KOTA TINGGI: Malaysia is looking into coming up with a roadmap to improve laws pertaining to child protection, says Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said.
The Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Law and Institutional Reforms) said an international symposium, gathering experts on child protection from all around the world, will be held in Kuala Lumpur next week.
"We have brought several experts from around the world and those who have set up Children’s Commission in other countries.
"We will look at the steps they have taken and challenges they faced as we are still new in this," she said.
The Pengerang MP said this to reporters during her Parliament Hari Raya open house on Friday (April 26) night.
She added that currently, the Office of the Children’s Commissioner (OCC) is under the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam).
"Through this symposium, I hope we can come out with a road map to give more protection in terms of laws to children in this country. It does not matter whether the children are Malaysians or not," she said.
The International Symposium on Empowerment of Children's Commission will be held at the Asian International Arbitration Centre in Kuala Lumpur on Monday (April 29) and Tuesday (April 30).
On a separate matter, Azalina said that she has brought forward a proposal to set up a hospital at her constituency here in Pengerang to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
She said that currently, the closest hospital from the area was the Kota Tinggi hospital, which is about 50km away.
"I have informed the Prime Minister that Desaru is an important spot for international tourism.
"If the hospital is too far away, people may think twice about coming here due to safety concerns.
"There are also oil and gas projects in the area and I am concerned about the distance in case of an emergency," she said.
She added that there has also been an increase in fatal accidents, especially along the Senai - Desaru Highway.
"I have discussed the matter and expressed my concerns to the Prime Minister, and he said that the government will study the matter," she said.
