Video of Malaysian boy, 5, walking on all fours with slippers on his hands goes viral

Just like any proud parent, Malaysian Siti Azah Mohd Jinal recorded a video of her son on his first day of pre-school in Johor this week.

However, the 30-second clip on TikTok revealed something different: Muhammad Shairid Hadif Ridhuan Shah, 5, “walked” on all fours, with a pair of slippers on his two hands, as his classmates walked ahead.

Ms Siti Azah revealed to Malaysian media that her youngest son has Caudal Regression Syndrome and was born without knees and calves.

In the Feb 17 video, Ms Siti Azah can be heard encouraging her boy to go with the other kids.

Since then, the clip has gone viral and amassed over 2.8 million views and more than 135,000 likes.

Single mother Siti Azah, who works as a kueh seller, told Malay language portal mStar she decided to enrol her child in a national school in the Kota Tinggi district because she wanted the boy to grow up in a normal environment with other children.

As it is, she has raised Shairid to be independent despite his condition.

Citing an example to mStar, she said the school’s teachers were initially hesitant for her son to queue with his other classmates and make his way from the canteen to the assembly area.

But Ms Siti Azah, 38, said restricting her child from joining others in doing such activities would mean he would lose out on experiences most people take for granted.

“Some commented (in the video) that the teachers doesn’t seem to care (about his condition). That’s not true... it’s just that I want to see my child move independently.”

There are also people who are worried her son will be mistreated by other children.

“Alhamdulillah (Praise be to God), no one bullied him, only once two of his friends accidentally stepped on him because they didn’t notice he was there. After that, they knew and were more careful,” she told Malay daily Sinar Harian.

She said Shairid, whom she described as “very active” and “happy-go-lucky”, has two older siblings at the school who will keep an eye on him.

She also said despite his young age, Shairid understood that there will be people who will be curious about his condition.

“There are some children who asked ‘eei, what’s wrong with his legs?’ But he is strong and ignored such comments,” Ms Siti Azah told mStar.

She said she never expected her video to go viral as she constantly shared TikTok videos featuring her son and her family.

A video she posted in October 2022 on then toddler Shairid playing with his brother went viral with 4.6 million views.

Ms Siti Azah told Sinar Harian she hoped the videos will create more awareness that children with disabilities should not be treated differently.

“At the same time, I am very thankful that there were a lot of messages of support for Muhammad Shairid,” she added.