PUTRAJAYA, Jan 30 — The Talian Kasih 15999 hotline received 25,868 calls last year, an increase of over 70 per cent compared with 15,046 calls in 2018, said Deputy Prime Minister Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.

This indicates that the public is more aware of the service, said Dr Wan Azizah who is also the Women, Family and Community Development minister.

Of the total number of calls received, she said child abuse and domestic violence made up the highest number of cases reported.

"We see that the problem occurs when a father abuses a mother and a mother abuses a child so we want to break this vicious cycle of violence,” she told a press conference after attending the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry’s monthly assembly here today.

The Talian Kasih 15999 hotline was introduced by the ministry for the public to make complaints on abuse, baby dumping as well as enquiries on counselling.

Dr Wan Azizah said although they were steady flow of calls received in the previous years, with aggressive promotions carried out by the ministry, the hotline is now gaining a popularity among the people.

The ministry today also launched the Talian Kasih Whatsapp service to facilitate the public, especially those with speech and hearing impairment to lodge complaints.

Complaints could be made by sending a message to 019-2615999.

Dr Wan Azizah said it is hoped that the new channel for lodging complaints could help strengthen public service delivery, especially for the younger generation, who prefers the social media platform to communicate. — Bernama