine, were found slumped among paper boxes near a rubbish dump next to the Imperial Hotel and Shopping Complex. Cans of tyre glue were found near them.
In Kuala Lumpur, Malaysian Crime Prevention Foundation vice-chairman Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye said the authorities were drawing up a new legislation to define inhaling of intoxicating substances such as glue-sniffing as an offence under the law.
He said that currently glue-sniffing and inhaling of substances for the purposes of getting “high” were not offences under the Dangerous Drugs Act and the authorities did not have power to act on those committing such acts.
He said the National Anti-Drugs Agency had submitted a proposal on the law to be studied by the Attorney-General’s Office.
Lee, who is former vice-chairman of the National Association for the Prevention of Drug Abuse (Pemadam), said it was high time for a specific law to deal with the inhaling of intoxicating substances.
“The problem is that sniffing glue or inhaling of other substances is not regarded as dangerous, unlike using heroin, opium and designer drugs,” he said.
Lee said there should be a law to give the authorities power to arrest offenders including sending them for rehabilitation.
He added that the while the agency detected fewer than 15 such cases each year, the small figure was misleading.
“There are few cases because the agency does not have the power to act on and arrest people for sniffing glue. The 15 cases mostly involved those who had come forward.”
Monday, 30 April 2007
2007 04: No power to keep kids away
NST online. Local News. 13/04/07
THE Welfare Department’s hands are tied when it comes to street children, said its Johor Baru duty officer, Manayi Ibrahim.
There are no provisions under the Child Act 2001 which allow the department to take action against them.
"We can only pick them up if they are abandoned by their families or if they are caught begging.
"We have conducted several joint operations, codenamed Ops Sepadu, with the municipal council and police to clean up Johor Baru and to eradicate the problem of beggars.
"During these operations, we picked up several minors, We held them for a while but attempts to contact their families proved futile."
After counselling them, we had to let them go," he said on Wednesday.
The department was aware of the group of youngsters who have made Jalan Wong Ah Fook their home, but there are no provisions under the law to get them off the streets.
.............................................
Street children rounded up
NST online. Local News. 23/05/07
JOHOR BARU: For many weeks, street children, who have been a constant feature along the tourist strip of Jalan Wong Ah Fook, have disappeared.
Checks revealed that the five minors interviewed by the New Straits Times on April 11, were picked up by the Johor Welfare Department three days after the article was published.
Department director Kasim Yunus said the boys’ particulars were taken down and after attempts to contact their parents failed, were taken to their homes.
"We advised them not to loiter and go back to school."We have taken appropriate measures to ensure that they stay in school," Kasim said when met at the Children Protection Centre here yesterday.
THE Welfare Department’s hands are tied when it comes to street children, said its Johor Baru duty officer, Manayi Ibrahim.
There are no provisions under the Child Act 2001 which allow the department to take action against them.
"We can only pick them up if they are abandoned by their families or if they are caught begging.
"We have conducted several joint operations, codenamed Ops Sepadu, with the municipal council and police to clean up Johor Baru and to eradicate the problem of beggars.
"During these operations, we picked up several minors, We held them for a while but attempts to contact their families proved futile."
After counselling them, we had to let them go," he said on Wednesday.
The department was aware of the group of youngsters who have made Jalan Wong Ah Fook their home, but there are no provisions under the law to get them off the streets.
.............................................
Street children rounded up
NST online. Local News. 23/05/07
JOHOR BARU: For many weeks, street children, who have been a constant feature along the tourist strip of Jalan Wong Ah Fook, have disappeared.
Checks revealed that the five minors interviewed by the New Straits Times on April 11, were picked up by the Johor Welfare Department three days after the article was published.
Department director Kasim Yunus said the boys’ particulars were taken down and after attempts to contact their parents failed, were taken to their homes.
"We advised them not to loiter and go back to school."We have taken appropriate measures to ensure that they stay in school," Kasim said when met at the Children Protection Centre here yesterday.
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