The Star Online. News. Nation. Friday July 27, 2007
PUTRAJAYA: The Education Ministry wants to amend the decades-old regulations on punishment so that all parties are clear on how students should be disciplined.
At present, when a student commits an offence, the rules allow the school authorities to impose four types of punishment – warning, caning, suspension or expulsion.
Education Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein said the amendments would involve disciplining of the students, teachers’ responsibility and actions to be taken.
He said the regulations have been in existence since 1957.
“What we have now are too general, so we need to amend them to ensure that they (the forms of punishment) are clear to everyone,” he told a post-Cabinet press briefing yesterday.
Hishammuddin said he would defend teachers as long as they followed the rules when it came to disciplining a student.
“I believe the best way is still to solve problems face-to-face. But if students are not disciplined, it is the teachers who are blamed.
“The best way is to have an understanding between the schools and parent-teacher associations,” he added.
Deputy Education Minister Datuk Noh Omar said that in reviewing the regulations, the ministry would be mindful about not allowing the students to be “untouchables”.
Pinching or pulling the ear of a student and other forms of punishment are considered “grey areas” under the present regulations.
Congress of Unions of Teachers in the Education Services president Jemale Paiman said the new regulations must be clear so that teachers, parents and students know what to expect.
“The punishment must also be appropriate to the offence committed,” he said.
National Parent-Teacher Association Council president Prof Mohd Ali Hassan said students must be disciplined but they should not be “dehumanised” in the process.
National Union of the Teaching Profession president Anuar Ibrahim said: “We feel it is time the regulations are reviewed to ensure that they are clearer for teachers.”
..........................................................
Discipline positively
The Star Online. News. Nation. Saturday July 28, 2007
THE recently highlighted cases of harsh treatment meted out to pupils by their well-meaning teachers have resulted in the Education Ministry deciding to review the rules that were laid down as long ago as 1957.
Some amendments and clarification look to be in the offing. I would suggest that the most important change should be to do away with any physical punishment whatsoever: no hitting, caning, pinching, sitting in ponds, etc.
This would send a clear message to all concerned that schools and teachers will strive to be both moral and non-violent models to pupils, just as parents should be.
When children are met with acts of physical violence by adults, they withdraw into themselves or react in a similar fashion – they become reluctant learners or they become more aggressive and disobedient over time.
In either case, the psychological damage is done and the perpetrator has lost their goodwill and respect forever.
I have met teachers who have told me that they hit their pupils quite regularly for minor infringements of classroom rules and when asked why, they claimed the children liked it!
I was tempted to turn the tables on them to see whether they liked it too!
There are many forms that punishment can take in the school context that can be constructive, supportive and sensitive and which would reinforce both positive learning models and positive images of teachers and schools as effective moral and ethical leaders and carers.
Teachers need clear guidelines, training and support. They should feel confident that there is a support mechanism within their schools and the local education offices should they need help in dealing with disciplinary matters so that teachers such as Wee Yim Pien are not put in a difficult position and left to their own devices.
I deplore what she did but at the same time I’m sure she would not have done so if there were means by which she could discuss the issue, the potential punishments and their ramifications before acting.
I hope the Education Ministry will consult with teachers, teacher’s unions, parents and education experts before amending the current regulations and setting new guidelines.
Change will only work if those directly affected have been fully consulted and are in broad agreement. This will take time.
STEVE PROCTER,
English Language Co-ordinator, Perlis.
..........................................................
Editorial: Lessons learned
NST Online. Columns. 28/7/07
THE recent spate of cases involving discipline in schools — or rather the lack of it, or of control over the measures taken to remedy that lack — make all the more welcome the advent of the amended Education Regulations (Student Discipline) 2006.
These will supplant the education rules set out in 1957 and 1959, accommodating the changing psychodynamics of school environments and the societies they serve.
The drafters of the original regulations, rooted in a bygone era when parents as a rule were only too glad to look to schools to discipline their offspring, could not have anticipated such radical changes in social conventions and norms as have taken place since then.
These days, any adult, whether teacher or parent, administering corporal punishment on a child risks being reported for abuse. Wising up to this, the present school-going generation has been notable for problems of bullying, truancy, juvenile delinquency and defiance of authority.
The backlash against this has been increasingly measured in teachers losing their temper and going well over the top in retribution: slaps, punches, flailing canes, even the infamous immersion incident that made newspaper front pages this past week.
Somewhat surprisingly (though in this, too, there is a lesson) that incident seems to have reached an amicable conclusion, with the students concerned declaring their love and support for the teacher in question, who asked for and received their forgiveness and that of their parents.
That episode is now seen as almost a family affair; a domestic spat that got out of hand but is now resolved with the contrition and repentance of all involved and tearful hugs all round. But other cases of teachers accused of using excessive force on their pupils may yet result in prematurely ended careers, if not criminal charges.
The intention of the new education rules is as much to protect teachers as students: an institutionalisation of procedures necessary to insulate all parties from the unpredictable excesses of the human temperament.
The new rules specify in more exacting detail the nexus between offence and punishment, the procedures for administering correction, the involvement of school boards and parent-teacher associations, and the recourse for aggrieved parties. It must be understood, however, that such recourse includes the press.
Those who take a dim view of the media highlighting such incidents should consider how such publicity heightens awareness among the public and authorities alike, accelerating action, catalysing change and ensuring that such transgressions do not recur.
Tuesday 31 July 2007
2007 07: Child Act to be amended in next sitting of Parliament
The Star Online. News. Nation. Friday July 27, 2007
KUALA LUMPUR: The Child Act 2001 will be amended in the next sitting of Parliament at the end of next month, Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil said yesterday.
She said Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail would propose amendments not only to Section 97(2) of the Act but also on many other areas “that need to be beefed up”.
On amendments to Section 97(2), she said the ministry would wait for the outcome of the case of the boy who killed his tuition teacher’s daughter should the case be referred to the Federal Court.
In a landmark judgment, the Court of Appeal freed a 17-year-old convicted child killer after spending five years in prison.
The teenager was freed by the Court of Appeal as the Child Act 2001 did not give the courts the power to sentence a juvenile convicted of murder.
Speaking to reporters after opening the “Women Striking the Balance in Contemporary Malaysia” Forum, Shahrizat said her ministry has been closely following the developments of the case.
“I spoke to the AG this morning on the decision of the Court of Appeal on this case.
“It may take a little bit of time but we will make sure the lacuna in the law is addressed,” she said. – Bernama
............................................................
PM wants Child Act reviewed
NST Online. NewsBreak. 28/7/07
KUANTAN: Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has called for a review of the Child Act 2001 to ensure fairness in imposing penalty on juvenile criminals.
Alluding to the Court of Appeal’s decision on Wednesday to free a teenager who was detained in prison at the pleasure of the King for the murder of his tuition teacher’s daughter five years ago, the Prime Minister said the Act should be amended to address any shortcomings.
“I read the news when I was overseas and I think the Act should be reviewed to ensure justice in the implementation of the law and the imposition of penalty,” he told reporters here today.
He was approached by reporters at a hotel here prior to attending the wedding of Mohamad Hitam, 27, a member of the Seri Perdana staff, and Nurul Hanisah Judi, 25, in Kampung Balok near here.
The freed teenager, who turns 18 next month, had to be set free as there was no law that prescribed a sentence for a child convicted of murder.
In 2003, the High Court found the boy guilty of murdering the 11-year-old girl at her house in Kuala Lumpur by stabbing her 20 times and slashing her four times with a sharp object on May 30, 2002.
The boy was 12 when he killed the girl. He spent five years at the Kajang Prison before his release.
The prosecution has filed an appeal in the Federal Court against the boy’s release.
Abdullah said he would ask the Attorney-General’s Department to look into the matter.
“We have to study the Act, bring it to parliament, and this will take a bit of time. It’s important to review the law and introduce the necessary changes,” he added.
............................................................
'Grey areas' of Child Act to be studied
The Star Online. News. Nation. Sunday July 29, 2007
POH: Grey areas in the Child Act 2001 will be studied in view of the recent court judgment that saw the release of a boy convicted of killing his tuition teacher's 11-year-old daughter.
Women, Family and Community Development Ministry parliamentary secretary Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun said the ministry would be looking at the "grey areas."
Declining to elaborate on the "grey areas," Chew said the ministry was working closely with the Attorney-General's Chambers on the matter.
On July 12, the Court of Appeal judgment saw the release of the boy convicted of killing his tuition teacher's daughter at her house in Kuala Lumpur on May 30, 2002.
The boy, who was 12 at the time, turns 18 next month.
It had been reported that on July 12, Court of Appeal Justices Gopal Sri Ram, Zulkefli Ahmad Makinudin and Raus Sharif had declared unconstitutional Section 97 (2) of the Child Act 2001, which provides for a child convicted of murder to be detained at the pleasure of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.
They had said that it violated the doctrine of separation of powers by consigning to the Executive the judicial power to determine the measure of the sentence to be served by a juvenile offender.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had also called for the Child Act 2001 to be reviewed urgently so that justice could be served.
Earlier when opening the 2007 Sports Day of Tadika Kinderjoy on Sunday, Chew said good early childcare and education could provide the best defence in the fight against juvenile crime.
For the last three years, she said, there were a total of 18,334 convictions of criminal offences involving children aged between 10 and 18.
Those offences included theft, robbery, extortion, house-breaking, drug possession and trafficking, gambling, firearms, illicit sex, rape, illegal racing and prostitution, she said.
She added that of of last year there were 1,571 youths in remand and correctional institutions, involving children who were convicted in criminal cases and those who were deemed "uncontrollable."
............................................................
Nothing pleasurable about it
The Star Online. Opinion. Sunday July 29, 2007
What does it mean to be ‘detained at the pleasure of the King’ – a term that seems almost feudal – and how did this provision in law come about?
IT may sound archaic today, but the provision in law for someone to be detained at the pleasure of the King has its origins in ensuring that the welfare of a person was looked after.
Universiti Malaya law lecturer Norbani Mohamed Nazeri said the first time the term made its way into legislature was in England’s Criminal Lunatics Act 1800.
Norbani, who has written a paper on the history and origin of the term, said this was done as a direct result of an assassination attempt on King George III.
“It was decided then that someone deemed insane could be rehabilitated and this concept was borrowed and placed into legislature dealing with children.”
She added that the nature of the provision was the belief in welfare, and that the welfare of a child, especially in education and treatment, had to be considered.
“From the 1800 Act, the provision made its way into the Children’s Charter 1908 before appearing in the Children and Young Persons Act 1933 for England and Wales.”
It was from the 1933 Act that Malaysia’s Juvenile Courts Act 1947 borrowed the provision to detain a juvenile, found guilty of a capital crime and sentenced to death, at the pleasure of the King and there are currently 30 juvenile and adult males held in prison in this manner.
“This was then taken, extended and put into Section 97 (2) of the Child Act 2001 (which replaced the Juvenile Courts Act) but it seems that the people who drafted the act did not understand the nature of the provision.
“Malaysian law does not consider the welfare aspect especially with the indefinite duration being set for the detention of juveniles at the pleasure of the King,” said Norbani.
The only provision that possibly addresses the welfare of the child is Section 97 (4) of the Child Act that states a Board of Visiting Justices must review the cases of those convicted under Section 97 (2) annually and decide if the child should be detained or released.
“However, there are no procedures on how the board should carry out its duties,” Norbani said.
Bar Council criminal law committee chairman Datuk V. Sithambaram said there had to be uniform guidelines on how this board operated.
“The court should also be allowed to pass sentences of a definite duration under Section 97 (2) with the case to be reviewed every year thereafter,” he added.
Deputy Internal Security Minister Datuk Fu Ah Kiow said a time limit could not be set as detaining someone at the King's pleasure indefinitely was the substitute for a death sentence. “It is a serious matter. If they had been 18, they would have been hung.”
Fu also insisted that the Board of Visiting Justices did carry out annual reviews. They will compile a list of names of those reviewed and submit it to the Pardons Board.
“After some time, if they had behaved well and the Pardons Board feels that they have been rehabilitated, they will be released,” he said, adding that those reviewed would also be informed of the Pardons Board's decision.
Bar Council vice-president Ragunath Kesavan said the laws in Malaysia were inadequate to deal with such cases in a fair manner.
“There are better ways of doing things,” he said, citing the infamous case in Britain involving two 10-year-old boys found guilty of abducting, torturing and beating two-year-old James Bulger to death before dumping the toddler on a railway line in 1993.
Ragunath said the sentencing of the two boys, who were also held at Her Majesty's pleasure, was all about probation, control, counselling and revision.
In the Bulger case, the two boys were eventually released after serving the time that was determined by a tariff system that exists in Britain.
Interestingly, the tariff system, at that time, allowed for the period of detention for those held at Her Majesty's pleasure to be determined (with advice from the trial judge) by the Home Secretary, the Malaysian equivalent of the Home Affairs Minister.
After a lengthy court process, however, it was decided that the Home Secretary had no right to determine the sentencing, as it would mean the executive was meddling in the judiciary – the same argument that the Malaysian Court of Appeal used in its July 12 landmark decision, which led to the release of the teenager who had murdered his tuition teacher's daughter in 2002.
“Eventually, it was the judge who determined the sentence (the duration of time under the tariff system) and the Lord Chief Justice wrote a practice and procedure for similar cases,” Norbani said.
She added that this meant the term “at Her Majesty's pleasure” was merely cosmetic and that by having a tariff system, it would give a child some hope of being released.
Since there are no proper procedures here, Sithambaram said the clear guidelines present in England on deciding such cases were needed.
As for those convicted as juveniles and are now over 18, the Pardons Board that reviews an individual’s case every four years is the only avenue for freedom.
But one would need a lot of help in applying for the pardon. In the case of Kok Foo Seng who was imprisoned at the age of 14 and was only released 13 years later after being pardoned by the Sultan of Pahang, it was his uncle who won his freedom.
The uncle, a former teacher who declined to be named, said it took almost 10 years of writing letters and waiting for responses.
“A lot of good people helped me, especially with writing a letter to the Sultan asking for the Pardons Board to meet to review Foo Seng's case,” he said.
Asked if other convicted juveniles could receive a pardon if there was no one helping on the outside, he said it would be impossible. Infamous case: In Britain, these two 10-year-old boys were found guilty of abducting, torturing and beating two-year-old James Bulger to death before dumping the toddler on a railway line in 1993.Sithambaram: ‘The court should be allowed to pass sentences of a definite duration’
............................................................
Not just blind justice
The Star Online. Opinion. Sunday July 29, 2007
Landmark judgments can change your life, or not. While judges can even make law in a groundbreaking decision the Executive, Legislature, civil society and the media are responsible for what happens after.
IN the last three weeks, several superior court judgments have taken centrestage, relegating even reports on the high profile Altantuya murder trial further back in the newspapers.
