KUALA LUMPUR: In the wake of a recent case of alleged abuse and bullying at a military college, Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said such incidents happen when they are tolerated and sometimes defended.
But in a strongly worded speech on Friday (Nov 1) at the Universiti Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia (UPNM), where the latest incident is said to have occurred, Mr Anwar stressed that his government will not tolerate a culture of bullying in educational institutions.
He also urged education leaders to take responsibility to end the scourge.
On Wednesday, the Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF) confirmed that it was thoroughly investigating a case of a cadet officer who was allegedly bullied by his senior at the UPNM Military Training Academy in Kuala Lumpur.
The case has since gone viral on social media, with some netizens expressing concern as to why such bullying incidents continue to occur at the university even after the tragic death of a naval cadet officer there in 2017, which was also linked to bullying.
During the dialogue meeting on Friday, Mr Anwar said the culture of bullying in Malaysia has become systemic and this is a challenge that needs to be addressed by the relevant institutions and ministries.
“It’s a small group that doesn’t represent all students, but the culture allows that… a culture of violence, bullying and gangsterism in schools.
“Whether it is national, Tamil, Chinese or religious schools, it is madness because we talk about knowledge but not about morals and values,” he told the UPNM students, as quoted by local media.
Mr Anwar added that he has since instructed Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek to investigate the matter.
‘I told the Minister of Education: make no compromises. I warned and advised (her) not to tolerate any of it because we don’t want it to happen,” he said.
The recent incident at UPNM, which first surfaced on October 30, allegedly involved a senior who allegedly pressed a hot iron on the chest of a cadet officer, while photos of the burn marks later circulated on social media.
“The armed forces take such issues seriously and will not protect anyone involved in this case,” MAF Armed Forces Chief Mohammad Ab Rahman told Bernama on October 31.
Some netizens said the latest case at UPNM reminds them of the incident that led to the death of 21-year-old naval cadet Zulfarhan Osman Zulkarnain in 2017.
“It seems like the iron-on bullying culture is ingrained in UPNM… if (the university) had taken it seriously, this wouldn’t have happened again,” said X user @chairmanGLC on October 31, with the post more than generated 3,500 reposts.
In July this year, six former UPNM students were sentenced to death by hanging for the murder of Mr Zulfarhan seven years ago.
According to local media, Mr Zulfarhan was not only repeatedly pressed with a hot steam iron on his body, but was also subjected to blows, kicks and punches. The case dominated headlines, with one of the three judges in the case describing it as one of the rarest and “most extreme forms of cruelty”.
Mr Zulfarhan’s father had also expressed disappointment that a similar form of abuse suffered by his late son had apparently happened again to another student at the military college.
“The claim that the victim was squeezed with an iron… is unacceptable… just like what happened to my late son, who suffered 90 points after being squeezed with a hot steam iron, I cannot remember the suffering he endured never forgotten,” said Mr. Zulkarnain Idros. told local media Harian Metro.
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