Women, Family and Community Development Minister Rina Harun is receiving barbs after launching a cactus as a symbol for a campaign against child sexual abuse.
Child rights activist Hartini Zainuddin said the "outrageous" choice shows the ministry does not know what it is doing and did not seek advice from experts in the field.
"No one in their right mind would have said yes to this, and if they did, I'd like to know why," she told Malaysiakini.
Rina last week launched the campaign using the cactus as a symbol of "resilience" and "strength", with the thorns meant to symbolise how society must protect children from sexual crimes.
"The cactus was chosen because it can survive anywhere, but needs delicate care, like children who must be cared for and loved," the campaign material read.
The five-pointed cactus was also chosen to symbolise the Rukun Negara "to inculcate patriotism in children", that the family and society need to cultivate good values in children, the campaign material further read.
Hartini, who has worked in the field of child rights for decades, said a quick Google search of symbols can easily show more appropriate ones for an intervention campaign against child sexual crimes.
Among the examples she shared included a ribbon shaped like a heart, a teddy bear with a band-aid and a stop sign saying "Stop child abuse".
"Isn't this more appropriate if you're doing intervention (instead of a) five-pointed cactus? Seriously?" she asked.
The ministry's cactus symbol was also panned on social media, including by former deputy women, family and community minister Hannah Yeoh who responded on Twitter with emojis expressing exasperation.
Muda's Central Executive Committee member Dian Lee also rubbished it as "a waste of paper and ink".
‘Crazy’ confusion
Hartini also questioned the minister's competence after Rina seemingly misunderstood child pornography to mean children watching pornography in her speech launching the campaign yesterday.
She said it is "crazy" that a minister tasked to protect children is confusing the two.
The former refers to pornography involving children, while the latter is children consuming pornography.
"My ministry views this trend as an unhealthy development, especially as it involves a vulnerable group since exposure to child pornography leads to sex addiction, which can eventually lead to other sexual issues,” Rina was quoted as saying by Bernama yesterday.
Hartini said what Rina referred to in her speech is child grooming, where the child is exposed to certain conditions to prepare them into becoming a victim of sexual abuse, and not child pornography.
Yesterday, Rina said police data showed 106,764 IP addresses in Malaysia shared child pornography from 2017 to August this year.
The minister said to combat this issue, her ministry formed a committee to manage social media issues involving children last year.
Counselling is also provided in 108 district welfare departments nationwide, while 140 child protection teams were formed and 299 assistants appointed. - Mkini
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