Working parents who leave their children alone at home or leave them in unattended circumstances can be jailed for up to 20 years upon conviction, under amendments proposed to the Child Act 2001.

Netizens who share or spread photographs of minor offenders or child victims through the social media can also be punished with a jail term of up to five years or maximum fine of RM10,000 under the proposed amendments.

This was revealed by the senior officers of Women, Family and Community Development Ministry at a media briefing on Child (Amendment) Bill 2015, which involves a major revamp, covering 70 percent of the existing Act.

Minister Rohani Abdul Karim and her two deputies – Azizah Mohd Dun and Chew Mei Fun – attended the briefing specifically conducted for the media.

Under the amendments, the parent and guardian who tortures, neglects, abandons or exposes children to unsafe and unprotected environment, as well as leaving their children without appropriate supervision, will be punished severely.

It proposes a heavier penalty for the offender, doubling the current maximum jail sentence of 10 years upon conviction. The fine imposed will also be increased from RM20,000 to RM50,000.

The offender must also perform community service, according to the amendment bill.

Leaving children alone in a car

"Whether intentional or unintentional, there have been reports on neglected children. There were cases where children fell to their death because their parents were not paying attention to them.

"During the Chinese New Year, you go to any shopping mall, you can see the parents busy buying the clothes and their children running around all over the place, without supervision," said S Waitchalla, secretary of policy division of the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry.

"The law is coming. Make sure you don't do it anymore," Waitchalla warned, adding that the same goes to parents who leave their children alone in a car.

Meanwhile, the ministry's legal adviser, Zahida Zakaria, insisted that it is incorrect for parents to leave their teenage children at home all by themselves, without appropriate supervision.

Zahida said the definition of ‘children’ under the law includes those below 18 years and the ministry views that these teenagers need the protection of their parents as well.

"This is a case-by-case basis. If there are food supplies and the house is safe for the children, it may not come under the definition of the provision," she said.

"The court will (decide) what will be in the context of 'without appropriate supervision' (as stipulated under the bill)," she said.

Zahida said this when asked if the ministry took into consideration, when drafting the amendments to the Act, the norm of Malaysians, where both parents need to work and their teenage children are able to take care of themselves at home.

"We understand Malaysia's scenario, where both parents usually work. But it is not right to leave your children alone, without sufficient supervision," she said.

The ministry would only act on cases of negligence of children if there is a police report or a news report once the bill is passed.

Zahida also advised netizens against spreading or sharing photographs of minor offenders or children who are victims of crime, or any photographs that could link a minor to crime, including sharing pictures of the minor's family.

The ministry had tabled the bill for first reading at Parliament on Dec 2, 2015. It is expected to be passed at the next sitting in March.

The ministry is now engaging stakeholders to brief them on the amendment.

When asked if the 20-year jail sentence was too harsh on the parents, Rohani said the court is the authority to decide.

"When there were cases involving negligence, we were criticised for being toothless," she noted.

"There was pressure from the public for us to do something; it was as though we were in the wrong," she said.

She, however, said the ministry took into the consideration the suffering of the parents who lost their children (through negligence).