“If they want to go out, parents should ask them where they are going and inform them what time they come home,” said Rosmah Mansor, amid reports that some of the victims had sneaked out of their homes.
She urged parents to be more strict with their children, including preventing them from going out late at night.
Eight teenagers were killed and another eight were injured after a car driven by a 22-year-old woman rammed into them while they were riding their bicycles in the wee hours of the morning on Jalan Lingkaran Dalam, Johor Bahru.
The incident drew the attention of Johor’s Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar, who urged parents to be more mindful of their children’s whereabouts.
“It is better to fuss over them now than cry when they are gone,” the sultan said during a visit to the Sultanah Aminah Hospital to console relatives of the victims.
Agreeing with the ruler, Rosmah, who spoke on the sidelines of a seminar on sexual crimes against children here, said parents should keep an eye on their children even when they are 16 years old.
“Some parents don’t care if their children come back or not. And this indifference is saddening,” she said.