Bloggers keep up the search

By NAJIAH NAJIB

WHILE many think the search for missing children Sharlinie Mohd Nashar and Muhamad Asmawi Jalaludin has become a lost cause, bloggers in the city are still trying to find and return them to their parents.

But they can’t do it alone.
They need public help to continue to keep a lookout for the children for as long as necessary.

It is approximately 153 days since little Sharlinie, or Nini, as she is fondly known, went missing. Nini is five years old.

For 11-year-old Asmawi or Awi, who was last seen on March 9, he has been missing for 91 days now.

Blogger and ex-journalist Nuraina A. Samad (www.nursamad.blospot.com), said the bloggers’ efforts in materialising the Nationwide Urgent Response Information Network or NURIN Alert is far from done.

They are, in fact, coming closer to legalising the establishment of Citizens for Nurin Alert (C4NA), a body created to spearhead the NURIN Alert programme, she said.

“We’ve recently received support from several corporations for C4NA. Once we register with the Registrar of Societies, we will be open for membership,” said Nuraina.

Aside from Nuraina, C4NA consists of crime analyst Kamal Affendi Hashim (president), Jazlan Abdul Jalil (vice-president), Jasni Abdul Jalil and Nik Farez (secretaries), Wahti Mahidin (treasurer), and committee members Mary Kate, lawyer Stephanie Chee (East Malaysia liaison), Mohd Fadli (webmaster) and part-time researcher Hanizah Hashim.

“We’re ambitious. We’re go- ing to push the effort for as long as we can to help in rescuing missing children.

This is not a one-off thing. Our effort will help lessen the po- lice’s burden,” said Nuraina.

When asked if she believes that Nini and Awi are alive and safe, she said: “At this point, I don’t know what to think, but my heart goes out to their parents. I can only imagine their anguish.

“If Nini is alive, she is being kept somewhere. And it’s not impossible for a child to be kept in a house in the suburbs without anyone noticing. Who would actually take a second look at what goes on in a normal-looking house?” As for Awi, she said, if he was abducted, “we can’t rule out the possibility” of him being used for prostitution, pornography or drug trafficking.

As for police efforts in finding the children, Nuraina said it is hard to determine the police’s stand on the issue.

“There’s a possibility that they’re looking at the case as a lost cause and would rather use their manpower for other things. They may say they’re serious, but I’m not sure if they’re serious about being serious.” C4NA’s Hanizah (tembam.wordpress.com), believes the police should implement preventive measures of child safety rather than just “wait for a lead” in the in- vestigation.

“This can be done by holding talks to educate parents or training children on what to do if approached by strangers.

“But unfortunately, none of this is being done,” she told Malay Mail.

For blogger Jasni (nurinjazlin.blogspot.com), who is the uncle of Nurin Jazlin Jazi- min, he said bloggers are one of the most loyal groups who are still fighting for Nini and Awi’s rescue.

“The missing children’s case may have died down a bit with the public and the authorities, but bloggers are adamant in putting up posters of the missing children on their sites.

“The posters help to remind our blog visitors that the children have yet to be located.

Until they are found, the case will not be closed.” Sharlinie went missing after playing at the Taman Medan playground, some 200m from her home.

Asmawi, a Standard Five pupil of Sekolah Kebangsaan La Salle Brickfields (2), was reported missing on the way home from a playground near his house in Jalan Permai 7, Pantai Dalam.

Nurin’s killer is still at large.

- The Malay Mail