Three of them called for further action, either on the part of the Legislature or the Federal Court, and two stressed the importance of conforming with the Federal Constitution, the supreme law of the land.
The Federal Court decision in re Latifah Mat Zin on Thursday was of especial importance: Justices Abdul Hamid Mohamed, Arifin Zakaria and Augustine Paul held that all law flows from the Constitution.
While they clarified some of the conflict in jurisdiction between the civil and syariah courts, they noted there were matters that might be outside the jurisdiction of both, resulting in no available remedy in either court.
Asking Parliament to step in, Justice Abdul Hamid said Article 121(1A) of the Constitution was not introduced for the purpose of ousting the jurisdiction of the civil courts. (Article 121 (1A) states that civil courts shall have no jurisdiction in respect of any matter within the jurisdiction of the Syariah courts.)
He asked: “Are such laws constitutional in the first place?”
While Bar Council chairman Ambiga Sreenevasan said the matter had to be addressed either by the courts or Parliament, de facto law minister Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz responded by saying the Prime Minister would have to consult with the Barisan Nasional component parties on the matter.
On July 12, Court of Appeal Justices Gopal Sri Ram, Zulkefli Ahmad Makinudin and Raus Sharif declared unconstitutional Section 97 (2) of the Child Act 2001, which provides for a child convicted of murder to be detained at the pleasure of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.
They said it violated the doctrine of separation of powers by consigning to the Executive the judicial power to determine the measure of the sentence to be served by a juvenile offender.
On grounds there was no other prescribed law to punish such an offender, the court released the boy who had been convicted of killing his tuition teacher’s 11-year-old daughter.
There are parallels with the case of Robert Thompson and Jon Venables, the 10-year-old killers of toddler James Bulger, in England from where the “unconstitutional” provision in the Juvenile Courts Act (repealed by the Child Act) was imported.
There, children aged 10 or over who have been convicted of murder must be sentenced to indefinite detention. The minimum period (tariff) to be served is set by the Home Secretary, who receives advice from the trial judge and the Lord Chief Justice, but he does not have to follow it.
In their case, the Home Secretary went on to raise the judge’s minimum mandatory sentence of eight years to 15.
The two boys challenged it in the European Court of Human Rights.
In the 1999 decision, the European Court said detention “at Her Majesty’s pleasure” was legal under English law. But following a decision of the House of Lords Judicial Committee that the setting of tariffs for juveniles was a sentencing exercise, it held the Home Secretary was not independent of the Executive.
It ruled it was a violation of their right not to have the legality of the detention assessed by a judicial body.
The second Court of Appeal decision to grab public attention was when Justices Sri Ram, Md Raus Sharif and Hasan Lah allowed on July 13 an appeal by two brothers who had lost their land to forgers.
They did so by ruling the 2001 Federal Court decision in re Adorna Properties – in favour of a bona fide purchaser of land which ownership had been forged – was wrongly decided.
However, while Justices Md Raus and Hasan called on the apex court to review its own decision, saying they were tied by the doctrine of binding precedent, Justice Sri Ram chose not to follow the Federal Court on grounds it had ignored the definitions of proprietor and purchaser in the National Land Code and had disregarded an earlier Supreme Court decision in M&J Frozen Foods.
Since then, the Government has agreed to study a Bar Council proposal for a review of the law and Chief Justice Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim has rapped Justice Sri Ram on the knuckles for ignoring a superior court ruling.
The surprising thing, however, is that another Court of Appeal – comprising Justices Sri Ram, Ahmad Fairuz and Denis Ong – made the same decision in 2004 in re Subramaniam NS Dhurai (3 CLJ 2005).
Justice Sri Ram made similar observations about Adorna and Justice Ahmad Fairuz said that while he agreed with them, lower courts had to follow a superior court decision because of the doctrine of binding precedent.
The only difference is that that decision was not reported in the media.
Looking past the personalities, difficult as that may be for some, senior lawyer Datuk N. Chandran is of the opinion the law need not be amended here, unlike the case involving the juvenile.
He says the Federal Court should review its own decision, quoting the House of Lords decision in Horton v Sadler (1 AC, 2007) which held that although it would “rarely exercise its power to depart from its previous decisions”, it would do so if “too rigid an adherence to precedent might lead to individual injustice”, especially if the earlier decision was unsound and compelled appellate courts to “draw fine distinctions which reflected no credit on the law”.
There have been several groundbreaking decisions, some good, some not, impacting the rights of co-operatives, women, employees, orang asli and tenant farmers, to name a few.
A judge’s duty ends after the judgment is delivered. Only in an appeal can the decision be set aside. Or, the state can amend a law to negate a decision, as it did after the Supreme Court held in 1990 in re Wong Pot Heng that employees of the beleaguered Central Co-operative Bank ranked pari passu (equal) with depositors in priority in the payment of claims.
One area of law in which several landmark decisions abound is in industrial relations.
In two Court of Appeal decisions – Tan Tek Seng and Hong Leong Equipment – labour lawyer B. Lobo says the panels “elevated” the right not to be dismissed without procedural safeguards and just grounds to constitutional rights.
“While Justice Sri Ram had interpreted the right to life in the latter to include the right to seek and be engaged in lawful and gainful employment, he interpreted it in the former to include the right to live in a reasonably healthy and pollution free environment.”
How are landmark judgments “born”? Is it up to the lawyers to argue a novel point or for judges to take a liberal approach?
International Islamic University law professor Dr Abdul Aziz Bari says: “Most of the time our judges have taken the literal approach; this has been the major trend since 1957. The exceptions are few.”
What would “pre-dispose” a judge to swing liberal and breathe life into dry constitutional provisions? Do a judge’s upbringing, law school and years of experience play a role?
These might be factors to consider with a judge sitting alone, but hardly so in a panel of three.
No judge worth his salt is going to sit back and ride on another’s judgment if he disagrees strongly with a legal interpretation. This is certainly clear from the 2004 and recent Court of Appeal judgments in how they dealt with the Adorna decision.
It is probably more important that the court was unanimous in upholding the doctrine of separation of powers in the juvenile’s appeal and reclaimed the judiciary’s power to sentence.
.............................................................
Court urged not to let underaged criminals off lightly
The Star Online. News. Nation. Tuesday July 31, 2007
IPOH: The court would be sending a wrong message that it is all right to commit crime if it allows underage offenders to go off lightly, a Sessions Court was told.
In urging the court to impose custodial sentences on two boys who robbed and assaulted a lab assistant, Deputy Public Prosecutor Ahmad Ishrakh Saad said age should not be the only factor considered by the court.
“Age is always used by young accused persons as a mitigating factor. As such, the court must consider the case in its entirety.
“The court must take into consideration that the crime had been pre-planned.
“Although underage, they had seemingly matured criminal minds and capable of committing crimes like adults,” he said.
The two boys, aged 16 and 17, had pleaded guilty to assaulting and robbing their victim of RM30, her gold pendant, chain and bracelet, and a mobile phone and charger worth RM1,000 at her home in Tronoh on May 14.
They committed the offences with another 16-year-old boy, who has since escaped from the welfare department hostel in Silibin here while awaiting sentencing, and one Syahrulnizam Jamali Ali.
Syahrulnizam, 23, who claimed trial to the offence, was also charged with raping the 24-year-old lab assistant.
According to the facts of the case, the four planned the robbery and had staked out at the house for five hours before breaking in through a window.
The lab assistant was tied up while her house was being ransacked and suffered injuries to her arm, neck, chest, leg and hip.
Sessions judge Hamzah Hashim ordered the two boys to be sent to the Henry Gurney School in Malacca for three years from Tuesday.
.............................................................
The child act: Section 97(2) is still valid
NST Online. Letters. 8/08/07
THE Malaysian government accepted the United Nations Convention on the Right of the Child (UNCRC) on Dec 28, 1994. The government then made an in-depth study of existing laws to conform to the UNCRC.
As a result, the Child Act 2001 was passed. The act took into consideration the right of the child as advocated by the UNCRC and is in fact a consolidation of the Child Protection Act 1991, the Juvenile Courts Act 1947 (as revised in 1972), and the Women and Girls Protection Act 1973.
On July 12 this year, the Court of Appeal declared unconstitutional Section 97 (2) of the Child Act 2001 which provides for a child convicted of murder to be ordered by the court to be detained at the pleasure of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong. The child concerned, who was 13 years old was upon conviction in July 2003, ordered to be detained at the pleasure of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong under Section 97(2) of the Child Act 2001.
The Court of Appeal stated that Section 97(2) of the Child Act 2001 contravenes the doctrine of separation of powers by consigning to the executive the judicial power to determine the measure of the sentence to be served by the child offender.
The Court of Appeal chose not to apply the death penalty as provided for under the Penal Code and therefore the child, despite being convicted of murder, cannot be punished and must be set free.
I find it difficult to believe that such a situation can arise.
There have been an exchange of views in the media on this issue and the prime minister responded by saying that the law should be reviewed. With the greatest respect to the Court of Appeal judges, I wish to express the view that Section 97(2) of the Child Act 2001 is valid and the course of action to be taken is for the prosecution to appeal against the Court of Appeal’s decision to the Federal Court.
There is no need to decide on the review of the law until the decision of the Federal Court.
My argument is that Section 97(2) of the Child Act 2001 does not contravene any provision of the Federal Constitution and is therefore valid.
Any provision of any act of parliament can be declared invalid only if it is ultra-vires the Federal Constitution. The doctrine of separation of powers is by itself not law. It is a legal principle which has been taken into consideration in formulating the Federal Constitution. The applicable law is the content of the Constitution.
We should note that the doctrine of the separation of powers in its application to modern government does not mean that a rigid threefold of legislature, executive and judiciary classification of their functions is possible.
There is for instance no separation of powers in the strict sense between the executive and the legislature. The practical necessities of parliamentary government demand a large measure of delegation to the executive of powers to legislate by rules, regulations and orders.
The independence of the judiciary has been strictly preserved, but many justiciable issues are referred not to the ordinary courts, but to the administrative authorities.
In any case, Section 97(2) of the Child Act 2001 has not ignored the doctrine of separation of powers. Under that section, the court orders and not the executive for the convicted child to be detained at the pleasure of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, who under Article 42 of the Federal Constitution is given the power to grant pardons, reprieves and respites in respect of all offences committed in the federal territory. The issue of the doctrine of separation of powers does not arise at all.
It should be noted that section 97 is the old section 16 of the Juvenile Courts Act 1947 (Revised 1972). Section 97(4) is an additional provision which gives the power to the board of Visiting Judges to review the case every once a year and the board can make recommendation to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong accordingly.
This Section 97(4) is a provision protecting the right of the child and does not contravene any provision of the Federal Constitution.
KUALA LUMPUR: The Child Act 2001 will be amended in the next sitting of Parliament at the end of next month, Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil said yesterday.
She said Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail would propose amendments not only to Section 97(2) of the Act but also on many other areas “that need to be beefed up”.
On amendments to Section 97(2), she said the ministry would wait for the outcome of the case of the boy who killed his tuition teacher’s daughter should the case be referred to the Federal Court.
In a landmark judgment, the Court of Appeal freed a 17-year-old convicted child killer after spending five years in prison.
The teenager was freed by the Court of Appeal as the Child Act 2001 did not give the courts the power to sentence a juvenile convicted of murder.
Speaking to reporters after opening the “Women Striking the Balance in Contemporary Malaysia” Forum, Shahrizat said her ministry has been closely following the developments of the case.
“I spoke to the AG this morning on the decision of the Court of Appeal on this case.
“It may take a little bit of time but we will make sure the lacuna in the law is addressed,” she said. – Bernama
............................................................
PM wants Child Act reviewed
NST Online. NewsBreak. 28/7/07
KUANTAN: Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has called for a review of the Child Act 2001 to ensure fairness in imposing penalty on juvenile criminals.
Alluding to the Court of Appeal’s decision on Wednesday to free a teenager who was detained in prison at the pleasure of the King for the murder of his tuition teacher’s daughter five years ago, the Prime Minister said the Act should be amended to address any shortcomings.
“I read the news when I was overseas and I think the Act should be reviewed to ensure justice in the implementation of the law and the imposition of penalty,” he told reporters here today.
He was approached by reporters at a hotel here prior to attending the wedding of Mohamad Hitam, 27, a member of the Seri Perdana staff, and Nurul Hanisah Judi, 25, in Kampung Balok near here.
The freed teenager, who turns 18 next month, had to be set free as there was no law that prescribed a sentence for a child convicted of murder.
In 2003, the High Court found the boy guilty of murdering the 11-year-old girl at her house in Kuala Lumpur by stabbing her 20 times and slashing her four times with a sharp object on May 30, 2002.
The boy was 12 when he killed the girl. He spent five years at the Kajang Prison before his release.
The prosecution has filed an appeal in the Federal Court against the boy’s release.
Abdullah said he would ask the Attorney-General’s Department to look into the matter.
“We have to study the Act, bring it to parliament, and this will take a bit of time. It’s important to review the law and introduce the necessary changes,” he added.
............................................................
'Grey areas' of Child Act to be studied
The Star Online. News. Nation. Sunday July 29, 2007
POH: Grey areas in the Child Act 2001 will be studied in view of the recent court judgment that saw the release of a boy convicted of killing his tuition teacher's 11-year-old daughter.
Women, Family and Community Development Ministry parliamentary secretary Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun said the ministry would be looking at the "grey areas."
Declining to elaborate on the "grey areas," Chew said the ministry was working closely with the Attorney-General's Chambers on the matter.
On July 12, the Court of Appeal judgment saw the release of the boy convicted of killing his tuition teacher's daughter at her house in Kuala Lumpur on May 30, 2002.
The boy, who was 12 at the time, turns 18 next month.
It had been reported that on July 12, Court of Appeal Justices Gopal Sri Ram, Zulkefli Ahmad Makinudin and Raus Sharif had declared unconstitutional Section 97 (2) of the Child Act 2001, which provides for a child convicted of murder to be detained at the pleasure of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.
They had said that it violated the doctrine of separation of powers by consigning to the Executive the judicial power to determine the measure of the sentence to be served by a juvenile offender.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had also called for the Child Act 2001 to be reviewed urgently so that justice could be served.
Earlier when opening the 2007 Sports Day of Tadika Kinderjoy on Sunday, Chew said good early childcare and education could provide the best defence in the fight against juvenile crime.
For the last three years, she said, there were a total of 18,334 convictions of criminal offences involving children aged between 10 and 18.
Those offences included theft, robbery, extortion, house-breaking, drug possession and trafficking, gambling, firearms, illicit sex, rape, illegal racing and prostitution, she said.
She added that of of last year there were 1,571 youths in remand and correctional institutions, involving children who were convicted in criminal cases and those who were deemed "uncontrollable."
