5464) BASIKAL LAJAK: PARENTS MUST ENSURE THEIR CHILDREN SAFE AT HOME BY MAGHRIB - BERNAMA - 06/11/2019

MELAKA, Nov 6 -- Parents should return to the traditional parenting style of bringing up their children by making sure they are safely indoors by sunset.

This would prevent negative influences that could lead them to harmful activities such as ‘basikal lajak’ or ‘modified bicycle’, smoking and so forth.

The traditional parenting style sets strict rules on children which train them to respect the elderly, never loitering outside especially after sunset and doing things together with the family such as praying.

Shahrul Adam, a 50-year-old businessman from Bukit Katil, said he practices his father’s parenting style on his three sons, particularly in making sure they are home by the Maghrib prayer time.

“I believe children are treasures that need to be well taken care of because they are our responsibilities from Allah and for that reason I always make sure they return home early and I monitor their activities,” he told Bernama recently.

He was commenting on the attitude of parents who let their children loiter outside the house until the wee hours, engaging in the modified bicycle trend that could endanger their safety and that of other road users.

An example of this was an incident on Feb 18, 2017, in Johor Bahru where eight children who were on their modified bicycles at 3 a.m. were killed after they were hit by a car.

He said he supported the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) who are mulling legal action against the parents whose children are involved in modified bicycle activities under Section 33 of the Child Act 2001.

Under the act, it is an offence for parents or guardians to leave their child without reasonable supervision, punishable with a fine of up to RM20,000 or imprisonment up to five years or both.

Meanwhile, the Malaysian Muslim Consumer Association (PPIM) activist Datuk Nadzim Johan said it was indeed the responsibility of the parents to look after and care for their own children.

“I often mentioned that parents must consider their children as property because they are assets for them and for the nation that must be safeguarded in the best way possible because this will determine the future of the nation,” he said.

He called for the lawmakers to amend existing laws to allow legal action to be taken against parents who failed to comply with the Child Act.

“Among the regulations that could be enacted is to take action against parents who fail to make sure their children are safe at home before Maghrib, from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.,” he said.

Article by: Bernama 

BASIKAL LAJAK: PARENTS MUST ENSURE THEIR CHILDREN SAFE AT HOME BY MAGHRIB

http://www.bernama.com/en/news.php?id=1786863