THE Pakatan Harapan government should bring back the hotline for children to receive counselling or report abuse, Childline Malaysia project director P.H. Wong said.

Previously, children were able to call Talian Nur at 15999, a hotline that was introduced in 2007 when Shahrizat Abdul Jalil was women and family development minister.

Since the hotline was changed to Talian Kasih under minister Rohani Abdul Karim, children had not had a number to call for help, and this was worrying, Wong told The Malaysian Insight in an interview.

“There were 80,000 calls a year made by children. Most of the calls were for psychosocial support, which falls into three categories. The highest number of calls were over depression, which indicated to us that something was very wrong with their mental health,” she said.

Wong said it was a shame there was no record of the calls as the data would be useful to those working to help children with mental and emotional problems.

“For the first five years from 2010 to 2015, we had data that we could share (with international organisations for children’s welfare).

“We could see how many kids were calling, what were their troubles… but for the past three years, we have had no data. We no longer know what troubles the children.”

Not all calls to Talian Kasih involved abuse, some callers just needed to talk to someone, she said.

However, Wong said, Talian Kasih was a paid service.

“DiGi is the only telco that does not charge for calls to the hotline.

“We should get more support from the corporate sector for the welfare of Malaysian children.”

She said should it be revived, the children’s hotline should be more inclusive for the sake of children with disabilities, and it should be managed by a civil society group.

Meanwhile, the government should take children’s views into consideration when formulating policies, as was the practice in Hong Kong, Wong said.

“They (children) make up 40% of the people. We always say they are the jewels of the nation. They are also citizens. They are living in a world where decisions are made for them by adults. Their voices also deserve to be heard.

“We hope the new government will listen to them, too.”

She said among the areas that needed attention was a Children’s Representative Council that would ensure children’s rights were protected.

“We have to review the selection of members to the council. Who do they represent? If we go by the council, all children regardless of nationality are represented.”

Childline Malaysia is a national 24-hour free emergency outreach service for children in need of care and protection. – June 30, 2018.