By Sarimah Othman
KUALA LUMPUR: I recently returned from an outstation trip in the wee hours of the morning and decided to go out for a very late supper. While driving past the rows of mamak restaurants and eateries, I realised something: there were many teenagers still out and about at 3am.
Yes, our children are outside their homes as late as 3 to 5am.
There are six mamak restaurants in that area and it seemed that teenagers could be seen in every one of those restaurants that morning. I estimated that if there there were an average of 15 teens in every restaurant, there would be nearly 100 teenagers hanging out in the wee hours of the morning.
I went into one of the restaurants and ordered my food.
It had been a five-hour drive and I was exhausted. But on observing the group of teenagers in the restaurant, my tiredness seemed to have been replaced with something else– that of concern and irksomeness.
Nearly all of the teens who hung out late were smoking at the eateries.
Despite the ban on smoking at eateries that was enforced on Jan 1, none of these teens seemed to heed it. It made me wonder if the proposal to impose a curfew on teens came through, would it be ignored as well?
I noticed that despite being with friends, they barely spoke to each other. Their eyes were glued to their mobile phones. The digital reverie would be interspersed with sporadic bursts of profanities – perhaps in response to their losses in the online games they were playing.
In front of them were drinks in clear plastic bags – tied at the side or ikat tepi – but placed in bowls.
I have long noticed drinks were sometimes served that way in such restaurants but never understood why. I asked one of the staff what it was about.
“These kids prefer to bungkus (order to go) their drinks because they would get more in volume, despite the difference of between 20 to 30 sen. Order one bungkus, lepak all night,” he explained.
I decided to continue similar observations for the next few nights at different times and on the weekends.
It seems that families and the elderly would patronise such restaurants between 8pm and 11pm.
As the night transitioned into a new morning, more teenagers would start to appear. The numbers seemed to be greater on the weekends.
I was baffled by their appearance on week nights. Did they not have to go to school in the morning? Were their parents aware of their whereabouts?
When I was a teenager, my siblings and I were taught to return home at meal and prayer times. We were not allowed out at night.
Perhaps some would opine that such practices are outdated as times have changed. How then is the right way to raise a child in today’s age? Was it by allowing to them to be out at all hours of the day and to loiter about until early morning?
During a Kelantan State Assembly sitting in October last year, Kuala Balah assemblyman Datuk Abdul Aziz Derasit proposed that a midnight curfew be implemented for underage teenagers.
There was a mixed reaction to the proposal.
On social media, majority of netizens seem to agree with the proposal. A survey by the Facebook page The Reporter on Jan 17 showed that 97 per cent voted for a midnight curfew for those aged under 18 years old. The rest were against it.
The idea had been floated around quite a few times before, particularly after the Johor Baharu accident in February last year when a car ploughed into 16 teenagers who were cycling at 3am. Eight of them died.
Several parents associations as well as NGOs have also been pushing for a curfew for teenagers since several years ago.
However, nothing came into fruition.
Last month, however, the Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail was reported as saying that the government was seriously mulling a curfew for those under 18 years of age.
“We are looking at this policy, which is practiced in Iceland. This is a model that we can emulate.
“It may not be easy to implement, but we feel this is necessary and can prevent teens from getting involved in negative activities,” said Dr Wan Azizah, who is also the Women, Family and Community Development Minister.
Iceland’s teenagers are ranked the cleanest-living in Europe.
Seven countries in the world have law provisions for a curfew on minors namely the US, Australia, Thailand, Germany, Britain, Iceland and the United Kingdom.
Many of the countries implement the curfew on teenagers aged 16 and below, prohibiting them from leaving the home after 10 pm, while those below 18 are not allowed to be out past midnight.
The Iceland Child Protection Act 2002 provides for children aged 12 and below to not be outside of their homes past 8pm unless accompanied by an adult.
Teens aged between 13 and 16 cannot be outside their homes after 10pm unless they are on their way home after a programme organised by a school, sports organisation or youth club.
Those caught breaching the rule would be brought to the police station before their parents are called in to bring them home.
Although the curfew proved to be of benefit to teenagers in those countries, Malaysia is still hesitant about implementing the law.
Some believed that it was a breach of the basic rights, freedom and movement of children. Others did not think that it would be of any benefit as teenagers would still be awake and “free to roam” on social media.
However, the general consensus is that the onus was on the parents to teach, control, discipline and monitor their children’s activities and whereabouts.
I believe that it takes a village to raise a child. Therefore, everyone should play a part in keeping our children safe – whether we are the parents, teachers, community, authorities or even restaurant owners.
If everyone played their part, we may not even need to implement a curfew on teenagers.
On the other hand, if everyone prefers to keep to themselves, then the curfew should certainly be considered.
(This article is the personal opinion of the writer.)
