Wait until adulthood, young advised
Published on: Friday, October 04, 2019
By: Christy Chok
TAWAU: Chairlady of Tawau Branch Planning Association, Yvonne Ching, said the young should live responsible healthy lifestyles and stay away from intimate relationships until they are adult and ready to marry and start a family.
Her advice is in view of the baby dumping cases which have become a growing concern in Malaysia at a “Dance Baby Dance” campaign held by the association at St. Patrick’s Secondary School Hall here recently.
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It was reported recently that 1,010 babies were dumped or abandoned soon after birth, mainly by young unwed mothers from 2010 till May 2019. Sixty-four per cent of these babies were dumped or abandoned in toilets, garbage areas, drains or among bushes.
They were found dead or died soon after in hospitals. Others were handed over to the Welfare Department for subsequent adoption. Babies that were fortunate enough to live bore the stigma of being illegitimate.
The Sabah Family Planning Association has taken up this concern and has been organising different awareness campaigns over the past few years. Kota Kinabalu, Lahad Datu and Tawau branches have successfully organized “Run Baby Run” campaigns successfully. The targeted participants were secondary school students and young working adults.
This year, Sabah Family Planning Association Tawau branch organised a “Dance Baby Dance” instead of a run to add a new twist to the awareness campaign with the participation of more than 200 participants.
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Yvonne presented the alarming statistics of baby dumping and gruesome pictures of dead babies in the campaign.
Everyone enjoyed the vigorous fit exercises led by three different teams of voluntary instructors from Power Muscle Gym, V Fit Studio and D Ultimate Studio.
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Tawau Family Planning Association hopes the Tawau community will continue to give similar support in future and help to drive home the message that babies should be born into loving families that will welcome them and bring them up to be good and responsible people.
She also expressed gratitude to all who showed their strong support and kindly rendered help in different ways.