18 Jan 2019

Press statement by MCA Youth Chairperson Nicole Wong Siaw Ting


Only minor children involved in social ills & only after 10pm?

The proposal by  Deputy Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Dr Wan Azizah that a curfew be imposed on youngsters under 18 years of age to curb them from falling into social ills is another knee-jerk reaction. The proposal fails to address a larger social ill at hand, ie, paedophilia and rape of underage children but yet are legitimised by religious law, and which todate, the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development of which Dr Wan Azizah is its Minister has yet to table in the Dewan Rakyat, a Bill to amend either the Sexual Offences Against Children Act, Child Act, Penal Code or Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce)  Act to raise the legal marriage age to 18 years irrespective of gender or religion.


Even if underage children are restricted indoors, the availability of social ills like pornography via the internet and even child grooming for paedophiles or terrorist recruitment via social media are inescapable and can lure or corrupt impressionable minds. With many urban teenagers owning smart phones, social ills can penetrate anywhere, anytime.

Likewise, what is to prevent an underage child from getting drunk at home if there is alcohol, legitimately purchased, in the refrigerator or store room?

It is also naïve to assume that only minors will engage in social ills like as if adults are not perpetrators of social ills or engage in incestuous relationships. Likewise, criminal activities occur anytime of the day with easy accessibility of cybersphere. Are these not social ills?

Curfew enforcement by moral police?


Has Dr Wan Azizah factored in as to how enforcement of the curfew will be implemented? Will there be moral police ala Kelantan PAS style patrolling the streets to ensure no adolescents are outdoors? How will enforcers of this proposal differentiate between teenagers and young adults whose facial features and outfits worn render them looking younger than their age, or teenagers whose maturity and disposition cause them to be mistaken as young working adults?

The onus and responsibility is on the parents and guardians to monitor the activities of their children and set a good example as well. Parents and guardians need to build up trust and open two-way communication with their loved ones. When children confide their problems with adults, do not judge or dismiss them, but listen them out and give the necessary support and counselling.

It is a necessity for the Deputy Prime Minister and the Women’s Ministry to prioritise outlawing child marriages by amending legislation to increase the legal marriage age, than to occupy themselves with curfew restrictions.

Nicole Wong Siaw Ting
MCA Youth Chairperson


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