‘Nur Alert should have been activated’

KUALA LUMPUR: Pekan police were wrong not to activate the National Urgent Response (Nur) Alert when 11-year-old Siti Masitah Ibrahim was first reported missing almost two weeks ago.

Federal Sexual, Women and Children’s Investigation Division principal assistant director Assistant Commissioner Choo Lily said the Nur Alert, which was created to disseminate information to the public when a child under 12 goes missing, was for all children, irrespective of whether they were Malaysians or foreigners.

She said on the day the police received the report from the victim’s parents, the Nur Alert should have been blasted out through the system with the child’s description and a latest photograph.

“It seems like there was a mistake on the part of the officer who wrongly assumed that Nur Alert was applicable only to Malaysian children.

“There is no such thing.

“We have blasted the Nur Alert for children without documentation reported missing in the past.

“As long as a child aged 12 or below is reported missing in Malaysia and once police have confirmed that the missing child’s life is not at risk due to the alerts, we will send out the alerts.

“When we say risk, it means once we have ruled out that there are possible criminal elements — such as kidnap-andransom demand, or any possibility of the child being endangered due to the alert — it should have been sent.

“However, this can only be done with the consent of the child’s parents,” she said when asked to clarify on why the Nur Alert was not activated in the case of Siti Masitah in Pekan.

Siti Masitah, who is of Cambodian parentage, was reported missing by her mother on Jan 30 after she failed to return home from a trip to a grocery store.

Asked how the system worked and its effectiveness, Choo said the response had been positive, although the last time the system sent out an alert was in December.

“The Nur Alert is linked to 38 organisations and agencies.

“Among these are all the telecommunication service providers, public announcement channels, banks association, Malaysia Airport Bhd, Facebook and NGOs.”

Deputy Women, Family and Community Development Minister Hannah Yeoh said people, mainly parents, should pay more attention to their children’s whereabouts.

“It is important to know where and who they go out with.

“On top of taking interest in a child’ s activities, good communication is also vital to ensure a child is always safe,” she told the New Straits Times.

Yeoh had tweeted that the Nur Alert was applicable for all children, regardless of nationality.

“Nur Alert is for all children (under the age of 12) reported missing regardless of documentation,” she wrote, clearing the air on the statement from police in Pekan.

Nur Alert, an official emergency alert system to enlist the public’s help in locating missing children, was initially known as Nurin (Nationwide Urgent Response Information Network) Alert.