Kuala Lampur, Feb. 1 -- The news alert last Tuesday evening sent a cold shiver down the spine of every parent in Malaysia.

A two-year-old boy, vibrant and full of life at 8am, was found lifeless by 5pm in a car.

But this is not a Malaysian problem alone.

Overseas - like in the United States - it's been reported that more than 1,000 children have died in hot vehicles. This is excluding those who survived with other injuries.

As a paediatrician, I see children every day who represent the future of our nation. But when I read about a tragedy like this, I don't just see a clinical case of heatstroke.

I see a shattered family, a mother paralysed by a lapse in memory, and a community left asking the same haunting question: "How could anyon...