7-6-2024 (KUALA LUMPUR) A shocking incident has unfolded on the streets of Sibu, Sarawak, where a motorist encountered an 11-year-old boy behind the wheel of a car, sparking outrage and raising serious concerns about road safety and parental supervision.
The startling encounter, which was anonymously uploaded to a local Facebook group on Tuesday (June 4), quickly went viral, capturing the attention of netizens across Malaysia. In the 30-second-long clip, the motorist can be heard questioning the young driver in Mandarin, expressing disbelief at the sight of a child operating a vehicle.
“You’re 12 years old and you have a licence?” the man asks, as the boy, seated in the driver’s seat of a white car, rolls down the window. The boy mutters that he has a driving licence, claiming that his parents are at home and that the car belongs to his father.
Despite the man’s warning that he intends to lodge a police report, the boy appears unfazed, shaking his head and asking ‘why?’ before rolling up the window and driving off, prompting the motorist to state that he will film the car’s licence plate.
In response to the incident, Sibu district police chief Assistant Commissioner Zulkipli Suhaili confirmed that the child and his father were located on Wednesday evening and brought to the police station for questioning, as reported by Bernama news agency.
“The investigation found that the driver of the car, who was an 11-year-old boy, is autistic and has medical records at the Psychiatry Specialist Clinic, Sibu Hospital,” Zulkipli stated, adding that the father was issued a summons for allowing his son to drive.
However, the saga took a disturbing turn as a second video began circulating online, depicting a group of men confronting the boy in what appears to be a misguided attempt at disciplining him. The footage shows the men surrounding the child, with one of them hitting him with a cloth, causing the boy to wail and squat down before darting back to the driver’s seat of his father’s car.
The video then captures a man hitting and scolding the boy, demanding that he let his father drive instead. When the boy refuses, the man slaps him on the face, asserting, “We’re teaching you a lesson now, don’t get your father into trouble!”
The shocking footage has sparked outrage among netizens, with many criticizing the boy’s reckless actions and his parents’ apparent lack of supervision, while others condemned the physical confrontation as an inappropriate and potentially abusive response.
“Why didn’t they take him to the police station? Hitting him like this is abuse and he’s underaged, what if you hit him too hard and something happens?” one Facebook user questioned, while another urged, “Although the kid has committed a serious wrongdoing, hitting him is not the right solution — talk it out instead!”
