Videos Of Parents Jumping Off KKB Bridge While Holding Their Children Spark Outrage
The bridge is 60-metre high.
By Sadho Ram — 22 Mar 2018, 10:41 AM
About four days ago, an outdoor adventure group called 'Rentas Adventures' shared a couple of videos on its Instagram account
The videos showed two fathers indulging in extreme rope swing activities by jumping off a 60-metre high bridge in Kuala Kubu Bharu with their children.
One of the father is Mohd Redha Rozlan of the Vietnam Ninja Warrior fame.
Redha, who is the first Malaysian to make it into Ninja Warrior, can be seen jumping off the bridge along with his daughter. They were both attached to a safety harness.
The Fear Factor Malaysia champion also posted the videos of him with his daughter, Mecca, doing the stunt together on his Instagram profile.
While Redha claimed that his daughter asked to do the jump with him, adding that he didn't force her, people on social media have reacted unfavourably after the videos of the stunts went viral
Netizens have accused the father of "endangering a child's life".
However, Redha defended his actions by saying that "there was no forcing" and that it was Mecca who "enjoyed her first jump and requested to do it again."
He also defended Rentas Adventures, saying that the company was certified and licenced to organise the extreme sports activities for participants.
Screenshot of Redha's post on Instagram, defending his decision to perform the jump with his daughter.
Image via matredho/instagramSyed Azmi, who advocates for social issues, took to his Facebook profile to share his displeasure at the stunts being performed, calling them "dangerous" and asking people to report the videos
On Twitter, the adventure operator was called out for allowing parents to perform the jump with their children. The tweet, at the time of writing this story, had garnered more than 2,800 retweets.
Meanwhile, Rohani Abdul Karim, the Federal Minister of Women, Family and Community Development, has expressed shock
"I was shocked to see the video recording of a father who was willing to risk his child’s life to carry out the rope swing sport," Rohani said, adding that taking part in such extreme sports with children was "not something to be proud of."
According to her, the fathers could be investigated under Section 31 (1) (a) of the Child Act 2001 for exposing their children to physical and emotional danger.
"I urge the public to report such cases to the authorities, as provided under Section 29A of the Child Act 2001," NST Online quoted her as saying.
Rohani's views were echoed by two lawyers, who said that the fathers, as well as any parties, involved in such highly-dangerous activities can be charged with endangering the child's life
According to Free Malaysia Today (FMT), Andrew Khoo, one of the lawyers, said that "Yes, action can be taken under the Child Act. This clearly breached safety requirements, too. The company operating the rope spring jump was also negligent for not preventing the parent from having the child tag along."
On the other hand, the outdoor event organiser, Rentas Adventures, has assured that the extreme rope swing stunt is "safe" and that "all safety aspects had been looked into by qualified parties"
According to its founder, Mohd Shafiq Azmi, the adventure group has engaged the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and Malaysia Challenge Course Association (MCCA), an industry association which sets the guideline for challenge course installation, reported NST Online on Tuesday.
"We have applied for permission from not only the Hulu Selangor District Council but also the Public Works Department (PWD) and Drainage and Irrigation Department (DID). The rope swing activity will be officially launched next month," Shafiq added.
According to Shafiq, participants must fulfil certain criteria before they are allowed to jump, which is from a height of 60 metres
A participant with more than 120kg of weight will not be allowed. Similarly, a participant with less than 40kg of weight will also not be allowed, Shafiq said, adding that they also must fill in a medical and indemnity form before taking the plunge.
Although, there was no word from Shafiq on how much the children weighed.