............................................................
Nothing pleasurable about it
The Star Online. Opinion. Sunday July 29, 2007
What does it mean to be ‘detained at the pleasure of the King’ – a term that seems almost feudal – and how did this provision in law come about?
IT may sound archaic today, but the provision in law for someone to be detained at the pleasure of the King has its origins in ensuring that the welfare of a person was looked after.
Universiti Malaya law lecturer Norbani Mohamed Nazeri said the first time the term made its way into legislature was in England’s Criminal Lunatics Act 1800.
Norbani, who has written a paper on the history and origin of the term, said this was done as a direct result of an assassination attempt on King George III.
“It was decided then that someone deemed insane could be rehabilitated and this concept was borrowed and placed into legislature dealing with children.”
She added that the nature of the provision was the belief in welfare, and that the welfare of a child, especially in education and treatment, had to be considered.
“From the 1800 Act, the provision made its way into the Children’s Charter 1908 before appearing in the Children and Young Persons Act 1933 for England and Wales.”
It was from the 1933 Act that Malaysia’s Juvenile Courts Act 1947 borrowed the provision to detain a juvenile, found guilty of a capital crime and sentenced to death, at the pleasure of the King and there are currently 30 juvenile and adult males held in prison in this manner.
“This was then taken, extended and put into Section 97 (2) of the Child Act 2001 (which replaced the Juvenile Courts Act) but it seems that the people who drafted the act did not understand the nature of the provision.
“Malaysian law does not consider the welfare aspect especially with the indefinite duration being set for the detention of juveniles at the pleasure of the King,” said Norbani.
The only provision that possibly addresses the welfare of the child is Section 97 (4) of the Child Act that states a Board of Visiting Justices must review the cases of those convicted under Section 97 (2) annually and decide if the child should be detained or released.
“However, there are no procedures on how the board should carry out its duties,” Norbani said.
Bar Council criminal law committee chairman Datuk V. Sithambaram said there had to be uniform guidelines on how this board operated.
“The court should also be allowed to pass sentences of a definite duration under Section 97 (2) with the case to be reviewed every year thereafter,” he added.
Deputy Internal Security Minister Datuk Fu Ah Kiow said a time limit could not be set as detaining someone at the King's pleasure indefinitely was the substitute for a death sentence. “It is a serious matter. If they had been 18, they would have been hung.”
Fu also insisted that the Board of Visiting Justices did carry out annual reviews. They will compile a list of names of those reviewed and submit it to the Pardons Board.
“After some time, if they had behaved well and the Pardons Board feels that they have been rehabilitated, they will be released,” he said, adding that those reviewed would also be informed of the Pardons Board's decision.
Bar Council vice-president Ragunath Kesavan said the laws in Malaysia were inadequate to deal with such cases in a fair manner.
“There are better ways of doing things,” he said, citing the infamous case in Britain involving two 10-year-old boys found guilty of abducting, torturing and beating two-year-old James Bulger to death before dumping the toddler on a railway line in 1993.
Ragunath said the sentencing of the two boys, who were also held at Her Majesty's pleasure, was all about probation, control, counselling and revision.
In the Bulger case, the two boys were eventually released after serving the time that was determined by a tariff system that exists in Britain.
Interestingly, the tariff system, at that time, allowed for the period of detention for those held at Her Majesty's pleasure to be determined (with advice from the trial judge) by the Home Secretary, the Malaysian equivalent of the Home Affairs Minister.
After a lengthy court process, however, it was decided that the Home Secretary had no right to determine the sentencing, as it would mean the executive was meddling in the judiciary – the same argument that the Malaysian Court of Appeal used in its July 12 landmark decision, which led to the release of the teenager who had murdered his tuition teacher's daughter in 2002.
“Eventually, it was the judge who determined the sentence (the duration of time under the tariff system) and the Lord Chief Justice wrote a practice and procedure for similar cases,” Norbani said.
She added that this meant the term “at Her Majesty's pleasure” was merely cosmetic and that by having a tariff system, it would give a child some hope of being released.
Since there are no proper procedures here, Sithambaram said the clear guidelines present in England on deciding such cases were needed.
As for those convicted as juveniles and are now over 18, the Pardons Board that reviews an individual’s case every four years is the only avenue for freedom.
But one would need a lot of help in applying for the pardon. In the case of Kok Foo Seng who was imprisoned at the age of 14 and was only released 13 years later after being pardoned by the Sultan of Pahang, it was his uncle who won his freedom.
The uncle, a former teacher who declined to be named, said it took almost 10 years of writing letters and waiting for responses.
“A lot of good people helped me, especially with writing a letter to the Sultan asking for the Pardons Board to meet to review Foo Seng's case,” he said.
Asked if other convicted juveniles could receive a pardon if there was no one helping on the outside, he said it would be impossible. Infamous case: In Britain, these two 10-year-old boys were found guilty of abducting, torturing and beating two-year-old James Bulger to death before dumping the toddler on a railway line in 1993.Sithambaram: ‘The court should be allowed to pass sentences of a definite duration’
............................................................
Not just blind justice
The Star Online. Opinion. Sunday July 29, 2007
Landmark judgments can change your life, or not. While judges can even make law in a groundbreaking decision the Executive, Legislature, civil society and the media are responsible for what happens after.
IN the last three weeks, several superior court judgments have taken centrestage, relegating even reports on the high profile Altantuya murder trial further back in the newspapers.
Three of them called for further action, either on the part of the Legislature or the Federal Court, and two stressed the importance of conforming with the Federal Constitution, the supreme law of the land.
The Federal Court decision in re Latifah Mat Zin on Thursday was of especial importance: Justices Abdul Hamid Mohamed, Arifin Zakaria and Augustine Paul held that all law flows from the Constitution.
While they clarified some of the conflict in jurisdiction between the civil and syariah courts, they noted there were matters that might be outside the jurisdiction of both, resulting in no available remedy in either court.
Asking Parliament to step in, Justice Abdul Hamid said Article 121(1A) of the Constitution was not introduced for the purpose of ousting the jurisdiction of the civil courts. (Article 121 (1A) states that civil courts shall have no jurisdiction in respect of any matter within the jurisdiction of the Syariah courts.)
He asked: “Are such laws constitutional in the first place?”
While Bar Council chairman Ambiga Sreenevasan said the matter had to be addressed either by the courts or Parliament, de facto law minister Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz responded by saying the Prime Minister would have to consult with the Barisan Nasional component parties on the matter.
On July 12, Court of Appeal Justices Gopal Sri Ram, Zulkefli Ahmad Makinudin and Raus Sharif declared unconstitutional Section 97 (2) of the Child Act 2001, which provides for a child convicted of murder to be detained at the pleasure of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.
They said it violated the doctrine of separation of powers by consigning to the Executive the judicial power to determine the measure of the sentence to be served by a juvenile offender.
On grounds there was no other prescribed law to punish such an offender, the court released the boy who had been convicted of killing his tuition teacher’s 11-year-old daughter.
There are parallels with the case of Robert Thompson and Jon Venables, the 10-year-old killers of toddler James Bulger, in England from where the “unconstitutional” provision in the Juvenile Courts Act (repealed by the Child Act) was imported.
There, children aged 10 or over who have been convicted of murder must be sentenced to indefinite detention. The minimum period (tariff) to be served is set by the Home Secretary, who receives advice from the trial judge and the Lord Chief Justice, but he does not have to follow it.
In their case, the Home Secretary went on to raise the judge’s minimum mandatory sentence of eight years to 15.
The two boys challenged it in the European Court of Human Rights.
In the 1999 decision, the European Court said detention “at Her Majesty’s pleasure” was legal under English law. But following a decision of the House of Lords Judicial Committee that the setting of tariffs for juveniles was a sentencing exercise, it held the Home Secretary was not independent of the Executive.
It ruled it was a violation of their right not to have the legality of the detention assessed by a judicial body.
The second Court of Appeal decision to grab public attention was when Justices Sri Ram, Md Raus Sharif and Hasan Lah allowed on July 13 an appeal by two brothers who had lost their land to forgers.
They did so by ruling the 2001 Federal Court decision in re Adorna Properties – in favour of a bona fide purchaser of land which ownership had been forged – was wrongly decided.
However, while Justices Md Raus and Hasan called on the apex court to review its own decision, saying they were tied by the doctrine of binding precedent, Justice Sri Ram chose not to follow the Federal Court on grounds it had ignored the definitions of proprietor and purchaser in the National Land Code and had disregarded an earlier Supreme Court decision in M&J Frozen Foods.
Since then, the Government has agreed to study a Bar Council proposal for a review of the law and Chief Justice Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim has rapped Justice Sri Ram on the knuckles for ignoring a superior court ruling.
The surprising thing, however, is that another Court of Appeal – comprising Justices Sri Ram, Ahmad Fairuz and Denis Ong – made the same decision in 2004 in re Subramaniam NS Dhurai (3 CLJ 2005).
Justice Sri Ram made similar observations about Adorna and Justice Ahmad Fairuz said that while he agreed with them, lower courts had to follow a superior court decision because of the doctrine of binding precedent.
The only difference is that that decision was not reported in the media.
Looking past the personalities, difficult as that may be for some, senior lawyer Datuk N. Chandran is of the opinion the law need not be amended here, unlike the case involving the juvenile.
He says the Federal Court should review its own decision, quoting the House of Lords decision in Horton v Sadler (1 AC, 2007) which held that although it would “rarely exercise its power to depart from its previous decisions”, it would do so if “too rigid an adherence to precedent might lead to individual injustice”, especially if the earlier decision was unsound and compelled appellate courts to “draw fine distinctions which reflected no credit on the law”.
There have been several groundbreaking decisions, some good, some not, impacting the rights of co-operatives, women, employees, orang asli and tenant farmers, to name a few.
A judge’s duty ends after the judgment is delivered. Only in an appeal can the decision be set aside. Or, the state can amend a law to negate a decision, as it did after the Supreme Court held in 1990 in re Wong Pot Heng that employees of the beleaguered Central Co-operative Bank ranked pari passu (equal) with depositors in priority in the payment of claims.
One area of law in which several landmark decisions abound is in industrial relations.
In two Court of Appeal decisions – Tan Tek Seng and Hong Leong Equipment – labour lawyer B. Lobo says the panels “elevated” the right not to be dismissed without procedural safeguards and just grounds to constitutional rights.
“While Justice Sri Ram had interpreted the right to life in the latter to include the right to seek and be engaged in lawful and gainful employment, he interpreted it in the former to include the right to live in a reasonably healthy and pollution free environment.”
How are landmark judgments “born”? Is it up to the lawyers to argue a novel point or for judges to take a liberal approach?
International Islamic University law professor Dr Abdul Aziz Bari says: “Most of the time our judges have taken the literal approach; this has been the major trend since 1957. The exceptions are few.”
What would “pre-dispose” a judge to swing liberal and breathe life into dry constitutional provisions? Do a judge’s upbringing, law school and years of experience play a role?
These might be factors to consider with a judge sitting alone, but hardly so in a panel of three.
No judge worth his salt is going to sit back and ride on another’s judgment if he disagrees strongly with a legal interpretation. This is certainly clear from the 2004 and recent Court of Appeal judgments in how they dealt with the Adorna decision.
It is probably more important that the court was unanimous in upholding the doctrine of separation of powers in the juvenile’s appeal and reclaimed the judiciary’s power to sentence.
.............................................................
Court urged not to let underaged criminals off lightly
The Star Online. News. Nation. Tuesday July 31, 2007
IPOH: The court would be sending a wrong message that it is all right to commit crime if it allows underage offenders to go off lightly, a Sessions Court was told.
In urging the court to impose custodial sentences on two boys who robbed and assaulted a lab assistant, Deputy Public Prosecutor Ahmad Ishrakh Saad said age should not be the only factor considered by the court.
“Age is always used by young accused persons as a mitigating factor. As such, the court must consider the case in its entirety.
“The court must take into consideration that the crime had been pre-planned.
“Although underage, they had seemingly matured criminal minds and capable of committing crimes like adults,” he said.
The two boys, aged 16 and 17, had pleaded guilty to assaulting and robbing their victim of RM30, her gold pendant, chain and bracelet, and a mobile phone and charger worth RM1,000 at her home in Tronoh on May 14.
They committed the offences with another 16-year-old boy, who has since escaped from the welfare department hostel in Silibin here while awaiting sentencing, and one Syahrulnizam Jamali Ali.
Syahrulnizam, 23, who claimed trial to the offence, was also charged with raping the 24-year-old lab assistant.
According to the facts of the case, the four planned the robbery and had staked out at the house for five hours before breaking in through a window.
The lab assistant was tied up while her house was being ransacked and suffered injuries to her arm, neck, chest, leg and hip.
Sessions judge Hamzah Hashim ordered the two boys to be sent to the Henry Gurney School in Malacca for three years from Tuesday.
.............................................................
The child act: Section 97(2) is still valid
NST Online. Letters. 8/08/07
THE Malaysian government accepted the United Nations Convention on the Right of the Child (UNCRC) on Dec 28, 1994. The government then made an in-depth study of existing laws to conform to the UNCRC.
As a result, the Child Act 2001 was passed. The act took into consideration the right of the child as advocated by the UNCRC and is in fact a consolidation of the Child Protection Act 1991, the Juvenile Courts Act 1947 (as revised in 1972), and the Women and Girls Protection Act 1973.
On July 12 this year, the Court of Appeal declared unconstitutional Section 97 (2) of the Child Act 2001 which provides for a child convicted of murder to be ordered by the court to be detained at the pleasure of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong. The child concerned, who was 13 years old was upon conviction in July 2003, ordered to be detained at the pleasure of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong under Section 97(2) of the Child Act 2001.
The Court of Appeal stated that Section 97(2) of the Child Act 2001 contravenes the doctrine of separation of powers by consigning to the executive the judicial power to determine the measure of the sentence to be served by the child offender.
The Court of Appeal chose not to apply the death penalty as provided for under the Penal Code and therefore the child, despite being convicted of murder, cannot be punished and must be set free.
I find it difficult to believe that such a situation can arise.
There have been an exchange of views in the media on this issue and the prime minister responded by saying that the law should be reviewed. With the greatest respect to the Court of Appeal judges, I wish to express the view that Section 97(2) of the Child Act 2001 is valid and the course of action to be taken is for the prosecution to appeal against the Court of Appeal’s decision to the Federal Court.
There is no need to decide on the review of the law until the decision of the Federal Court.
My argument is that Section 97(2) of the Child Act 2001 does not contravene any provision of the Federal Constitution and is therefore valid.
Any provision of any act of parliament can be declared invalid only if it is ultra-vires the Federal Constitution. The doctrine of separation of powers is by itself not law. It is a legal principle which has been taken into consideration in formulating the Federal Constitution. The applicable law is the content of the Constitution.
