PETALING JAYA, June 11 — Family comes first when it comes to the festive season.
Unfortunately for some, despite having their loved ones close, there have been more incidents of those left behind in the hustle and bustle of the Aidilfitri celebrations.
Many sniggered at a Malay Mail report of a family accidentally leaving their 12-year-old daughter behind at the Temerloh R&R last week, when the panicky mother tweeted for help, thinking such a mistake was impossible.
A few days ago, a family on the way home to Gua Musang in Kelantan from Pulau Perhentian accidentally left their six-year-old behind at a stall after stopping for lunch.
Spread out over two cars, the child was thought to be “in the other car” by family members before they were notified by the authorities who had rescued the child, and rushed to pick him up at the Permaisuri police station in Setiu, Terengganu.
The worst case however had to be how a man accidentally left his 73-year-old mother at the Bukit Besi R&R in Terengganu over the weekend, realising it only almost 200km away!
Heading back home to Kuala Lumpur, the man had stopped at the R&R for his wife to go to the washroom.
The man did not realise his mother had left the car to go to the toilet as he had dozed off, and promptly resumed their journey upon his wife’s return.
The elderly woman was surprised when she came out to find out she had been left behind, and sought help from the public before two Road Transport Department staff members who were patrolling the area sent her to the nearest police station after an hour-and-a-half later.
The man, his wife and their son, only realised the “disappearance”, 196km at the Gambang R&R.
The elderly woman’s daughter, who works in Bukit Payong in the east coast state was contacted by police, and a grandson picked her up, before her son and his family picked her up much later.
The family vehemently denied accusations on social media that they had intentionally left the senior citizen behind, attributing the mistake to carelessness.
