A NUR (National Urgency Response) Alert comes out when there is a child under 12 who is reported missing. These alerts serve to help spread information related to missing children.
Kuching MP, Kelvin Yii believes that the NUR alert system should be upgraded by adopting technology.
“We cannot just rely on enforcement officers sticking ‘missing person posters’ at banks or even public notice boards. We need to adopt technology to ensure the alert is quick and widespread.”
He suggests for the government to have a centralised system where all important information can be accessed by the public so that banks, shopping malls, cinemas, etc. can play their part by showing these alerts for a few seconds or spreading them on all social media platforms.
He says this coverage is important as “every second counts when it comes to saving a child’s life“.
“We should be receiving more NUR Alerts that can save lives rather than unnecessary SMS spam from MKN”, he adds.
“The most important factor in missing children cases is for coverage to be effective and quick. Instead, we receive all kinds of unnecessary SMS from MKN and even SMS promoting Keluarga Malaysia events without consent.”
Speaking on the case of Eric Chang Wei Jie, a 4-year-old boy who went missing on Feb 22 from a house in Bintawa, he has said that people in the area did not even know that there was a missing child.
“However, the accessibility of this Nur Alert is very limited and from this case alone, I have double-checked with multiple people who live in the area and they never received any alerts.”
He added by saying that the public will definitely be supportive if they chose to send NUR alerts in SMS form rather than unnecessary spam especially when they can help save a child’s life.
We would certainly welcome NUR alerts rather than spam SMS by the government. What do you think about this suggestion? Let us know in the comments.
Little Eric Chang still remains missing to date and if you have any information on that case, please contact Insp Hasmah Binti Abdul Jalil @ 013-6852210 or IPD Kuching, Sarawak @ 08-2244444.
Also read: M’sian Family Needs Help Finding Their 16yo Daughter Who Was Allegedly Abducted by a Bangladeshi