We should note that the doctrine of the separation of powers in its application to modern government does not mean that a rigid threefold of legislature, executive and judiciary classification of their functions is possible.
There is for instance no separation of powers in the strict sense between the executive and the legislature. The practical necessities of parliamentary government demand a large measure of delegation to the executive of powers to legislate by rules, regulations and orders.
The independence of the judiciary has been strictly preserved, but many justiciable issues are referred not to the ordinary courts, but to the administrative authorities.
In any case, Section 97(2) of the Child Act 2001 has not ignored the doctrine of separation of powers. Under that section, the court orders and not the executive for the convicted child to be detained at the pleasure of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, who under Article 42 of the Federal Constitution is given the power to grant pardons, reprieves and respites in respect of all offences committed in the federal territory. The issue of the doctrine of separation of powers does not arise at all.
It should be noted that section 97 is the old section 16 of the Juvenile Courts Act 1947 (Revised 1972). Section 97(4) is an additional provision which gives the power to the board of Visiting Judges to review the case every once a year and the board can make recommendation to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong accordingly.
This Section 97(4) is a provision protecting the right of the child and does not contravene any provision of the Federal Constitution.
2007 07: Parents and teachers: Another slapping incident
The Star Online. News. Nation. Friday July 27, 2007
KLANG: A motor workshop owner is furious with the discipline teacher of a Tamil school whom he claimed had slapped his son over a trivial matter.
M. Shanmugamoorthy, 35, said the teacher had told his son Kirbakaran, who attends SJK (T) Batu Empat, Kampung Jawa, to pick up some rubbish in the classroom on Tuesday.
“My son was packing his schoolbag that moment and because of this he started picking up the rubbish only after completing the task,” said Shanmugamoorthy.
He claimed the teacher was enraged that the Year Four pupil had not picked up the rubbish immediately after she had ordered him to do so.
“She chided my son for the delay and slapped him for it.
“Kirbakaran stumbled and the left side of his face slammed against the corner of his desk,” alleged Shanmugamoorthy.
Shanmugamoorthy, who went to pick Kirbakaran from school, said he asked the teacher what had transpired but alleged that he did not expect the brush-off that awaited him.
“She told me that she had the right to hit Kirbakaran,” claimed Shanmugamoorthy.
He lodged a police report and took his son, who had a blue-black mark near the eye, for a medical examination at the Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital the same day.
He alleged the same teacher had also slapped his Year Two daughter Thanusha for wearing her hair in a single plait a couple of months ago.
“She told Thanusha that she should wear her hair in double plaits whenever in school and then slapped her,” he said.
When contacted the school’s headmaster K. Chethraselvan said he had already gone to the state education department for advice on what to do next.
“Necessary and appropriate action would be taken as soon as possible,” he added.
KLANG: A motor workshop owner is furious with the discipline teacher of a Tamil school whom he claimed had slapped his son over a trivial matter.
M. Shanmugamoorthy, 35, said the teacher had told his son Kirbakaran, who attends SJK (T) Batu Empat, Kampung Jawa, to pick up some rubbish in the classroom on Tuesday.
“My son was packing his schoolbag that moment and because of this he started picking up the rubbish only after completing the task,” said Shanmugamoorthy.
He claimed the teacher was enraged that the Year Four pupil had not picked up the rubbish immediately after she had ordered him to do so.
“She chided my son for the delay and slapped him for it.
“Kirbakaran stumbled and the left side of his face slammed against the corner of his desk,” alleged Shanmugamoorthy.
Shanmugamoorthy, who went to pick Kirbakaran from school, said he asked the teacher what had transpired but alleged that he did not expect the brush-off that awaited him.
“She told me that she had the right to hit Kirbakaran,” claimed Shanmugamoorthy.
He lodged a police report and took his son, who had a blue-black mark near the eye, for a medical examination at the Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital the same day.
He alleged the same teacher had also slapped his Year Two daughter Thanusha for wearing her hair in a single plait a couple of months ago.
“She told Thanusha that she should wear her hair in double plaits whenever in school and then slapped her,” he said.
When contacted the school’s headmaster K. Chethraselvan said he had already gone to the state education department for advice on what to do next.
“Necessary and appropriate action would be taken as soon as possible,” he added.
2007 07: Housewife reports maid for allegedly abusing baby
The star Online. News. Nation. Thursday July 26, 2007
PENANG: A housewife has lodged a police report against her 23-year-old Indonesian maid for allegedly abusing her six-month-old baby boy until his leg was fractured.
Lor Siew Bee, 28, claimed she found the forehead of her son, Teoh Kyean, swollen, when she returned home after doing some shopping on Sunday.
“I asked the maid what happened and she told me that he had knocked his head on the floor while trying to turn over,” she said. The maid had been working for Lor for four months.
Lor said she and her husband, a 30-year-old contractor, later took the boy to a private hospital in Burma Road where a doctor detected the fractured leg.
Speaking at a press conference called by State DAP secretary Law Heng Kiang yesterday, Lor said she lodged a report at the Patani Road police station on Tuesday.
She said the police had sent the maid to the Indonesian Consulate in Burma Road after questioning her.
.............................................................
Maid nabbed over alleged baby abuse
The Star Online. News. Nation. Friday July 27, 2007
PENANG: An Indonesian maid, who allegedly abused her employer's six-month-old baby boy to the point of fracturing his right leg, has been arrested.
George Town OCPD Asst Comm Azam Abd Hamid said the 23-year-old maid was picked up from the Indonesian Consulate by her agent and handed over to the police yesterday afternoon.
“We have questioned the maid and are waiting for a hospital report to determine if the baby's fractured leg was caused by a fall or abuse.
“The maid told us that the baby fell off his bed while trying to turn himself over on Sunday morning,” he said.
Housewife Lor Siew Bee, 28, made a police report on Tuesday alleging that her son, Teoh Kyean, was abused by her maid of four months.
Lor, when contacted, said she hoped that the police would be able to get the maid to tell the truth.
“My son's leg slings have been removed but I can tell that he is in pain as each time he moves his fractured leg, he cries.
“I will now take care of my son by myself. I do now want to depend on the help of a maid after what has happened,” said Lor, who has another son aged three.
She found her son's forehead swollen when she returned to her apartment in Bukit Jambul from a nearby supermarket at 2.30pm that day.
She and her husband, a 30-year-old contractor, later took the boy to a private hospital in Burma Road where a doctor detected the fractured leg.
PENANG: A housewife has lodged a police report against her 23-year-old Indonesian maid for allegedly abusing her six-month-old baby boy until his leg was fractured.
Lor Siew Bee, 28, claimed she found the forehead of her son, Teoh Kyean, swollen, when she returned home after doing some shopping on Sunday.
“I asked the maid what happened and she told me that he had knocked his head on the floor while trying to turn over,” she said. The maid had been working for Lor for four months.
Lor said she and her husband, a 30-year-old contractor, later took the boy to a private hospital in Burma Road where a doctor detected the fractured leg.
Speaking at a press conference called by State DAP secretary Law Heng Kiang yesterday, Lor said she lodged a report at the Patani Road police station on Tuesday.
She said the police had sent the maid to the Indonesian Consulate in Burma Road after questioning her.
.............................................................
Maid nabbed over alleged baby abuse
The Star Online. News. Nation. Friday July 27, 2007
PENANG: An Indonesian maid, who allegedly abused her employer's six-month-old baby boy to the point of fracturing his right leg, has been arrested.
George Town OCPD Asst Comm Azam Abd Hamid said the 23-year-old maid was picked up from the Indonesian Consulate by her agent and handed over to the police yesterday afternoon.
“We have questioned the maid and are waiting for a hospital report to determine if the baby's fractured leg was caused by a fall or abuse.
“The maid told us that the baby fell off his bed while trying to turn himself over on Sunday morning,” he said.
Housewife Lor Siew Bee, 28, made a police report on Tuesday alleging that her son, Teoh Kyean, was abused by her maid of four months.
Lor, when contacted, said she hoped that the police would be able to get the maid to tell the truth.
“My son's leg slings have been removed but I can tell that he is in pain as each time he moves his fractured leg, he cries.
“I will now take care of my son by myself. I do now want to depend on the help of a maid after what has happened,” said Lor, who has another son aged three.
She found her son's forehead swollen when she returned to her apartment in Bukit Jambul from a nearby supermarket at 2.30pm that day.
She and her husband, a 30-year-old contractor, later took the boy to a private hospital in Burma Road where a doctor detected the fractured leg.
2007 07: Education Ministry goes on the road to talk about school discipline
The Star Online. News. Nation. Thursday July 26, 2007
PENANG: The Education Ministry is touring the country to tell teachers that it supports their action against delinquent students.
However, said Deputy Minister Datuk Noh Omar, the ministry has made it known it will not condone any punishment that is excessive and not in line with stipulated guidelines.
“I have covered all schools in Selangor since the roadshow started about a week ago,” he told reporters after opening the Fifth International Conference on Literacy (Litcon 2007) here yesterday.
“I am gathering feedback on what to amend in the Discipline Regulations (Students) 1957,” he said, commenting on the recent spate of disciplinary issues in the country.
The latest involved a primary school headmistress in Kota Kinabalu, who has been suspended for two months following complaints that she slapped 22 pupils for failing to turn in their homework on July 18.
In Sibu, a school warden made 200 girl boarders squat in a pond after the school's toilet bowls were repeatedly clogged with sanitary pads.
Noh said the ministry's two-month tour was to give an assurance to school heads that it supported their actions provided the punishments were within the guidelines.
He said there had been proposals that corporal punishment be decided by school disciplinary boards, instead of the school heads, as provided for in current regulations.
“There is a clause on caning but it does not state how it should be carried out.
“We will come up with more specifications, such as the maximum number of strokes allowed,'' he said, adding that the amendments to the regulations would be gazetted later this year.
Noh said the ministry did not want teachers to be demoralised as it could lead them to stop disciplining their students.
“However, we also don't want to lose public confidence if punishments are too harsh,” he explained.
He added: “In most incidents, it is the teachers' commitment to discipline that puts them in a bad light.”
“We don't want this commitment to die but the efforts must be in accordance with our guidelines,” he said.
On the expulsion of 15 Mara Junior Science College students in Negri Sembilan over the ragging of their juniors on June 17, Noh said they would have to go through a motivation course before they would be allowed to enrol again in mainstream schools.
PENANG: The Education Ministry is touring the country to tell teachers that it supports their action against delinquent students.
However, said Deputy Minister Datuk Noh Omar, the ministry has made it known it will not condone any punishment that is excessive and not in line with stipulated guidelines.
“I have covered all schools in Selangor since the roadshow started about a week ago,” he told reporters after opening the Fifth International Conference on Literacy (Litcon 2007) here yesterday.
“I am gathering feedback on what to amend in the Discipline Regulations (Students) 1957,” he said, commenting on the recent spate of disciplinary issues in the country.
The latest involved a primary school headmistress in Kota Kinabalu, who has been suspended for two months following complaints that she slapped 22 pupils for failing to turn in their homework on July 18.
In Sibu, a school warden made 200 girl boarders squat in a pond after the school's toilet bowls were repeatedly clogged with sanitary pads.
Noh said the ministry's two-month tour was to give an assurance to school heads that it supported their actions provided the punishments were within the guidelines.
He said there had been proposals that corporal punishment be decided by school disciplinary boards, instead of the school heads, as provided for in current regulations.
“There is a clause on caning but it does not state how it should be carried out.
“We will come up with more specifications, such as the maximum number of strokes allowed,'' he said, adding that the amendments to the regulations would be gazetted later this year.
Noh said the ministry did not want teachers to be demoralised as it could lead them to stop disciplining their students.
“However, we also don't want to lose public confidence if punishments are too harsh,” he explained.
He added: “In most incidents, it is the teachers' commitment to discipline that puts them in a bad light.”
“We don't want this commitment to die but the efforts must be in accordance with our guidelines,” he said.
On the expulsion of 15 Mara Junior Science College students in Negri Sembilan over the ragging of their juniors on June 17, Noh said they would have to go through a motivation course before they would be allowed to enrol again in mainstream schools.
2007 07: Toddler dies on way to hospital, possible abuse
The Star Online. News. Nation. Thursday July 26, 2007
JOHOR BARU: A 17-month-old toddler died on the way to the hospital after she was believed to have been abused.
Chin Shyan Ping, the eldest of two siblings, died on Wednesday night when her parents rushed her to the Puteri Specialist Hospital.
Police have detained both her parents to assist in investigations.
According to state CID Chief Senior Asst Comm II Roslan Ahmad, the parents had sent the girl to a clinic after she suffered from severe headache and had trouble breathing at 8.30pm.
The doctor then advised them to send the girl to a hospital, but Chin had died upon arrival at the Puteri Specialist Hospital.
SAC II Roslan said her body was transferred to the Sultanah Aminah Hospital for post-mortem.
Initial checks revealed multiple injuries and bruises all over her body and face. Post-mortem results confirmed that the child had died because of severe bruising in the head.
Meanwhile, Chin’s mother lodged a police report at the Johor Baru (north) district police headquarters at 12.44am on Thursday.
The father, 22, is a cook while the mother, 18, is a housewife. Chin was raised by her grandmother in Cha’ah, Segamat, and has a younger baby sister.
SAC II Roslan said they are investigating the case for murder.
“We believed the girl could have been a victim of child abuse,” he said.
..................................................
Post-mortem of abused baby shows she died of head injuries
The Star Online. News. Nation. Friday July 27, 2007
JOHOR BARU: The post-mortem of suspected abuse victim Chin Shyan Ping showed that she died of head injuries sustained from a blunt object.
Medical personnel also discovered burn marks from hot water on the 17-month-old victim's body and face.
State CID Chief Senior Asst Comm II Roslan Ahmad said that the parents have been identified as the suspects in Shyan Ping's murder.
The mother Ho Cui Ling, 18, and father Chin Lip Young, 22, have been remanded until Aug 1.
Shyan Ping's body was buried at a cemetery in Taman Skudai Baru at 2pm here on Friday.
Lip Young's elder brother, who refused to be named, was the only family member present.
.................................................................
Parents of dead baby remanded
The Star Online. News. Nation. Saturday July 28, 2007
JOHOR BARU: The post-mortem of suspected abuse victim Chin Shyan Ping showed that she died of head injuries sustained from a blunt object.
Medical personnel also discovered scald marks on the 17-month-old baby’s body and face.
Shyan Ping died on the way to the Puteri Specialist Centre here on Wednesday night.
Her parents had rushed her to the hospital from a clinic where she had been taken after she had had trouble breathing.
Her mother later lodged a report at the Johor Baru (North) district police headquarters.
Meanwhile, the parents, Ho Cui Ling, 18, Chin Lip Young, 22, have been remanded by a magistrate’s court until Aug 1.
