KUALA LUMPUR: The government feels the proposed night ‘curfew’ on children under the age of 18 cannot be implemented yet due to various reasons, says Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.
Dr Wan Azizah, who is also Women, Family and Community Development Minister, said among the reasons was the absence of parents at home to monitor their children as they were juggling with more than one jobs to cover the cost of living.
“There is also a need for children to be outdoor at night such as tuition classes, sports activities and religious activities in surau.
“Besides, there are also working children to help support their families in terms of socio-economic as allowed by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) for teenagers aged 15 and above as our secondary education is not compulsory,” she said in the Dewan Rakyat yesterday.
She said this in her reply to a question from Datin Paduka Dr Tan Yee Kew (PH-Wangsa Maju) who wanted to know the government’s decision on the proposal to impose a ‘curfew’ on children under the age of 18 as stated earlier this year.
However, Dr Wan Azizah said, the government was considering to impose ‘curfew’ at high-risk (hotspots) areas, as well as to remind parents to keep their children safe at all time and should not leave the responsibility to the government.
Her ministry was also working with the Ministry of Housing and Local Government and the Ministry of Youth and Sports to identify trained professionals in sports, charity works, drama and dance classes as well as in martial arts to lead programmes for children to participate after school or during school holidays.
“Actually, teenagers don’t know what to do in their free time, so if we can provide alternative activities, they will have healthy activities to participate and thus, to avoid negative things like drugs,” she said.
She said, in efforts to provide a safe social space for children, her ministry implemented a pilot project that offered social services, such as free tuitions to target groups at the Perumahan Awam Desa Rejang, Setapak, and thus far it showed encouraging response. – Bernama