Malaysian child passenger safety activist wins global award

KUALA LUMPUR: Another Malaysian has done the country proud on the world stage by winning the Child Passenger Safety International Instructor of the Year Award from a United States (US) organisation.

Jchanet Tan, who started her personal campaign on child passenger safety five years ago, saw her effort recognised when the Malaysian Parliament passed the country's first child passenger safety law in January last year.

According to a statement from the Illinois-based National Child Passenger Safety Board, Tan set out "to shake the earth and shift the culture in Malaysia" by lobbying for such a regulation at the time when 10 times as many children were dying in car crashes in Malaysia than in the US.

"She spoke about the basics of crash dynamics and the need for change. Babies were riding on their mother's laps in the front seats of vehicles. Overloaded vans carried unbelted children to school and images of deadly collisions were depicted regularly in the media," said the statement.

The US entity said in 2017, Tan self-funded a trip to the US to attend a National Child Passenger Safety Technician (CPST) Certification Training course and by March the following year, she climbed to the ranks of instructor.

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She then helped to deliver the first CPST Certification Training course in Malaysia and to date, has trained 77 technicians, including 12 in Singapore.

In addition, Tan started the first non-governmental organisation in Malaysia dedicated to keeping children safe on the roads. The associated Facebook group, which includes professionals and caregivers, has grown to 27,000 followers.

Commenting on the award, National Child Passenger Safety Board chairman Lonny Haschei said: "She took it upon herself to become a technician and instructor. She is a difference maker and has demonstrated there are no limits or boundaries in the world of child passenger safety."

Meanwhile, Tan told Bernama that she was both "surprised and shocked" to have been named as the award winner from among eight other international nominees.

She said although the Child Passenger Safety law was already in place, much efforts remained to be done to create public awareness about child passenger safety on a community for the community basis.

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As someone who had been involved with the Road Safety Council and the Road Safety Department for the past five years, Tan said their campaigns were mostly seasonal and did not create any impact.

"Just look at the rear seat belt law enforced in 2009. Until now compliance is still low, awareness is even lower. If they use it, it is not because of safety; it is to avoid getting a ticket," she said.

Tan pointed out that her team of internationally recognised Child Passenger Safety experts also needed official endorsement to enable them to go obtain sponsorships for their programmes.

"All our previous programmes were sponsored. Petronas was one of our strong supporters before the COVID-19 pandemic," she said.-- BERNAMA