Everyday we read news about children being treated badly, abused and hurt in their own homes either by stepfathers, stepmothers or maids. On many occasions, we have read of how these children even got killed, intentionally or unintentionally.

A small child as small as a few months old can also become the victims. Isn’t there a law to protect these children in our country? Parents who are not fit to look after their children must be punished by having their children taken away by the welfare department and handed over to qualified foster parents until the children's parents prove their qualification in looking after their children.

In recent heartbreaking news, Hazrieq Naufal Abdullah, a three-year old boy, was killed by his mother's boyfriend. And many times, we have read or seen such an incident as if there is no law at all to protect these young, innocent and unprotected children.

There are many cases where small children are left at home alone while parents go to work. Many times, this has resulted in tragedies. These parents also must be punished for neglecting and exposing their children to danger.

I beg to our government and NGOs to do something about it. If we don't speak on behalf of these children, who else will? They are too young to speak for themselves or to protect themselves. Only we can.

It's very sickening to hear that parents who are supposed to protect their children very often end up abusing them or worse still, murdering their children. Let's pray and hope we don't hear anymore of such news in our daily media.