AFTER finding out that their son was involved in an illegal gathering in front of a school in Klang, a woman and her former air force husband drove their youngest son to the Klang police station to assist in investigations.

“We surrendered him to the police because we did not know what was going on. It was also because we are Malaysian citizens who abide by the law,” said the 50-year-old businesswoman.

She thought that police would only need a few hours to record a statement from her son but he ended up being remanded for four days.

The woman and her husband went to the police station daily although they were not allowed to meet him. The incident has proven to be a tough test for her as a mother.

“When he was in the lock-up, I did not switch on the lights at our home for two days. I saw no point in switching on the lights because without my sons, all of this meant nothing,” she told The Malaysian Insight.

The 18-year-old was among 52 youths charged yesterday with illegal gathering. All the accused were between the ages of 15 and 18.

Three pleaded guilty to the offence while 49 others, including the businesswoman’s son, claimed trial. The court has set July 6 for sentencing and mention.

The accused were arrested after two short video clips went viral on social media showing a group of rowdy motorcyclists revving their machines in front of a school in Klang during a “celebration” with a cake bearing the number “24” being cut.

The number “24” is a nod to c, a notorious secret society. The students were celebrating the “birthday” of the gang, which falls on April 24.

But since April 24 was a public holiday, the students decided to hold the celebration on April 20 in front of their school. They also lit firecrackers while disrupting traffic.

Speaking about her son’s involvement in the incident, the mother said: “I believe it could have happened recently when he mingled with the wrong crowd.

“It could also be due to the WhatsApp group that he was part of.”

She said the youngest of her two sons is an average student who scored 5As in PT3, adding that he had never given the family any problems.

The boy, who has since been released on bail, has had all his privileges taken away, including access to his mobile phone. He has also been transferred to another school.

“They say parents have to watch over their children. But I cannot control him all the time. I am doing what I can as a parent and hopefully, he would have learnt something from this dark episode,” she said.

The 18-year-old said he wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps to serve in the air force and was already been looking at courses offered at the Defence University, or Universiti Pertahanan.

“We encouraged him. We will support him and we always tell him that education is the only thing that we can provide for him.”

She said her son could not sleep for three days and has been crying non-stop since the incident.

“Even now, wherever he goes, he would always want me to be near. He probably thought it was only for fun and never realised that it could be this serious,” she said.

Police acted swiftly after the two videos went viral showing the students causing chaos in front of the school. They widened their crackdown against Gang 24 in Selangor, working to identify all its members, including students and mapping the gang’s network in schools in the state, using their intelligence arm and the Special Branch. – May 9, 2017.