DAPSY calls on the Minister himself to take the first step of presenting a white paper on this issue in the current seating of the Dewan Rakyat, explaining to the people on what steps are taken by the Ministry to curb school gangsterism

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Media Statement
by Loke Siew Fook
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(Petaling Jaya, Wednesday): The recent outbreak of school gangsterism in Pahang which drew the attention of Sultan Pahang recently has not only prompted the Pahang State Education Department (Jabatan Pelajatan Negeri Pahang) to urge all schools in the state to come out with an “Anti-Bully” principle, which is to be displayed and implemented in all 697 primary and secondary schools in the state, but also reflects the ineffectiveness of the Ministry of Education to react proactively on this issue.

Education Minister, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein has been mumming on the issue when 13-year-old Mohd Afiq Qusyairi, Form One, who was bullied and beaten by his seniors at the boarding school, Sekolah Menengah Agama Padang Tengku in Kuala Lipis till near spinal paralysis. Two Form Five students stomped on his back while wearing police cadet boots and three seniors threw him against his locker.

His silence so far has been so shocking for all Malaysian parents who are concerned with the safety of their children in schools. Hishammuddin should in its first place be responsible to the public by disclosing steps that the special task force he formed last year immediately had done, after he was appointed as the Education Minister, and not remained silent even when the Pahang State Education Department has come out with their own “Anti-Bully” policy.

Questions arisen when the Pahang State Education Department already orders all schools in Pahang to have its own actions on tackling school gangsterism, while the Ministry of Education is still helpless on the issue. Is this a reflection of the incapability and ineffectiveness of the Ministry of Education in tackling the issue or it is merely a de-centralization exercise of the Ministry whereby the Education Department of a State is given the full authority to implement what is appropriate to curb school gangsterism in Pahang?

Concerned parents in Malaysia are certainly waiting for a reply from the Minister, which is long over-due on this issue. Hishammuddin should not forget that Afiz incident is not an isolate case. For instance, the following cases have occurred in the past two months:

• Several boys of SMK Camis in Muadzam Shah, near Rompin assaulted a fellow student with hockey sticks, bottles and stones and then trampled on him.
   
• The attack on a Form Three student of Victoria Institution in Kuala Lumpur following a misunderstanding with two senior students, allegedly for not queuing when entering the school's Red Crescent room.
   
• A 16-year-old student of SMK Pekan in Pahang punched by several schoolmates who accused him of stealing their cigarettes;
   
• Two groups of students using broomsticks and batons fought each other near a stall at the SMK Chung Hwa Wei Sin in Kuala Terengganu.

In order for the Education Ministry to come from its stupor to come to grips with the problem, DAPSY calls on the Minister himself to take the first step of presenting a white paper on this issue in the current seating of the Dewan Rakyat, explaining to the people on what steps are taken by the Ministry to curb school gangsterism.

In addition to that, the Ministry of Education should also come out with a full, comprehensive, clear and feasible policy and guideline to be discussed, debated and implemented in all primary and secondary schools nationwide. The issue is of national concern and there is no reason why the Ministry of Education failed miserably to react proactively when the Pahang State Education Department has already ordered all schools in Pahang to draft an “Anti-Bully” principle, as the problem is not only occurred in Pahang but almost in every state.

(29/6/2005)

* Loke Siew Fook, DAPSY National Secretary and ADUN for Kawasan Lobak, Negeri Sembilan