KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 5 — PU Abu Sufyan’s parenting skills have come under fire after the celebrity preacher uploaded an image of him putting his son to sleep whilst driving.
Malaysians were quick to react to the recent photograph which Abu shared on Instagram, pointing out the safety hazards of allowing a child to sleep on an adult’s lap while driving a moving vehicle.
“One of the ways I put my children to sleep or to make them be quiet is to cradle them on the driver’s seat.
“But I will stop the car wherever and they usually would fall asleep within five to 10 minutes then I’ll put them in the car seat,” Abu said in the post.
The former reality television series contestant, who made headlines last year for divorcing his first wife while she was heavily pregnant, was also seen without a seatbelt in the photograph.
A post shared by Abu Sufyan Mokhtar (@_sufyanmokhtar) on
When an Instagram user asked if the vehicle was in motion, Abu responded, “Yes, after a few minutes of driving from where we stopped, I’ll put him in the (child) car seat.”
Abu, whose real name is Muhd Abu Sufyan Mohd Mokhtar Rozaidi was slammed by social media users for the hazardous move.
Many argued that he shouldn’t have compromised his children’s safety just to ease the process of making them go to bed.
“In those five to 10 minutes an accident can happen and your child can be thrown out the car through the windshield — the car seat is there for a reason,” one concerned user said.
Abu later thanked the commenter for the advice.
Despite the concerned comments, others worryingly sided with Abu, saying that children sometimes whine and refuse to sit in the child car seat and could only be pacified by sitting on their either parent’s lap while driving, bringing to light the lack of road safety awareness in Malaysia.
“This is exactly like my child who likes to sit on his father’s lap while he drives, a lot of people with children do this,” one commenter said.
“To each their own, don’t try to act so smart and criticise others like you’re better,” said another.
Abu was previously married to Ain Afini and Hana Azra.
To curb road accident deaths where children make up 15 per cent of shocking statistics, the use of child car seats was made mandatory from January this year with a six-month grace period before summonses are issued.
Then-Transport minister Anthony Loke said the move was necessary as only 30 per cent of car drivers used child seats citing a Malaysian Institute of Road Safety survey.
As of June 30, 1,897 reminder notices were issued to motorists.
The mandatory use of child seats was scheduled to come into effect in June but has been delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Road Transport Department said last week it was waiting for the Transport Ministry’s green light to enforce the use of child seats.