Selangor govt to launch campaign preventing child death in cars

Selangor plans to launch a campaign to raise awareness of children’s safety to prevent the death of children in cars due to repeated occurrences of the issue.

As such, state executive council member Anfaal Saari requested the aid of industry players and NGOs for the Selangor Safe Family Campaign, which will be launched as soon as possible.

“God willing, at the state government level, we will implement the Selangor Safe Family Campaign as soon as possible to increase the awareness of parents and community members about child safety," she said on Facebook.

Earlier today, Bernama reported that a five-year-old girl died after she was found unconscious in her mother’s car, which was parked near the back door of Shah Alam Hospital last Tuesday (Jan 30).

Shah Alam district police chief Mohd Iqbal Ibrahim said the police were informed of the incident by a medical officer at the hospital at 8.01pm the same day.

He also said the investigation found that the child’s mother, who works at the hospital, left the girl in the car by accident.

She had picked up her daughter at a nearby nursery at about 2pm and then returned to work.

Commenting on the incident, Anfaal said: “This case gave us a 'red flag', especially to me as a policy maker, because the same thing happens repeatedly”.

At the end of last year, a mother pleaded not guilty in the Petaling Jaya Sessions Court to a charge of negligence.

This came about after the mother was charged with leaving her two-year-old girl in her car the previous month, which resulted in the latter’s death.

The phenomenon is called the "forgotten baby syndrome” and can be caused by reduced cognitive capacity induced by stress or a lack of sleep.

Utilise tech to prevent such cases

Meanwhile, Anfaal opined that the use of technological innovation could help in resolving the issue.

"We need startups that can develop apps and devices that allow parents to monitor or receive alerts about their children's whereabouts digitally and physically such as in a vehicle or at a daycare centre,” the Taman Templer state assemblyperson added.

She also revealed that the Selangor state government will work with the National Population and Family Development Board to run a children's digital safety awareness campaign.

"We will also work with the board to implement a children's digital safety awareness campaign, considering children are vulnerable to the dangers of the internet and social media such as sexual grooming,” she said. - Mkini