Shyan Ping’s body was buried at a cemetery in Taman Skudai Baru at 2pm here yesterday.
Lip Young’s elder brother, who refused to be named, said there was nothing that anyone could do now.
“It is a tragedy but it is too late to do anything about it,” he said.
The elder brother, who was the only family member present at the funeral, appeared calm during the burial.
Other family members, including Shyan Ping’s paternal grandmother who had taken care of the child, had returned to their hometown in Chaah, Segamat.
When met at the family’s home in Taman Skudai Baru, the landlord, who also requested anonymity, said he did not believe the girl’s parents were abusive.
“She (Chin) was a very shy and obedient girl. The couple were very nice people. They rarely scolded the girl, let alone beat her. I do not believe they abused her,” he told The Star.
.................................................................
Shyan Pin’s dad freed, but mum will be charged
The Star Online. News. Nation. Sunday August 5, 2007
JOHOR BARU: The police have freed the father of toddler Chin Shyan Ping, who died last month after allegedly being physically abused.
The decision to release Chin Lip Young, 22, was made after the police consulted the deputy public prosecutor.
However, the mother of the 17-month-old child is still in police custody and will be charged tomorrow.
Ho Cui Ling, 18, and Chin have been remanded since July 28.
Speaking at a press conference here yesterday, Johor deputy police chief Senior Asst Comm (I) Datuk Mokhtar Mohd Shariff said a post-mortem confirmed that Shyan Ping died of head injuries sustained from a blunt object.
The young girl died on July 25 on the way to the Puteri Specialist Hospital here.
Her mother lodged a police report at the Johor Baru (North) district police headquarters at about midnight on July 26.
The child was raised by her grandmother in Cha’ah, Segamat, and has a younger sister.
She was living with her parents in Taman Skudai Baru a week before she died.
JOHOR BARU: A 17-month-old toddler died on the way to the hospital after she was believed to have been abused.
Chin Shyan Ping, the eldest of two siblings, died on Wednesday night when her parents rushed her to the Puteri Specialist Hospital.
Police have detained both her parents to assist in investigations.
According to state CID Chief Senior Asst Comm II Roslan Ahmad, the parents had sent the girl to a clinic after she suffered from severe headache and had trouble breathing at 8.30pm.
The doctor then advised them to send the girl to a hospital, but Chin had died upon arrival at the Puteri Specialist Hospital.
SAC II Roslan said her body was transferred to the Sultanah Aminah Hospital for post-mortem.
Initial checks revealed multiple injuries and bruises all over her body and face. Post-mortem results confirmed that the child had died because of severe bruising in the head.
Meanwhile, Chin’s mother lodged a police report at the Johor Baru (north) district police headquarters at 12.44am on Thursday.
The father, 22, is a cook while the mother, 18, is a housewife. Chin was raised by her grandmother in Cha’ah, Segamat, and has a younger baby sister.
SAC II Roslan said they are investigating the case for murder.
“We believed the girl could have been a victim of child abuse,” he said.
..................................................
Post-mortem of abused baby shows she died of head injuries
The Star Online. News. Nation. Friday July 27, 2007
JOHOR BARU: The post-mortem of suspected abuse victim Chin Shyan Ping showed that she died of head injuries sustained from a blunt object.
Medical personnel also discovered burn marks from hot water on the 17-month-old victim's body and face.
State CID Chief Senior Asst Comm II Roslan Ahmad said that the parents have been identified as the suspects in Shyan Ping's murder.
The mother Ho Cui Ling, 18, and father Chin Lip Young, 22, have been remanded until Aug 1.
Shyan Ping's body was buried at a cemetery in Taman Skudai Baru at 2pm here on Friday.
Lip Young's elder brother, who refused to be named, was the only family member present.
.................................................................
Parents of dead baby remanded
The Star Online. News. Nation. Saturday July 28, 2007
JOHOR BARU: The post-mortem of suspected abuse victim Chin Shyan Ping showed that she died of head injuries sustained from a blunt object.
Medical personnel also discovered scald marks on the 17-month-old baby’s body and face.
Shyan Ping died on the way to the Puteri Specialist Centre here on Wednesday night.
Her parents had rushed her to the hospital from a clinic where she had been taken after she had had trouble breathing.
Her mother later lodged a report at the Johor Baru (North) district police headquarters.
Meanwhile, the parents, Ho Cui Ling, 18, Chin Lip Young, 22, have been remanded by a magistrate’s court until Aug 1.
Shyan Ping’s body was buried at a cemetery in Taman Skudai Baru at 2pm here yesterday.
Lip Young’s elder brother, who refused to be named, said there was nothing that anyone could do now.
“It is a tragedy but it is too late to do anything about it,” he said.
The elder brother, who was the only family member present at the funeral, appeared calm during the burial.
Other family members, including Shyan Ping’s paternal grandmother who had taken care of the child, had returned to their hometown in Chaah, Segamat.
When met at the family’s home in Taman Skudai Baru, the landlord, who also requested anonymity, said he did not believe the girl’s parents were abusive.
“She (Chin) was a very shy and obedient girl. The couple were very nice people. They rarely scolded the girl, let alone beat her. I do not believe they abused her,” he told The Star.
.................................................................
Shyan Pin’s dad freed, but mum will be charged
The Star Online. News. Nation. Sunday August 5, 2007
JOHOR BARU: The police have freed the father of toddler Chin Shyan Ping, who died last month after allegedly being physically abused.
The decision to release Chin Lip Young, 22, was made after the police consulted the deputy public prosecutor.
However, the mother of the 17-month-old child is still in police custody and will be charged tomorrow.
Ho Cui Ling, 18, and Chin have been remanded since July 28.
Speaking at a press conference here yesterday, Johor deputy police chief Senior Asst Comm (I) Datuk Mokhtar Mohd Shariff said a post-mortem confirmed that Shyan Ping died of head injuries sustained from a blunt object.
The young girl died on July 25 on the way to the Puteri Specialist Hospital here.
Her mother lodged a police report at the Johor Baru (North) district police headquarters at about midnight on July 26.
The child was raised by her grandmother in Cha’ah, Segamat, and has a younger sister.
She was living with her parents in Taman Skudai Baru a week before she died.
Monday 30 July 2007
2007 07: Malay kids most abused
The Star Online. Parliament. Wednesday July 25, 2007
MALAY children made up the majority of child abuse cases reported to the Welfare Department.
Parliamentary Secretary to the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun told the Senate that the majority of the child abuse cases last year involved Malays (1,378), followed by Indians (248), Chinese (219), peninsular pribumi (1), Sabah pribumi (4), Sarawak pribumi (102) and others (47).
Replying to a question from Senator Tan Sri Dr Jins Shamsudin, she said that in 2005, Malay children accounted for 1,116 abuse cases followed by Indians (263), Chinese (245), peninsular pribumi (5), Sabah pribumi (2), Sarawak pribumi (109) and others (60).
Factors cited for the abuse include indiscipline at school, sex, negligence, emotional stress and that the suspect was drunk at the time.
They were part of the 1,999 child abuse cases reported to the department last year compared with 1,800 cases in 2005, she said.
Up till April this year, 173 child abuse cases had already been reported, she said when replying to a question from Senator Datuk Latif Tamby Chik who wanted to know the measures taken by the ministry to check child abuse.
Chew said that as a short-term measure, abused children would be sent to children’s homes for three years until they reach 18. – Bernama
MALAY children made up the majority of child abuse cases reported to the Welfare Department.
Parliamentary Secretary to the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun told the Senate that the majority of the child abuse cases last year involved Malays (1,378), followed by Indians (248), Chinese (219), peninsular pribumi (1), Sabah pribumi (4), Sarawak pribumi (102) and others (47).
Replying to a question from Senator Tan Sri Dr Jins Shamsudin, she said that in 2005, Malay children accounted for 1,116 abuse cases followed by Indians (263), Chinese (245), peninsular pribumi (5), Sabah pribumi (2), Sarawak pribumi (109) and others (60).
Factors cited for the abuse include indiscipline at school, sex, negligence, emotional stress and that the suspect was drunk at the time.
They were part of the 1,999 child abuse cases reported to the department last year compared with 1,800 cases in 2005, she said.
Up till April this year, 173 child abuse cases had already been reported, she said when replying to a question from Senator Datuk Latif Tamby Chik who wanted to know the measures taken by the ministry to check child abuse.
Chew said that as a short-term measure, abused children would be sent to children’s homes for three years until they reach 18. – Bernama
2007 07: Cop: Children under pressure to run away
The Star Online. News. Nation. Wednesday July 25, 2007
KUALA LUMPUR: About a quarter of all children who left home did so due to peer pressure.
Criminal Investigation Department Deputy Director II Deputy Comm Datuk Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani said that between January 2004 and May 2007, 6,270 children, below 18 years of age, were reported missing.
The police have reunited 4,237 of them with their respective families but 2,033 other children remain missing nationwide.
DCP Acryl Sani cited several reasons for the children running away from home. They are:
PEER pressure;
YEARNING for freedom;
ELOPING with their boyfriend/girlfriend; and,
LOOKING for job opportunities in urban areas.
He suggested that parents communicate with their children always to overcome any misunderstanding.
“In my personal opinion, between eight and 10 cases of missing children are linked to peer pressure.
“So parents, please talk to your children and understand them,” DCP Acryl Sani told reporters yesterday after launching the RHB Missing Children – Reuniting Families campaign at a hotel here.
He said that Kedah, Johor and Selangor recorded the highest number of cases.
He added that the 578 reported cases of missing children between January and May this year marked a drop from 762 in the corresponding period last year.
Meanwhile, a teenage girl who was last seen taking a taxi in front of her school in Sri Petaling on June 11 has been reported missing.
Tien Yee Wah, 16, was spotted boarding the taxi at about 7am by her schoolmate.
The missing girl’s father, mechanic Tien Yem Ngok, 55, said that he had last spoken to his daughter on July 12 when she called the schoolmate outside the school. – Bernama
............................................................
Last resort
The Star Online. Youth2. Wednesday August 22, 2007
Breakdown in family relations is one of the main reasons teenagers escape from home
CLARA’S decision to leave home was sudden, but it had been coming for a long time. The beating she received from her stepmother the night before she ran away was the final straw, but it was the image of her mother standing by and watch ing silently that steeled her resolve.
Her mother and stepmother are siblings married to Clara’s alcoholic father. The 17- year-old girl had endured physical and men tal torture for as long as she remembered.
My stepmother often accuses me of being immoral and my mother usually takes her side. My mother would rather listen to her sister than to her own daughters,” says Clara, who once had to strip naked and allow her stepmother to examine her private parts to prove that she had not slept with the boy she was seen talking to.
“I have been enduring the pain for too long. I needed to escape from my abusive sur rounding and that’s why I left,” she explains.
Clara is but one of the 6,270 teenagers reported missing from their homes since 2004 in Malaysia. Last year, 3,246 girls were reported missing.
Most would eventually be found and reunited with their families. Criminal Investigation Department deputy director Deputy Comm Datuk Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani reported that between January 2004 and May this year, 67.5% (4,237) of the missing teenagers were found.
“Teens run away because they can’t get the freedom or the understanding they seek from their family. Running away becomes their solution because they don’t know how to deal with the problems anymore,” says MCA Public Services and Complaints Department head Datuk Michael Chong.
When a parent reports that a child is miss ing, Chong’s department would check with agencies such as the police and the immigra tion department before seeking the public’s help through the media.
Chong says that media attention is always the last resort because it’s a double-edged sword – over 80% of the cases highlighted in the media are successfully solved, but reper cussions such as violation of the family’s rep utation and privacy are also unavoidable.
“There are actually very few cases where runaway or missing teens are cheated by pimps, which were common 15 years ago. Most cases nowadays stem from feuds or misunderstandings between the child and their parents,” adds Chong.
Through an in-house survey, James Nayagam, executive director of Shelter home for children, found that most girls who leave their home have a troubled relationship with their parents, if not boy problems. “It takes a lot for a girl to decide to run,” he says, “and when she does, it’s often because she doesn’t see another way out.”
There are two contributing factors to this problem, he adds – either the girl runs away because of peer influence or she just wants to teach her parents a lesson.
The study also showed that the most vul nerable age group among the runaway teens is from 16 to 18 and most of the kids under this category suffer from a condition Nayagam refers to as ‘attachment disorder’. “This usually happens when the kids find themselves not emotionally attached to any one at home, thus making it easier for them to just leave everything behind.”
According to Nayagam, children who are attached to their parents rarely make the decision to run away from home because they feel everything that children are sup posed to feel – happy and belonged.
“When I spoke to the girls who came for help, I realised that most of them wouldn’t have run away if only they had someone to talk them out of it,” says Nayagam. But when they do come to him, Nayagam ensures that they get all the help that they need. No prodding questions are asked when a girl steps into the Shelter vicinity. ”If a troubled girl wants help and shelter, then that’s what she gets from us,” says James.
Runaway Clara turned to her best friend’s family for help when she left home, and it was her friend’s mother who took her to Nayagam’s Shelter.
She had since settled in at the Shelter, and has no intentions of returning to her family. “I am happy here and am looking forward to go to a new school. If that’s impossible, I’ll just study at this shelter and sit for the SPM examination later this year,” says Clara, a bright student who has even represented her previous school for marathons in district levels.
The girls are allowed to stay at the Shelter until they turn 18, but there are also some who attempt to reunite with their families. “Most cases are resolved when the teen returns to his/her family and discuss their problems openly with each other. But we’ve also encountered some situations where the runaways would come to us and tell us their intention to leave their homes and request us not to expose the matter to the media if their families seek our help,” says Chong. James spoke of a case in which he brought a girl back home to her worried parents. “The first thing that the father asked the girl was ‘Why?’ a question which I think builds up a wall around a person faster than any other question could,” says James. The girl then replied that although she had everything in the big, beautiful house ... it was missing love.
That, James says, is what every girl wants from her home. Chong agrees. “Parents need to spend more quality time with their children and really listen to their needs. They must also set good examples of themselves – you can’t expect a child to respect or be obedient when the parents are full of vices,” says Chong.
KUALA LUMPUR: About a quarter of all children who left home did so due to peer pressure.
Criminal Investigation Department Deputy Director II Deputy Comm Datuk Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani said that between January 2004 and May 2007, 6,270 children, below 18 years of age, were reported missing.
The police have reunited 4,237 of them with their respective families but 2,033 other children remain missing nationwide.
DCP Acryl Sani cited several reasons for the children running away from home. They are:
PEER pressure;
YEARNING for freedom;
ELOPING with their boyfriend/girlfriend; and,
LOOKING for job opportunities in urban areas.
He suggested that parents communicate with their children always to overcome any misunderstanding.
