William! William! Where are you?

Malaysians begin to search and pine for their own “Prince” William.

COMMENT

It is not for the first time in the history of this country that a child has gone missing. But the mysterious disappearance of six-year-old William Yau Zhen Zhong nearly a week ago has begun to raise questions and concerns over the state of the safety of children in Malaysia today.

While none of us should find fault with any person or blame squarely a single person for this misadventure, the fact that it occurred is still disturbing and bothers many of us Malaysians, as the nation is generally perceived to be a safe and secure place in which to raise kids.

What transpired on that fateful day was that Mr and Mrs Yau went to a Putra Heights electrical appliances store. The parents went to the store to buy electrical equipment while leaving their children in the back seat of the car.

But while they were in the store, William’s younger sister Cindy began to cry as she missed their presence. The parents had earlier told them they will be back in a jiffy but the minutes began to tick much to the worry of the children.

The brave boy William decided to go to look for his parents and told his two siblings he will be back with their parents. That was the last time William was seen. The parents apparently left the children unattended in their car for a period of 15 minutes.

But like a neighbour of the Yau’s remarked: “They are good people. But it is sad that they just made one mistake and have to pay for it.”

The role of parents today

There are others in the history of cases of missing children that have in the past also made mistakes and have had to pay a heavy price for it. The disappearance of William Yau is not a new phenomenon.

From time to time, Malaysians are often outraged and incensed by the stories of kidnapped children or the cases of missing children who disappear without a trace or of children raped, murdered, sodomised or of having suffered emotional trauma in the hands of their captors.

While these scenarios paint a chilling effect and cause us to feel more frantic over the safety and well being of William, wherever he may be right now, the point in question is that parenting is no longer to be taken for granted but it has really become a specialised skill unlike in the old days.

While parents of the older genre were able to pick up skills while raising their children, the same cannot be said for raising children in today’s world.

The complex and complicated world that children are born into makes it imperative that parents of this era are fully equipped with a wide range of skills to cope with raising children up successfully.

In this aspect, there is a need by the government and local authorities, the mass media, community groups and NGOs to begin to reach out to create awareness and provide education to parents as to their responsibilities.

There needs to be a concerted effort in Malaysia to raise the level of parents’ parenting skills to ensure that they can build successful and healthy homes that are able to face up to the challenges of a fast-changing environment.

Only healthy families, as a result of effective parenting skills, will ensure that Malaysian society is free of social ills as these children, in turn, will grow up to nurture their own parenting skills to ensure the continuity of producing wholesome families.

Other disturbing trends emerge

William’s disappearance has not only raised the alarm but a network of search bodies has since emerged to be on the lookout for him.

The police are at the forefront, a RM20,000 reward is being offered for information leading to his discovery, NGOs, the mass media and cyberspace are all abuzz in search of our very own “Prince” William.

It is understandable why he is being treated like a prince in a way. The disappearance of a gallant boy who could not bear to see his younger sister cry will touch anyone’s heart to do something.

While William did something he shouldn’t have, the situation appeared to warrant it in his mind. While we will never be sure what happened once he went to look for his parents, the mystery will only be solved by finding him.

The reason why finding him is necessary is to send a clear and unmistakable signal to any person or persons who have taken advantage of this family’s misfortune that Malaysians have absolutely zero tolerance for wackos and those with criminal intent.

The fact that an unknown caller at 5am telephoned Mrs Yau and “offered” to return William if she will send him photos of herself without a stitch on is glaring evidence of the work of psychotics who have joined the fray.

Given Mrs Yau’s distraught state of mind, she will be most willing to do so in return for her precious son. But crank calls from pranksters at a time of grief and turmoil is the last thing that is needed.

A call to rally around the family

What is most clearly needed in this period of outpouring of national grief, as Malaysians of all walks of life are outraged and understandably baffled and disturbed as to the mystery of William’s disappearance, is for all of us to rally around the family in this time of great distress.

The anguish and heartache that the family is going through has greatly affected us as a nation. The heartfelt wish of right-thinking Malaysians is that such a fate will never again be encountered by any family.

The call now is to be vigilant wherever we are and to be on the lookout for William. The authorities should scrutinise every legal and illegal exit points in the country and there should be a nationwide search-and-rescue operation mounted to get to the bottom of this mystery.

The triumphant return of William to us will ensure that once again the faith in our security and safety system for the people of Malaysia is in place and though things like this happen, we are on top of things.

Christopher Fernandez taught English and Science at a Chinese primary school.