TAKING ADVANTAGE... File photo (March) shows two children
begging for money at India Street in Kuching.
By :
GERYL OGILVY RUEKEITH
KUCHING:
Using children to beg in the streets is 'inhumane', cried Datuk Fatimah
Abdullah, Minister of Welfare, Women and Family Development.
To
prevent such acts from taking hold in the state, she advised members of the
public to quickly alert her ministry or other relevant authorities should they
come across such instances.
To
enable the authorities to act, she said, the key facts needed are exact
location, time and day the act happened, and the number of beggars involved.
She
cautioned that under Children Act 2001, it is an offence to involve children to
beg on the streets, be it direct or indirectly. These include activities such
as selling calendars and tissues.
“The
act of using children’s voice to beg for money is also an offence,” she said
when contacted by The Borneo Post yesterday.
“The
Act is meant to protect underage children from abuse, negligent, or being taken
advantage of.”
She
said this when asked to comment on a tip-off given by a member of the public
that he was accosted by children asking for money while he was having a meal at
a coffeeshop in Satok on Tuesday.
He
said the kids asked for money politely, and the reason given by them was that
they had not eaten for the day and thus needed money to buy food.
As
it turned out, the reporter who was tipped-off had experienced such a situation
before. Earlier this year, a kid who looked no older than 12 years had begged
from him after he (reporter) had withdrawn money from a bank. The excuse given
for begging was along the same line – no food on the table, and thus needed
money to buy some.
Fatimah
added that those found guilty of using children to beg for money would be
referred to Section 32 of the Act, which states that a minor is not allowed to
participate in begging and such. Their said guardians can be fined not more
than RM5,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, or both upon
conviction.
She
disclosed that during the recent month of Ramadan (fasting month), her ministry
did send out enforcement officers to monitor underage kids armed with donation
boxes.
“Such
activities used to be seen in the past, where children would place donation boxes
on the table to ask for public donation. Anticipating the possible appearance
of such activities, we conducted reconnaissance work around town on the first
and second day of Ramadan in July,” she said.
“We
did give gentle reminders to their guardians to stop such act.” (BP)
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