“In my personal opinion, between eight and 10 cases of missing children are linked to peer pressure.
“So parents, please talk to your children and understand them,” DCP Acryl Sani told reporters yesterday after launching the RHB Missing Children – Reuniting Families campaign at a hotel here.
He said that Kedah, Johor and Selangor recorded the highest number of cases.
He added that the 578 reported cases of missing children between January and May this year marked a drop from 762 in the corresponding period last year.
Meanwhile, a teenage girl who was last seen taking a taxi in front of her school in Sri Petaling on June 11 has been reported missing.
Tien Yee Wah, 16, was spotted boarding the taxi at about 7am by her schoolmate.
The missing girl’s father, mechanic Tien Yem Ngok, 55, said that he had last spoken to his daughter on July 12 when she called the schoolmate outside the school. – Bernama
............................................................
Last resort
The Star Online. Youth2. Wednesday August 22, 2007
Breakdown in family relations is one of the main reasons teenagers escape from home
CLARA’S decision to leave home was sudden, but it had been coming for a long time. The beating she received from her stepmother the night before she ran away was the final straw, but it was the image of her mother standing by and watch ing silently that steeled her resolve.
Her mother and stepmother are siblings married to Clara’s alcoholic father. The 17- year-old girl had endured physical and men tal torture for as long as she remembered.
My stepmother often accuses me of being immoral and my mother usually takes her side. My mother would rather listen to her sister than to her own daughters,” says Clara, who once had to strip naked and allow her stepmother to examine her private parts to prove that she had not slept with the boy she was seen talking to.
“I have been enduring the pain for too long. I needed to escape from my abusive sur rounding and that’s why I left,” she explains.
Clara is but one of the 6,270 teenagers reported missing from their homes since 2004 in Malaysia. Last year, 3,246 girls were reported missing.
Most would eventually be found and reunited with their families. Criminal Investigation Department deputy director Deputy Comm Datuk Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani reported that between January 2004 and May this year, 67.5% (4,237) of the missing teenagers were found.
“Teens run away because they can’t get the freedom or the understanding they seek from their family. Running away becomes their solution because they don’t know how to deal with the problems anymore,” says MCA Public Services and Complaints Department head Datuk Michael Chong.
When a parent reports that a child is miss ing, Chong’s department would check with agencies such as the police and the immigra tion department before seeking the public’s help through the media.
Chong says that media attention is always the last resort because it’s a double-edged sword – over 80% of the cases highlighted in the media are successfully solved, but reper cussions such as violation of the family’s rep utation and privacy are also unavoidable.
“There are actually very few cases where runaway or missing teens are cheated by pimps, which were common 15 years ago. Most cases nowadays stem from feuds or misunderstandings between the child and their parents,” adds Chong.
Through an in-house survey, James Nayagam, executive director of Shelter home for children, found that most girls who leave their home have a troubled relationship with their parents, if not boy problems. “It takes a lot for a girl to decide to run,” he says, “and when she does, it’s often because she doesn’t see another way out.”
There are two contributing factors to this problem, he adds – either the girl runs away because of peer influence or she just wants to teach her parents a lesson.
The study also showed that the most vul nerable age group among the runaway teens is from 16 to 18 and most of the kids under this category suffer from a condition Nayagam refers to as ‘attachment disorder’. “This usually happens when the kids find themselves not emotionally attached to any one at home, thus making it easier for them to just leave everything behind.”
According to Nayagam, children who are attached to their parents rarely make the decision to run away from home because they feel everything that children are sup posed to feel – happy and belonged.
“When I spoke to the girls who came for help, I realised that most of them wouldn’t have run away if only they had someone to talk them out of it,” says Nayagam. But when they do come to him, Nayagam ensures that they get all the help that they need. No prodding questions are asked when a girl steps into the Shelter vicinity. ”If a troubled girl wants help and shelter, then that’s what she gets from us,” says James.
Runaway Clara turned to her best friend’s family for help when she left home, and it was her friend’s mother who took her to Nayagam’s Shelter.
She had since settled in at the Shelter, and has no intentions of returning to her family. “I am happy here and am looking forward to go to a new school. If that’s impossible, I’ll just study at this shelter and sit for the SPM examination later this year,” says Clara, a bright student who has even represented her previous school for marathons in district levels.
The girls are allowed to stay at the Shelter until they turn 18, but there are also some who attempt to reunite with their families. “Most cases are resolved when the teen returns to his/her family and discuss their problems openly with each other. But we’ve also encountered some situations where the runaways would come to us and tell us their intention to leave their homes and request us not to expose the matter to the media if their families seek our help,” says Chong. James spoke of a case in which he brought a girl back home to her worried parents. “The first thing that the father asked the girl was ‘Why?’ a question which I think builds up a wall around a person faster than any other question could,” says James. The girl then replied that although she had everything in the big, beautiful house ... it was missing love.
That, James says, is what every girl wants from her home. Chong agrees. “Parents need to spend more quality time with their children and really listen to their needs. They must also set good examples of themselves – you can’t expect a child to respect or be obedient when the parents are full of vices,” says Chong.
2007 07: 7yr-old held by the neck and caned by teacher
The Star Online. News. Nation. Wednesday July 25, 2007
SUNGAI PETANI: A housewife has alleged that a teacher held her seven-year-old daughter by the neck and caned her on her legs, stomach, hands and back.
Housewife T. Rukumani, 42, claimed the teacher also slapped K. Shamni on her face and knocked her head with her knuckle during a Bahasa Malaysia class in SRJK (T) Kalaimagal in Permatang Gedong near here on Tuesday. She claimed the daughter was punished in front of the other pupils because she had not read loud enough an essay that was written on the blackboard.
Shamni returned home from school at 6.45pm and related the incident to her mother.
Shamni’s father K. Kasiraja later took her to Sultan Abdul Halim Hospital where she has been admitted. A police report was lodged at the hospital.
Rukumani claimed the teacher stopped caning her daughter when another teacher passed by and stopped her.
“This teacher took my daughter to the staff room and applied ointment on her hands and body.
The teacher also told my daughter not to inform us of the caning,” said Rukumani when met at Sultan Abdul Halim Hospital on Tuesday night.
School authorities declined to comment on the matter.
State Education Director Misrah Ibrahim when contacted said he not aware of the incident but would look into the matter.
SUNGAI PETANI: A housewife has alleged that a teacher held her seven-year-old daughter by the neck and caned her on her legs, stomach, hands and back.
Housewife T. Rukumani, 42, claimed the teacher also slapped K. Shamni on her face and knocked her head with her knuckle during a Bahasa Malaysia class in SRJK (T) Kalaimagal in Permatang Gedong near here on Tuesday. She claimed the daughter was punished in front of the other pupils because she had not read loud enough an essay that was written on the blackboard.
Shamni returned home from school at 6.45pm and related the incident to her mother.
Shamni’s father K. Kasiraja later took her to Sultan Abdul Halim Hospital where she has been admitted. A police report was lodged at the hospital.
Rukumani claimed the teacher stopped caning her daughter when another teacher passed by and stopped her.
“This teacher took my daughter to the staff room and applied ointment on her hands and body.
The teacher also told my daughter not to inform us of the caning,” said Rukumani when met at Sultan Abdul Halim Hospital on Tuesday night.
School authorities declined to comment on the matter.
State Education Director Misrah Ibrahim when contacted said he not aware of the incident but would look into the matter.
2007 07: DISCIPLINE IN SCHOOL: What is a teacher to do?
NST Online. Letters. 24/7/07
By : M.S. DHALIWAL, Kajang
AT first, it was the football-team bashing time. Now, it seems that the attention has been diverted to the teachers.
First, it was the case of a student who uttered an expletive and a teacher who allegedly punched her. Next, it was the case involving students who failed to hand in their homework. Finally, the case involving 200 schoolgirls in a pond and a warden who took centre stage.
As a teacher myself, it is disheartening to read reports portraying teachers in a bad light. No doubt, teachers have to follow certain guidelines in curtailing discipline problems but we must remember teachers are human beings, too. As parents, you have to follow a certain procedure in disciplining your child. A parent may have to deal with three or four children, but a teacher has to discipline 30 to 40 of them.
A 13-year-old girl utters a curse word in the presence of the others. What would you do? You may not punch her on the face, but believe me, the last thing that you would do is open the procedure book for guidance. I am not condoning what the teacher did but had any of us been in that situation, we, too, would be facing suspension.
During my school days, being slapped or caned by the headmaster or headmistress was something shameful, not only for the student but the parents as well. I remember parents dragging their children to the headmaster’s office to apologise for the child’s misdeeds and inflicting further punishment on their child themselves.
Nowadays, we still have parents dragging their children to the headmaster’s office but with a posse of reporters and photographers. Instead of apologising, they demand apologies. Instead of shame, they invite publicity.
Before I attempt to "defend" the Sibu incident, allow me to share an incident that took place in my school. Just last week, I stumbled upon a few boys who were covered from head to toe with flour. The class was a mess with flour on the tables, chairs and the floor.
It was quite obvious that there had been a "flour fight". However, when I demanded an explanation, no one admitted starting the fight or even bringing flour to school.
Even the threat of calling their parents was futile. Finally, when I waved my cane, the students started volunteering names and details of the "flour fight".
The warden in Sibu was not as lucky as I was. She might have threatened to dip them in the pond and probably had to do it when all the students kept mum.
I am not saying what the teachers above did is right or wrong. I am just saying that suspending or putting these teachers in a bad light is not the right thing to do.
In a way, I salute these teachers for trying to make a change. Obviously, it would have been easier to just ignore the problem.
There are many teachers out there who opt to play it safe. They just walk into the class, deliver their lesson and walk out again, ignoring the students who curse, who do not do their homework and those who do not pay attention.
I am from the old school. I believe in instilling discipline. My students dare not curse me, they will finish their homework and they will admit if they are wrong. However, after reading about the cases mentioned, maybe I, too, should play it safe.
By : M.S. DHALIWAL, Kajang
AT first, it was the football-team bashing time. Now, it seems that the attention has been diverted to the teachers.
First, it was the case of a student who uttered an expletive and a teacher who allegedly punched her. Next, it was the case involving students who failed to hand in their homework. Finally, the case involving 200 schoolgirls in a pond and a warden who took centre stage.
As a teacher myself, it is disheartening to read reports portraying teachers in a bad light. No doubt, teachers have to follow certain guidelines in curtailing discipline problems but we must remember teachers are human beings, too. As parents, you have to follow a certain procedure in disciplining your child. A parent may have to deal with three or four children, but a teacher has to discipline 30 to 40 of them.
A 13-year-old girl utters a curse word in the presence of the others. What would you do? You may not punch her on the face, but believe me, the last thing that you would do is open the procedure book for guidance. I am not condoning what the teacher did but had any of us been in that situation, we, too, would be facing suspension.
During my school days, being slapped or caned by the headmaster or headmistress was something shameful, not only for the student but the parents as well. I remember parents dragging their children to the headmaster’s office to apologise for the child’s misdeeds and inflicting further punishment on their child themselves.
Nowadays, we still have parents dragging their children to the headmaster’s office but with a posse of reporters and photographers. Instead of apologising, they demand apologies. Instead of shame, they invite publicity.
Before I attempt to "defend" the Sibu incident, allow me to share an incident that took place in my school. Just last week, I stumbled upon a few boys who were covered from head to toe with flour. The class was a mess with flour on the tables, chairs and the floor.
It was quite obvious that there had been a "flour fight". However, when I demanded an explanation, no one admitted starting the fight or even bringing flour to school.
Even the threat of calling their parents was futile. Finally, when I waved my cane, the students started volunteering names and details of the "flour fight".
The warden in Sibu was not as lucky as I was. She might have threatened to dip them in the pond and probably had to do it when all the students kept mum.
I am not saying what the teachers above did is right or wrong. I am just saying that suspending or putting these teachers in a bad light is not the right thing to do.
In a way, I salute these teachers for trying to make a change. Obviously, it would have been easier to just ignore the problem.
There are many teachers out there who opt to play it safe. They just walk into the class, deliver their lesson and walk out again, ignoring the students who curse, who do not do their homework and those who do not pay attention.
I am from the old school. I believe in instilling discipline. My students dare not curse me, they will finish their homework and they will admit if they are wrong. However, after reading about the cases mentioned, maybe I, too, should play it safe.
2007 07: Teenager at clinic robbed and raped
NST online. Local News. 24/7/07
IPOH: She was sick and went to a clinic at 2am. There, she was kidnapped by two pa- rang-wielding men who took her on a terror ride and then raped her.
The teenager was later abandoned in Tanjung Malim, about 140km away.
City police chief ACP Jalaludin Ibrahim said the girl had gone to the clinic in Ipoh Garden on Saturday with a friend.
While waiting to be treated, two men entered the clinic and held up the two friends and a nurse, robbing the clinic of RM1,900 and the women of two handphones.
"The men then grabbed the victim and pushed her into a BMW 3 series car parked outside the clinic.
"The girl was taken on a terror ride before being raped. She was abandoned at 6.30am in Tanjung Malim," said Jala- ludin.
She later sought help from passers-by and lodged a report. She was sent to the Tanjung Malim Hospital for a medical examination.
Jalaludin yesterday released the photofits of two men in their 20s whom they believe can assist in investigations.
In another case, police detained a school employee in connection with the rape of a Form One student in a guard room at a Grik school on July 11.
District police chief Supt Mahad Nor Abdullah said the man had gone to the school hostel and tricked the girl into accompanying him by telling her that her parents had come to see her.
When she went to the gate, he grabbed her and dragged her into the guard room where he assaulted her until she passed out.
Mahad said when the victim regained consciousness after a while, she felt pain in her private parts. She was warned by the suspect not to relate the incident to anyone.
"The victim kept quiet until her sister-in-law noticed that she had become sullen and frequently lost her temper. When questioned, she revealed everything.
"The girl later lodged a report and was sent to the Ipoh Hospital for a medical examination.
IPOH: She was sick and went to a clinic at 2am. There, she was kidnapped by two pa- rang-wielding men who took her on a terror ride and then raped her.
The teenager was later abandoned in Tanjung Malim, about 140km away.
City police chief ACP Jalaludin Ibrahim said the girl had gone to the clinic in Ipoh Garden on Saturday with a friend.
While waiting to be treated, two men entered the clinic and held up the two friends and a nurse, robbing the clinic of RM1,900 and the women of two handphones.
"The men then grabbed the victim and pushed her into a BMW 3 series car parked outside the clinic.
"The girl was taken on a terror ride before being raped. She was abandoned at 6.30am in Tanjung Malim," said Jala- ludin.
She later sought help from passers-by and lodged a report. She was sent to the Tanjung Malim Hospital for a medical examination.
Jalaludin yesterday released the photofits of two men in their 20s whom they believe can assist in investigations.
