Malaysians are sharing their sadness upon seeing what appears to be a child begging for money alone at the parking lot of a shopping complex in Kota Bharu, Kelantan, while dressed in a frog mascot costume.
Netizen, Comrd Riz, took to his TikTok page to showcase the child, while wondering where the authorities were in helping the child and questioning the state of the child’s wellbeing, considering how warm it must be inside the costume.
He wrote, “Even I, who is wearing a T-shirt, am sweating profusely.”
“JKM (Welfare Department) and PDRM (Royal Malaysia Police), where are you? Children cannot be left without a guardian and cannot be exploited.”
In his video, a young boy could be seen giving money to the child in the frog costume, who was sitting alone on a bench at the shopping complex’s parking garage.
Feeling horrible for the child, Comrd Riz decided to get the child some snacks.
“Forgive me, kid, I don’t have money, but I have chocolates and snacks.”
“Dressed in a frog costume for hours while at the mall’s parking lot, the child must be hot,” he added.
Comrd Riz also added that he hopes the child isn’t part of a syndicate or suffering in silence.
“Don’t have kids if you can’t take care of them”
While some Malaysians believe that the child’s parents could be teaching them to be independent, many pointed out that parents should be responsible for earning money without using their children.
“Maybe this is the way their parents want to educate them? Maybe they’re just doing it once in a while because their parents want to teach them to be independent and to value money?”
“They should be enjoying their childhood, not doing things like this.”
“No matter how difficult situations are for us as parents, children should never work to earn money. We should be the ones to work hard to raise them. Forgive me as I do not know what this child’s family situation is like. It’s just that, what I want to say is children of this age should not work.”
“We as parents need to provide the best for our children. Not use our children to make money. Let us (as parents) struggle to earn money as long as our kids have food, clothes, an education and allow them to enjoy their childhoods.”
“Please lah, don’t focus on having many children if you can’t take care of them. I feel saddened upon seeing the fate of children who work like this.”
You can watch the heartbreaking video here.
What do you think about this? Do feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section.
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