Improve Nur Alert to inform public of missing children quicker

 

MP SPEAKS | There has to be an urgent improvement in the National Urgent Response Alert (Nur Alert) to make it more accessible when it comes to missing children.

This is to ensure that the alert is sent out fast and has the widest outreach to speed up the investigation process as well as increase the chances of children being saved.

This is in view of the latest missing child report of a four-year-old boy who has not been seen since Feb 22. Eric Chang Wei Jie went missing from a house in Taman Riverview, Bintawa in Kuching, Sarawak.

This is something serious and I am disappointed that the alert and awareness of the missing child are not widespread even among residents and the public in that area.

The Nur Alert is supposedly responsible for spreading information quickly and as fast as possible through SMS/MMS to help trace missing children (below 12 years of age) who could be victims of crime or abuse.

Time is of the essence

When it comes to missing children, time is of the essence and a quick and widespread alert is important to increase the chances of the child being discovered at the soonest and for law enforcement agencies to carry out their investigation faster which will lead to fast arrest.

Such an alert is also important to inform the public to keep a good lookout and this is the best weapon to limit movements of alleged abductors and even deter anyone from planning abductions.

However, the accessibility of this Nur Alert is very limited and from this case alone, I have double-checked with multiple people who live in the area and they have not received such an alert.

Phone users’ consent

Based on the announcement by the Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), it is said that cellular users must first go through some procedures and choose to accept the Nur Alert announcement before it is sent.

This for me creates all kinds of barriers and limits the outreach of this alert which is the most important factor for it to be effective. Instead, we receive all kinds of unnecessary SMS from the National Security Council, especially during this pandemic period and even SMS promoting Keluarga Malaysia events on our phones without consent.

When it comes to saving children’s lives, they create barriers, but when it comes to government propaganda and unnecessary SMS, they send them anyway without our consent.

That is why there must be a significant improvement to this alert system. We cannot just rely on enforcement officers sticking photocopies of “missing person posters” at banks or public notice boards. We need to adopt technology to ensure the alert is quick and widespread.

Single platform needed

First and foremost, there must be a single platform where all such important information can be accessed directly not just by different enforcement agencies, but also by shopping malls, banks, elected representatives’ offices, cinemas, the public and many more.

Any obstacles to obtaining such an alert, especially all kinds of confusing consent procedures should be removed.

Once such information is obtained it can be spread out on all social media outlets including Facebook, Instagram, Telegram, Whatsapp and even SMS/MMS of residents in that area.

That way, malls can show it on their digital noticeboard, banks can show it on the ATM screen for a few seconds before people withdraw their money or many other ways to spread the message quicker and clearer.

There should also be a platform for the public to immediately inform the authorities when they see suspicious behaviour, or if they see the missing child from the alert they received.

This will hasten the reporting process and speed up the investigation by the authorities thus increasing the chances of the child being found.

I strongly believe the public will understand and be supportive to receive such an alert on their phone rather than all kinds of unnecessary spam and government propaganda especially when they can participate to save a child’s life.

That is why the whole Nur Alert system must be significantly improved because every second counts when it comes to saving a child.

We hope for the best and pray for the safe return of little Eric. - Mkini

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DR KELVIN YII is Bandar Kuching MP and chairperson of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Health, Science and Innovation.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.