In another case, police detained a school employee in connection with the rape of a Form One student in a guard room at a Grik school on July 11.
District police chief Supt Mahad Nor Abdullah said the man had gone to the school hostel and tricked the girl into accompanying him by telling her that her parents had come to see her.
When she went to the gate, he grabbed her and dragged her into the guard room where he assaulted her until she passed out.
Mahad said when the victim regained consciousness after a while, she felt pain in her private parts. She was warned by the suspect not to relate the incident to anyone.
"The victim kept quiet until her sister-in-law noticed that she had become sullen and frequently lost her temper. When questioned, she revealed everything.
"The girl later lodged a report and was sent to the Ipoh Hospital for a medical examination.
2007 07: Child beggars targeting Arab tourists
The Star Online. News. Nation. Tuesday July 24, 2007
HARIAN Metro reported that child beggars in Kuala Lumpur were picking up the Arabic language in a move to get more sympathy from tourists from the Middle East.
Recent checks around the city by the daily found child beggars preferring foreigners as prey, as their “donations” were often bigger compared to locals, who usually looked the other way.
These children would brave the scorching heat of the city in the afternoons, waiting outside restaurants popular with Arab tourists.
The child beggars are reported to be between six and eight years old and work together in groups, wearing worn-out clothes and going barefooted.
HARIAN Metro reported that child beggars in Kuala Lumpur were picking up the Arabic language in a move to get more sympathy from tourists from the Middle East.
Recent checks around the city by the daily found child beggars preferring foreigners as prey, as their “donations” were often bigger compared to locals, who usually looked the other way.
These children would brave the scorching heat of the city in the afternoons, waiting outside restaurants popular with Arab tourists.
The child beggars are reported to be between six and eight years old and work together in groups, wearing worn-out clothes and going barefooted.
2007 07: Girl alleges rape in school
The Star Online. News. Nation. Tuesday July 24, 2007
GERIK: Had it not been for an observant sister-in-law, a rapist would have got off scot-free.
The 13-year-old victim had been reluctant to speak out for fear of her life but the sister-in-law noticed something amiss, got the girl to talk and lodged a police report.
Gerik OCPD Supt Mahad Nor Abdullah said a suspect in his 30s would be arrested soon.
“The girl had been warned that she would be killed if she spoke about the incident,” he said.
In her report, the girl said she was raped by a male school staff member at her school at night on July 11 after a nasyid recital session.
GERIK: Had it not been for an observant sister-in-law, a rapist would have got off scot-free.
The 13-year-old victim had been reluctant to speak out for fear of her life but the sister-in-law noticed something amiss, got the girl to talk and lodged a police report.
Gerik OCPD Supt Mahad Nor Abdullah said a suspect in his 30s would be arrested soon.
“The girl had been warned that she would be killed if she spoke about the incident,” he said.
In her report, the girl said she was raped by a male school staff member at her school at night on July 11 after a nasyid recital session.
2007 07: Civil servant charged with raping teenager
The Star Online. News. Nation. Tuesday July 24, 2007
JOHOR BARU: A 23-year-old civil servant was charged in the Sessions Court for raping a 14-year-old student.
Mohd Farid Mohamed Sharif, a Works department personnel, was charged with committing the offence at a house in Taman Dahlia at 10am on July 7.
Judge Aliman Musri set bail at RM6,000 and the family of the accused posted bail.
Judge Aliman set Sept 18 for mention.
Asst Supt Kalawan Singh prosecuted the case while defence council Noraini Kamaruddin represented the accused.
In another case, an odd-job worker claimed trial at the same court for armed robbery.
Nurul Karulisman Othman, 26, was charged with robbing Chua Chong Heng, 60, while armed with a Revolver at a shop house in Taman Sentosa.
He was charged under Section 4 of the Firearms Act (Increased Penalty) 1971.
He was alleged to have committed the offence on Feb 25 at 8.15pm.
Judge Aliman set Aug 29 for mention.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Jean Jesudasan prosecuted the case while the accused was represented by council G.K. Sreetharan.
JOHOR BARU: A 23-year-old civil servant was charged in the Sessions Court for raping a 14-year-old student.
Mohd Farid Mohamed Sharif, a Works department personnel, was charged with committing the offence at a house in Taman Dahlia at 10am on July 7.
Judge Aliman Musri set bail at RM6,000 and the family of the accused posted bail.
Judge Aliman set Sept 18 for mention.
Asst Supt Kalawan Singh prosecuted the case while defence council Noraini Kamaruddin represented the accused.
In another case, an odd-job worker claimed trial at the same court for armed robbery.
Nurul Karulisman Othman, 26, was charged with robbing Chua Chong Heng, 60, while armed with a Revolver at a shop house in Taman Sentosa.
He was charged under Section 4 of the Firearms Act (Increased Penalty) 1971.
He was alleged to have committed the offence on Feb 25 at 8.15pm.
Judge Aliman set Aug 29 for mention.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Jean Jesudasan prosecuted the case while the accused was represented by council G.K. Sreetharan.
Thursday 26 July 2007
2007 07: Baby abandoned in cardboard box
The Star Online. News. Nation. Sunday July 22, 2007
BUKIT MERTAJAM: A newborn baby girl was found alive in a cardboard box left on a car boot in Persiaran Jenahak Dua, Taman Tun Hussein Onn, in Seberang Jaya near here.
Central Seberang Prai district police chief Asst Comm Mohd Anil Shah Abdullah said police rushed to the scene after receiving a call at 7.45am yesterday.
He said the baby, believed to be a day old, was found by a resident.
“After hearing cries of the baby outside his house, the man went out and, to his surprise, found a baby crying inside a cardboard box. He called the police,” ACP Mohd Anil Shah said.
He said the baby, which was wrapped in a piece of cloth, was sent to the Seberang Jaya Hospital for observation.
ACP Mohd Anil Shah urged those with information on the baby to contact Insp Lina Tun at the district police headquarters at 04-5382222 or the nearest police station.
BUKIT MERTAJAM: A newborn baby girl was found alive in a cardboard box left on a car boot in Persiaran Jenahak Dua, Taman Tun Hussein Onn, in Seberang Jaya near here.
Central Seberang Prai district police chief Asst Comm Mohd Anil Shah Abdullah said police rushed to the scene after receiving a call at 7.45am yesterday.
He said the baby, believed to be a day old, was found by a resident.
“After hearing cries of the baby outside his house, the man went out and, to his surprise, found a baby crying inside a cardboard box. He called the police,” ACP Mohd Anil Shah said.
He said the baby, which was wrapped in a piece of cloth, was sent to the Seberang Jaya Hospital for observation.
ACP Mohd Anil Shah urged those with information on the baby to contact Insp Lina Tun at the district police headquarters at 04-5382222 or the nearest police station.
2007 07: Ministry to probe squatting incident
The Star Online. News. Nation. Sunday July 22, 2007
KOTA KINABALU: The Education Ministry will carry out a thorough investigation into a claim that 200 girl boarders in Sarawak were forced into a fish pond as punishment because one of them left a sanitary towel in a toilet bowl.
Education Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein said an investigation was under way to establish what actually happened.
It was reported that the girls from a secondary school in Sibu were forced to squat in the murky fish pond for an hour.
The Form One to Form Five students were allegedly forced into the pond inside the school compound from 4pm on Wednesday by a woman warden.
The warden watched over them with an umbrella as it was raining.
“We do not want to point fingers at anyone now but we will take action against those who are wrong,” Hishammuddin told reporters after attending the convocation of 500 teachers at the Teachers Training Institute here yesterday.
In Kuching, Assistant Minister in the Chief Minister’s Department Fatimah Abdullah said the case should be brought to the school’s disciplinary board and a report handed over to the state education department.
Fatimah said any punishment meted out must be in accordance with the school’s rules and regulations.
“But I’m sure the punishment for those caught throwing a sanitary pad into the toilet bowl is not asking them to squat in a pond.”
The school's parent-teacher association chairman Jimmy Kiu who runs the school canteen, witnessed the incident and contacted a local daily to expose the incident.
Describing the punishment as “harsh”, Kiu said he would speak to the parents before deciding on the next course of action.
.........................................................
FISH POND PUNISHMENT: Teacher should be sacked, says ex-DG
NST Online. Newsbreak. 23/7/07
Former education director-general Tan Sri Murad Mohd Nor has urged for the immediate sacking of a teacher in Sarawak who forced about 200 female students into a fish pond as a punishment last week.
The English teacher, who is also a hostel warden, had no right to mete out such punishment because as a warden she was supposed to protect and assist the students besides being a substitute parent while they were at the hostel, he said.
“The parents entrusted her to protect their children. Instead, they were abused for an offence they may not have committed,” he said and added that it did not mean that students were immune from punishments.
If they were proven guilty, only the headmaster and disciplinary teacher could mete out punishments on them and the punishment should be within the rule and not excessive, he said.
It was reported that in the Wednesday’s incident, the teacher ordered the girl boarders to stay in a murky fishpond inside the school compound for an hour because one of them dumped a sanitary pad into a toilet bowl.
Murad said teachers should be rational in disciplining students so as not to go against the rules set out by the government.
“We are in an educational institution not a prison. Therefore, teachers are bound by regulations in carrying out punishments,” he said.
He also advised teachers to adopt the correct approach in dealing with indiscipline among students and practise what they had learnt when undergoing the teaching course.
“If we educate the students in a violent way, the students will be violent. And don’t be too enthusiastic with discipline,” he said.
He said teachers should use a good manners approach, be compromising, instill care and love values, and not to follow extreme emotions when educating students.
.........................................................
Teacher shows courage in pond punishment
The Star Online. Opinion. Tuesday July 24, 2007
I REFER to “Fish pond punishment” (The Star, July 23) and as a parent of schoolgoing kids, I salute Ms Wee Yim Pien for her outstanding courage and sense of common decency in meting out punishment to the schoolgirls as reported.
To state my own experience, I have transferred my youngest son from his school last year because of the inability of his headmistress and teachers to maintain discipline in school.
To the PTA chairman, Jimmy Kiu, my advice is not to bark up the wrong tree. Leave Wee alone and run an education programme on his school’s kids on personal health and hygiene.
I have a school-going daughter who gets regular lectures from me on where to throw her sanitary pads. If I so much as know that she throws them into any toilet, be it at home, or school, or any public toilet, I would hit the roof.
To the parents of the girls who have committed this mistake, especially the mothers, grow up! My bottom line always is, if you do not have the maturity to bring up your kids, then do not have sex.
If you must indulge in the latter, then be ready to face up to the responsibility of bringing up a decent kid who will grow up into a decent adult with a family of his own to nurture.
I wish to add that I pray that every school has teachers like Wee because our children spend at least five hours in school every school day.
And finally, to Wee, May God Bless you and Keep You Safe.
PUTEN JERINEH RAMLI
Petaling Jaya, Selangor
.........................................................
Teacher in 'pond squat' case not suspended
The Star Online. Nation. News. Wednesday July 25, 2007
KUCHING: The SMK Bawang Assan warden who forced 200 schoolgirls to squat in a pond as a form of punishment is not under suspension.
State education director Rabiah Johari clarified that Wee Yim Pien, also the school’s English teacher, had not gone on leave as reported.
"She is not on leave, she is back teaching at the school," she told reporters after receiving anti-bullying posters for schools. "A police report has not been lodged."
Rabiah said the department was still investigating the incident and would only decide on the next course of action when the probe was completed.
She said officers from the department were sent to Sibu on Tuesday to assist the divisional education office in the investigation.
"For disciplinary cases involving teachers, we have certain procedures which we will follow in deciding what action to take," she added.
She said the department did not condone what Wee had done but pointed out that teachers needed to take disciplinary action against errant students.
"We don’t want teachers to not discipline students as this will lead to social problems. In a case like this, we do not look only at the teacher’s actions but also whether she was feeling pressured or stressed.
"After all, according to reports she had been trying for three years to get the students to dispose sanitary pads properly and not clog the toilets," she said.
"So maybe she felt stressed by the situation," she said, adding that the department had given Wee some counselling.
Meanwhile the Federation of Sarawak Teachers’ Unions said issues involving school discipline should be left to the proper authorities to resolve.
It also recommended that the disciplinary guidelines for teachers, set out in 1959, be reviewed and updated to suit current conditions.
.........................................................
There are limits to punishment
The Star Online. Opinion. Wednesday July 25, 2007
I CAN’T agree with the letter “Teacher shows courage in pond punishment” (The Star, July 24)
In meting out punishment on kids we must be practical and pragmatic. After all, they are children. Could the teacher have not acted a bit wiser here?
Wrongs must be punished, but to kill an ant you do not use a brick, a pebble would do.
To me any punishment must not be humiliating or capable of destroying one’s self- esteem.
BULBIR SINGH
Seremban
.........................................................
Pond squat issue: Settled, all is forgiven
The Star Online. News. Nation. Thursday July 26, 2007
KUCHING: The dust has settled over the infamous "pond squat" issue and SMK Bawang Assan school warden Wee Yim Pien has been forgiven.
She has also apologised to the families for forcing some 170 girl boarders into a fishpond last week.
Wee, 27, who is also the schools' English teacher, with a Master's degree, had meted out the punishment over repeated dumping of sanitary pads in the school's toilet bowls.
The school’s parent-teacher association chairman Jimmy Kiu said: "Everybody has forgiven her."
He added that the parents and the students wanted the teacher to stay.
"We do not want the students to suffer as the PMR examination is coming.
“The incident is settled in good faith.It is hoped that there is no more a repetition,” Kiu said in a telephone interview on Thursday.
This followed a meeting attended by Kiu, Wee, school principal Kandon Ngadi, Sibu divisional education officer Charles Tiong. parents and Deputy Education Minister Datuk Noh Omar’s special representative Shashim Shah on Wednesday.
An emotional Wee was seen hugging some of the parents and shook hands with others as the episode came to an end.
Kiu said it would be up to the state Education Department to decide whether action should be taken against Wee.
Shashim said the department’s report on the investigation into the incident had been sumbitted to the Education Ministry, which would decide if any action would be taken against Wee.
Asked if Wee would continue as the warden, Kiu declined to comment, saying that this was the school’s administrative matter. The school has more than 500 students, including some 300 borders.
.........................................................
Teacher in ‘pond squat’ case not suspended
The Star Online. News. Nation. Thursday July 26, 2007
KUCHING: The SMK Bawang Assan warden who forced 200 schoolgirls to squat in a pond as a form of punishment is not under suspension.
State education director Rabiah Johari clarified that Wee Yim Pien, also the school’s English teacher, had not gone on leave as reported.
“She is back teaching at the school,” she told reporters after receiving anti-bullying posters for schools.
“A police report has not been lodged.”
Rabiah said the department would decide on the next course of action when the probe was completed.
