Did bureaucrasy screw things up?

The execution of the Tsunami alert on Wednesday was marvelous but what happened to the Nur(in)-Alert?

On March 1st, Nurul Nadirah Abdullah or Dirang did not returned home. Like Nurin Jazlin Jazimin before her, 5-year old Dirang was found murdered and only to return as charred remnant of her body. She was confirmed through forensic DNA analysis.

Ever since Government, specifically The Ministry of Women Affair, Family and Community Development tookover the blogger-initiated Nurin Alert and selfishly to deny bloggers's effort to claim as theirs by calling it Nur Alert, another Nur-Alert warning of missing children was unheard off.

Not that there were none. In fact there was altogether more than 110 cases in 2010 and 2011.

Did Nur(in)-Alert fallen victim to another case of civil service bureaucrasy or a civil service manouvre to kill-off off another well-intentioned policy and effort of Government and in this case by the people that would shame them as incompetent?


Immediately after the report of the found charred body of Dirang, a Ministry official claimed that Nur Alert achieved 100% success.

14 March 2012
The New Straits Times

NUR Alert records 100 per cent success

THE National Urgent Response Alert (NUR Alert) recorded a 100 per cent success last year, according to police, with 69 missing children being found with the help of the alert system.

Federal CID sexual assault, domestic violence and child abuse investigation division (D11) head Assistant Commissioner Hamidah Yunus said the majority of missing children were found within 24 hours of a report being lodged.

"Information is disseminated quickly through the media, their websites, Facebook, posters, electronic billboards, ATM machines, text messages and multimedia text messages," she told the New Straits Times.

However, Hamidah cautioned that the NUR Alert was not used for all missing cases, just those involving children under the age of 12. Cases where children were at the centre of custody battles between their parents were not flashed on NUR Alert.

She also revealed that in 2010, there were 54 reported cases of children going missing, 52 of which were solved.

The two unsolved cases were that of Nisha Chandramohan and Lee Xin Ru.
The brutal murder of Nurin Jazlin Jazimin in 2007 shocked the nation and led a group of bloggers to initiate Nurin (Nationwide Urgent Response Information Network).

It was modelled after the successful Amber (America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response) alert.

The NUR Alert acts as an information gathering and dissemination centre on missing children who are abducted or missing.

It was initially operated by the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry before the police took charge of the system in January last year.

Besides the NUR Alert, corporate firms have also contributed.

That statement was rather out of place and in bad taste with Dirang had just being found dead.

Nevertheless, the claims made were quite encouraging and Dirang death seemed to be a statistical outlier. In the first year of operation in 2010, there were 54 reported cases of missing children and 52 was solved. while last year, 69 reported cases were solved within 100%.

Was there any Nur Alert involving web, blog, etc. the whole of the time Nur(in)-Alert was under Government?

Not that we are aware off.

And Hamidah explained that not all missing cases used Nur Alert. It is only meant for the under 12 children.

Subsequently, The Star reported Deputy Women, Family and Community Development Deputy Datuk Heng Seai Kie commenting, below:

Published: Sunday April 8, 2012 MYT 4:34:00 PM
Updated: Sunday April 8, 2012 MYT 7:16:30 PM

NUR alert cannot be activated immediately if child goes missing

By SYLVIA LOOI

IPOH: The National Urgent Response (NUR) alert cannot be immediately activated when a child is reported missing to ensure a child's safety.

Deputy Women, Family and Community Development Deputy Datuk Heng Seai Kie said when a child was reported missing, the system cannot be immediately activated as police need to investigate if the child had been kidnapped.

”If the system is triggered for a kidnapped child, it may end up endangering the child's life instead,” she added.

Speaking to reporters after attending the state Kar1sma 1Azam programme here Sunday, Heng said the ministry, however, welcomed feedback on the system to fine tune it further.

”Not all cases can be linked to NUR alert. First we have to determine the child's safety and secondly the age,” she said, adding that the system was only applicable for children under 12.

Heng was asked to comment on complaints that NUR alert had not activated promptly in the wake of the several cases of missing children recently.

Since its implementation, Nur Alert have been triggered five times.

Of the five, two were recovered in Penang last year, one was found burnt to death in Johor early this year.

Two more, who were reported missing in 2010, are still classified as missing.

There is no complaining on police work. Let them apply their best judgement in their work.

What concerned us is the rosy claim by Federal CID for Sexual Assault, Domestic Violence and Child Abuse Investigation Division (D11) Head Assistant Commissioner Hamidah Yunus?

Deputy Minister claimed that Nur Alert was only used 5 times with only 2 success. This is unlike her claimed that it was used 69 times in 2011 and achieved 100% success.

Now which is which?

Hopefully then, the Ministry of Women Affair, Family and Community Development did not tookover Nur(in) Alert just to play down the attention on the missing children and squash the publicity.

There could be a seriously probem that has to be uncovered.

Nurin Alert which was a replication of Amber Alert from the US managed to get the attention of missing cases involving Sharlinie and Mawi.

The name Nurin alert was to commemorate Nurjazlin, whre a crude version of an public alert was tried.


There was much discussion on problem of missing children and the need for a public warning system before Nurin Alert conceived.






All for the purpose of creating public awareness and getting their support to implement the worthy cause.

However the uncle and parents of Nurjazlin are still at it with police which they claimed had been lackadaisical in their attitude to their police report when Nurjazlin was first found missing. Read the blog In Memory of Nurin Jazlin here.

With the Federal CID Sexual Assault, Domestic Violence and Child Abuse Investigation Division (D11) Head Assistant Commissioner, Hamidah Yunus making statement, with whom is the Nur Alert ownership?

This leads to RockyBru's posting here that Home Ministry should be the one to takeover Nur Alert.

With Shahrizat having some many other issues in mind in the last many months, it is probably better.

In fact, she failed also in putting the right policy and implementation to address child abuse, an issue sentimental to us. Child abuse cases is seldom left unaddressed due to Ministerial and Departmental bureaucrasy.

She had the Ministerial power to intervene and resolve problems and she refuse to use to save kids life and future. This is something we can attest to.

We had approached to meet her through her former Political Secretary, Dato Dr Abdul Razak bin Omar but she refused to hear our well documented and substantiated explanation on a child abuse involving three children.

No doubt we sympathise with the situation that made it unable for her to resume her senatorship and ministership but needed her stay as Wanita head rather than giving the position to her usually absent and incompetent Deputy Head.

But, we couldn't cry for her.

This is despite knowing that the NFCorp debacle does not involve her but was more the sins of thy husband on paper but not so emotionally. Some sources say they live in separate room at home.

We are more sympathetic to the abused children. Two are lost cause academically and one can still be salvaged.

With life and future of women and children at stake, Prime Minister Dato Najib should use his brief sabbatical in this Ministry seldom slotted for women to full advatge to understand this segment of the rakyat.

Women and children are also rakyat yang perlu didahulukan

As far as Nur(in)_Alert, rest assured. It is in good hands. The police tookover Nur(in)-Alert in January 2011.

Read Nuraina here.