As a parent of two young children under the age of five, I am bewildered and confused about the true state of HFM (hand, foot and mouth) disease that is currently affecting our country. My daughters had contracted HFM disease three years ago around the time of the Coxsackie outbreak in Sarawak.

I will never forget the agony that my family went through during that period. Fortunately, my daughters recovered after taking some traditional medicine.

I am deeply disappointed that despite that experience of the 1997 Coxsackie outbreak where close to 50 children died of the disease, our authorities have yet to learn any lessons from it. After each statement from the government, there seems to be more questions than answers, more confusion than clarification.

Due to a dire lack of urgency and action from the relevant authorities on this crisis yet again this time, we decided to take our children out of their kindergarten and are staying away from public places, especially shopping complexes. We are doing this not out of panic but as a precautionary measure. By limiting their exposure to other children who might have contracted the disease, we are effectively preventing them from getting it.

This, I feel, is the best preventive measure we can take other than adhering to a strict practice in hygiene, for while we may disinfect everything in the school, it takes just one person who carries the virus to spread the disease to the other children. It's just common sense.

However, the incoherent remarks by our ministers and deputy ministers about the choice of terms used, whether or not to use the term "outbreak" and "epidemic", about its effect on tourism, about not causing panic, etc. truly is a cause for worry, for if this is the manner our government is managing a crisis like this, how would we cope in bigger ones?

The only minister who was bold enough to take the bull by its horns was National Unity and Social Development Minister Dr Siti Zaharah Sulaiman who, on Oct 13, issued an order to close all the kindergartens and childcare centres under its ministry. She also advised all privately-run centres to do the same. Many parents were relieved to hear that - I know I was.

But, the very next day, on Saturday, Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi revoked her order stating that "the HFM disease has not reached an alarming rate", as reported in The Star on Oct 15. The report did not define what would be an "alarming rate" nor an "acceptable" one.

Instead of giving clear and defined actions, the authorities continued to "assure" people with vague uncertainties such as "the Johor government, together with the state health department, has taken the necessary precaution to ensure there is no outbreak of the disease ..." Don't we all wish we knew exactly what those measures are.

While the health minister remains silent (again), the number of reported cases continues to rise. As a parent, I am not concerned about the rhetoric of the matter but am keen to know what the real facts are and what decisive action will be taken. From the track record of the 1997 outbreak in Sarawak and last year's Nipah virus outbreak, I know who, what and where I am not betting my confidence on.

Crisis management failure

Time and again, we have been failed by the apparent lack of crisis management capability of our leaders. The way crises are managed leaves very little room for confidence from the people.

It is time to seriously look at the leadership capabilities of the people responsible and make the necessary changes to ensure smoother and efficient management, especially during a crisis situation.

We parents should also work collectively and pro-actively on the personal and community levels to minimise the risk of an infection. Here are some suggestions (above and beyond the published warnings on the local media):

1) Check that kindergarten/childcare providers conduct inspections to ensure that no student is infected. Better still, encourage kindergartens to close for a period of time. Avoid contact with other young children, especially those who are affected.

2) Make your own decision and stick to it. Spread the word and make sure others know about it and take the necessary precautions.

3) Above all, play more with our children with the added extra time at home. If there is anything positive that might come out of this crisis, is the greater time we have with our children at home.

KV SOON is one of the founders of [#1]Family Place[/#], a website for parents by parents to "bridge families and build communities". It contains news and views on parenting, education and family issues.