Compiled by KHOO JIAN TENG, C. ARUNO and R. ARAVINTHAN
TWO teenagers dressed in school uniform while raising funds in Johor Baru were taken to the police station after being mistaken for scammers, Guang Ming Daily reported.
It was later found to be a misunderstanding after the two girls were confirmed to be students from Chung Hwa Independent High School in Kelantan.
It was revealed that the girls had travelled all the way from Kelantan to Johor Baru together with their teachers to raise funds for their school.
Skudai assemblyman Marina Ibrahim said she received calls from the public that two girls were attempting to raise funds at Taman Impian Emas and were later taken away to the police station for questioning.
“I contacted the police to understand the situation.
“I also got in touch with the school to verify the identities of the two students and the background of the fundraising activity,” she said.
Marina added that the police were not investigating the students for wrongdoing.
She said the police officers brought the students to the station out of concern for the girls’ safety and to ensure that criminal syndicates were not exploiting them.
The students’ family members later came and picked them up from the station, she added.
Marina also reminded schools to improve their public fundraising protocols.
“Students going out for fundraising should carry official letters, supporting documents and contact details of the person in charge to avoid similar misunderstandings from happening again,” she said.
(The above articles are compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with a >, it denotes a separate news item.)
