Parents pull out kids from school
KOTA KINABALU: "This is our small contribution to help keep the community, especially our kids, protected, and minimize the infection risks of this pandemic," said a father of two, Helfy Khairul.
When learning of the rising Covid-19 infection cases in Sabah and Malaysia after the state election recently, Helfy, 40, and his wife, Liza Sharina, 39, agreed to pull their children out of school on September 29.
He said their decision does not mean that the education of their children, Aimar Danish, 14, and Qaseh Alya Nuha, 11, is not important but as a recognition on the importance of breaking the chain of infection to save lives.
"Our lives are changing. It's not about me and my family only, we must think about the whole community," Helfy, a telco executive, told The Borneo Post here yesterday.
"You must assess every single step and all the possible risks. By doing this, we will break the chain of infection. It's a small step but we already started it without waiting for any formal school closure announcements.
"When you assess the risks, you will automatically implement SOPs set by the relevant authorities."
Helfy said after reading of the news online, his wife suggested for them to pull their children out of school.
"I can just tell how worried the people were about the post-election situation and some our close relatives were also involved in the PRN16 (16th state election campaign) so I would rather not to send our kids to school," he said.
"On Tuesday. I sent a pdf letter to the class teacher through WhatsApp and they understood our concern. Luckily the principal understood our concern and they were very cooperative. They gave our kids homework online.
"Then our thoughts on this became a living nightmare yesterday after the KKM (Malaysian Health Ministry) Covid-19 update report," he added.
Helfy also noted that it is important to verify information received from any informal sources.
"We mostly read online newspaper. It depends on issue. If it's rumors then I will double check with others source such as Bernama (news). If the information comes with facts then it is okay," he said.