She said the department did not condone what Wee had done but pointed out that teachers needed to take disciplinary action against errant students.
“We don’t want teachers to not discipline students as this will lead to social problems. In a case like this, we do not look only at the teacher’s actions but also whether she was feeling pressured or stressed.
“After all, according to reports she had been trying for three years to get the students to dispose sanitary pads properly and not clog the toilets,” she said.
The Sarawak Teachers Union (STU) has come out in support of its members accused of meting out harsh punishment on students.
Its president William Gani Bina noted that teachers and school heads were helpless as they could not reply to the accusations thrown at them in public.
“No teacher or school head who is in the right frame of mind would mete out excessive punishments,” he said adding that student indiscipline was on the rise.
He said there were an increasing number of students who have total disregard for school authority, and disobeying orders and directives.
Meanwhile the school’s parent-teacher association chairman Jimmy Kiu said Wee had apologised to the parents in a meeting yesterday.
Following the apology, he said the parents withdrew their demand for Wee to be transferred out.
.........................................................
Many have benefited from corporal punishment
The Star Online. News. Nation. Thursday July 26, 2007
I FULLY agree with Puten Jerinah Ramli (“Teacher shows courage in pond punishment” – The Star, July 24).
I also empathise with the headmistress of SK Gayang in Tuaran, too; she has been suspended for slapping some students.
I am glad I was not tarred and feathered for slapping students for misbehaving or for not doing their work when I taught at a kampung school, a fishing town school or two premier city schools.
The principals of the four schools where I taught were strict disciplinarians and supported me to the hilt.
The principals of the premier city schools were known throughout the country as good administrators and great disciplinarians. They were eventually promoted to state chief education officers, and always backed teachers fully where corporal punishment was concerned.
Students caught playing truant at the kampung school were rounded up by the principal and taken to help old farmers till their padi fields. I used to have fishermen-parents coming to thank me for disciplining their children.
Students at the premier city schools who gave problems found themselves doing circuit training on the sports field.
I am gratified to know that so many of my students from the different schools have done well.
Some of them hold top positions in the public and private sectors in our country, in Singapore, in the UK, Europe and Australia.
We still meet at alumni gatherings, laughing and reminiscing at the whiplash of my right hand of years gone by!
One of them, the CEO of a multi-national company, will tell everyone that the sting of my five fingers on his cheek was the catalyst that woke him up to work hard and be what he is today!
B.S. TEOH,
Ipoh, Perak.
.........................................................
Let the teacher do her job
The Star Online. News. Nation. Thursday July 26, 2007
I FULLY support what Puten Jerineh Ramli wrote in her letter regarding the fish pond punishment incident (The Star, July 24).
When I was in school and the toilets were jammed up or misused, classes of students had to take turns to stay in the toilets for at least 10 minutes as punishment.
I resented the discipline then but now being a mother, I have taught my children well. They will not mess up toilets, throw things out of the car and, in general, they care for and respect public amenities.
These days, parents treat their children like precious little princes and princesses. In public places, they are allowed to run wild and mess around even with things on display.
I have seen young children shouting at their maids even in the parents’ presence and get away without reprimand. I have seen maids putting shoes on schoolgoing children who seem quite capable of doing it on their own!
So, instead of picking on a teacher who’s trying to do something to instil discipline, let her do her job and retain her respect.
Children have to learn to respect those in authority early in life. If they don’t respect their teachers now, they will have no respect for others in authority later on in life.
JEANNETTE L. TAI,
Petaling Jaya, Selangor.
.........................................................
Their mistake, so they must be punished
The Star Online. News. Nation. Thursday July 26, 2007
AS a student, I strongly agree with the warden’s decision to punish the schoolgirls. They have to realise that it was their mistake, and therefore deserved to be punished.
Students should respect teachers as figures of authorities, because whatever a teacher does is for the benefit of the students.
As for parents, they should understand the reason behind the punishments. If parents continue to spoil their children, what is the point of having teachers to educate students?
CONCERNED STUDENT,
Petaling Jaya, Selangor.
KOTA KINABALU: The Education Ministry will carry out a thorough investigation into a claim that 200 girl boarders in Sarawak were forced into a fish pond as punishment because one of them left a sanitary towel in a toilet bowl.
Education Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein said an investigation was under way to establish what actually happened.
It was reported that the girls from a secondary school in Sibu were forced to squat in the murky fish pond for an hour.
The Form One to Form Five students were allegedly forced into the pond inside the school compound from 4pm on Wednesday by a woman warden.
The warden watched over them with an umbrella as it was raining.
“We do not want to point fingers at anyone now but we will take action against those who are wrong,” Hishammuddin told reporters after attending the convocation of 500 teachers at the Teachers Training Institute here yesterday.
In Kuching, Assistant Minister in the Chief Minister’s Department Fatimah Abdullah said the case should be brought to the school’s disciplinary board and a report handed over to the state education department.
Fatimah said any punishment meted out must be in accordance with the school’s rules and regulations.
“But I’m sure the punishment for those caught throwing a sanitary pad into the toilet bowl is not asking them to squat in a pond.”
The school's parent-teacher association chairman Jimmy Kiu who runs the school canteen, witnessed the incident and contacted a local daily to expose the incident.
Describing the punishment as “harsh”, Kiu said he would speak to the parents before deciding on the next course of action.
.........................................................
FISH POND PUNISHMENT: Teacher should be sacked, says ex-DG
NST Online. Newsbreak. 23/7/07
Former education director-general Tan Sri Murad Mohd Nor has urged for the immediate sacking of a teacher in Sarawak who forced about 200 female students into a fish pond as a punishment last week.
The English teacher, who is also a hostel warden, had no right to mete out such punishment because as a warden she was supposed to protect and assist the students besides being a substitute parent while they were at the hostel, he said.
“The parents entrusted her to protect their children. Instead, they were abused for an offence they may not have committed,” he said and added that it did not mean that students were immune from punishments.
If they were proven guilty, only the headmaster and disciplinary teacher could mete out punishments on them and the punishment should be within the rule and not excessive, he said.
It was reported that in the Wednesday’s incident, the teacher ordered the girl boarders to stay in a murky fishpond inside the school compound for an hour because one of them dumped a sanitary pad into a toilet bowl.
Murad said teachers should be rational in disciplining students so as not to go against the rules set out by the government.
“We are in an educational institution not a prison. Therefore, teachers are bound by regulations in carrying out punishments,” he said.
He also advised teachers to adopt the correct approach in dealing with indiscipline among students and practise what they had learnt when undergoing the teaching course.
“If we educate the students in a violent way, the students will be violent. And don’t be too enthusiastic with discipline,” he said.
He said teachers should use a good manners approach, be compromising, instill care and love values, and not to follow extreme emotions when educating students.
.........................................................
Teacher shows courage in pond punishment
The Star Online. Opinion. Tuesday July 24, 2007
I REFER to “Fish pond punishment” (The Star, July 23) and as a parent of schoolgoing kids, I salute Ms Wee Yim Pien for her outstanding courage and sense of common decency in meting out punishment to the schoolgirls as reported.
To state my own experience, I have transferred my youngest son from his school last year because of the inability of his headmistress and teachers to maintain discipline in school.
To the PTA chairman, Jimmy Kiu, my advice is not to bark up the wrong tree. Leave Wee alone and run an education programme on his school’s kids on personal health and hygiene.
I have a school-going daughter who gets regular lectures from me on where to throw her sanitary pads. If I so much as know that she throws them into any toilet, be it at home, or school, or any public toilet, I would hit the roof.
To the parents of the girls who have committed this mistake, especially the mothers, grow up! My bottom line always is, if you do not have the maturity to bring up your kids, then do not have sex.
If you must indulge in the latter, then be ready to face up to the responsibility of bringing up a decent kid who will grow up into a decent adult with a family of his own to nurture.
I wish to add that I pray that every school has teachers like Wee because our children spend at least five hours in school every school day.
And finally, to Wee, May God Bless you and Keep You Safe.
PUTEN JERINEH RAMLI
Petaling Jaya, Selangor
.........................................................
Teacher in 'pond squat' case not suspended
The Star Online. Nation. News. Wednesday July 25, 2007
KUCHING: The SMK Bawang Assan warden who forced 200 schoolgirls to squat in a pond as a form of punishment is not under suspension.
State education director Rabiah Johari clarified that Wee Yim Pien, also the school’s English teacher, had not gone on leave as reported.
"She is not on leave, she is back teaching at the school," she told reporters after receiving anti-bullying posters for schools. "A police report has not been lodged."
Rabiah said the department was still investigating the incident and would only decide on the next course of action when the probe was completed.
She said officers from the department were sent to Sibu on Tuesday to assist the divisional education office in the investigation.
"For disciplinary cases involving teachers, we have certain procedures which we will follow in deciding what action to take," she added.
She said the department did not condone what Wee had done but pointed out that teachers needed to take disciplinary action against errant students.
"We don’t want teachers to not discipline students as this will lead to social problems. In a case like this, we do not look only at the teacher’s actions but also whether she was feeling pressured or stressed.
"After all, according to reports she had been trying for three years to get the students to dispose sanitary pads properly and not clog the toilets," she said.
"So maybe she felt stressed by the situation," she said, adding that the department had given Wee some counselling.
Meanwhile the Federation of Sarawak Teachers’ Unions said issues involving school discipline should be left to the proper authorities to resolve.
It also recommended that the disciplinary guidelines for teachers, set out in 1959, be reviewed and updated to suit current conditions.
.........................................................
There are limits to punishment
The Star Online. Opinion. Wednesday July 25, 2007
I CAN’T agree with the letter “Teacher shows courage in pond punishment” (The Star, July 24)
In meting out punishment on kids we must be practical and pragmatic. After all, they are children. Could the teacher have not acted a bit wiser here?
Wrongs must be punished, but to kill an ant you do not use a brick, a pebble would do.
To me any punishment must not be humiliating or capable of destroying one’s self- esteem.
BULBIR SINGH
Seremban
.........................................................
Pond squat issue: Settled, all is forgiven
The Star Online. News. Nation. Thursday July 26, 2007
KUCHING: The dust has settled over the infamous "pond squat" issue and SMK Bawang Assan school warden Wee Yim Pien has been forgiven.
She has also apologised to the families for forcing some 170 girl boarders into a fishpond last week.
Wee, 27, who is also the schools' English teacher, with a Master's degree, had meted out the punishment over repeated dumping of sanitary pads in the school's toilet bowls.
The school’s parent-teacher association chairman Jimmy Kiu said: "Everybody has forgiven her."
He added that the parents and the students wanted the teacher to stay.
"We do not want the students to suffer as the PMR examination is coming.
“The incident is settled in good faith.It is hoped that there is no more a repetition,” Kiu said in a telephone interview on Thursday.
This followed a meeting attended by Kiu, Wee, school principal Kandon Ngadi, Sibu divisional education officer Charles Tiong. parents and Deputy Education Minister Datuk Noh Omar’s special representative Shashim Shah on Wednesday.
An emotional Wee was seen hugging some of the parents and shook hands with others as the episode came to an end.
Kiu said it would be up to the state Education Department to decide whether action should be taken against Wee.
Shashim said the department’s report on the investigation into the incident had been sumbitted to the Education Ministry, which would decide if any action would be taken against Wee.
Asked if Wee would continue as the warden, Kiu declined to comment, saying that this was the school’s administrative matter. The school has more than 500 students, including some 300 borders.
.........................................................
Teacher in ‘pond squat’ case not suspended
The Star Online. News. Nation. Thursday July 26, 2007
KUCHING: The SMK Bawang Assan warden who forced 200 schoolgirls to squat in a pond as a form of punishment is not under suspension.
State education director Rabiah Johari clarified that Wee Yim Pien, also the school’s English teacher, had not gone on leave as reported.
“She is back teaching at the school,” she told reporters after receiving anti-bullying posters for schools.
“A police report has not been lodged.”
Rabiah said the department would decide on the next course of action when the probe was completed.
She said the department did not condone what Wee had done but pointed out that teachers needed to take disciplinary action against errant students.
“We don’t want teachers to not discipline students as this will lead to social problems. In a case like this, we do not look only at the teacher’s actions but also whether she was feeling pressured or stressed.
“After all, according to reports she had been trying for three years to get the students to dispose sanitary pads properly and not clog the toilets,” she said.
The Sarawak Teachers Union (STU) has come out in support of its members accused of meting out harsh punishment on students.
Its president William Gani Bina noted that teachers and school heads were helpless as they could not reply to the accusations thrown at them in public.
“No teacher or school head who is in the right frame of mind would mete out excessive punishments,” he said adding that student indiscipline was on the rise.
He said there were an increasing number of students who have total disregard for school authority, and disobeying orders and directives.
Meanwhile the school’s parent-teacher association chairman Jimmy Kiu said Wee had apologised to the parents in a meeting yesterday.
Following the apology, he said the parents withdrew their demand for Wee to be transferred out.
.........................................................
Many have benefited from corporal punishment
The Star Online. News. Nation. Thursday July 26, 2007
I FULLY agree with Puten Jerinah Ramli (“Teacher shows courage in pond punishment” – The Star, July 24).
I also empathise with the headmistress of SK Gayang in Tuaran, too; she has been suspended for slapping some students.
I am glad I was not tarred and feathered for slapping students for misbehaving or for not doing their work when I taught at a kampung school, a fishing town school or two premier city schools.
The principals of the four schools where I taught were strict disciplinarians and supported me to the hilt.
The principals of the premier city schools were known throughout the country as good administrators and great disciplinarians. They were eventually promoted to state chief education officers, and always backed teachers fully where corporal punishment was concerned.
Students caught playing truant at the kampung school were rounded up by the principal and taken to help old farmers till their padi fields. I used to have fishermen-parents coming to thank me for disciplining their children.
Students at the premier city schools who gave problems found themselves doing circuit training on the sports field.
I am gratified to know that so many of my students from the different schools have done well.
Some of them hold top positions in the public and private sectors in our country, in Singapore, in the UK, Europe and Australia.
We still meet at alumni gatherings, laughing and reminiscing at the whiplash of my right hand of years gone by!
One of them, the CEO of a multi-national company, will tell everyone that the sting of my five fingers on his cheek was the catalyst that woke him up to work hard and be what he is today!
B.S. TEOH,
Ipoh, Perak.
.........................................................
Let the teacher do her job
The Star Online. News. Nation. Thursday July 26, 2007
I FULLY support what Puten Jerineh Ramli wrote in her letter regarding the fish pond punishment incident (The Star, July 24).
When I was in school and the toilets were jammed up or misused, classes of students had to take turns to stay in the toilets for at least 10 minutes as punishment.
I resented the discipline then but now being a mother, I have taught my children well. They will not mess up toilets, throw things out of the car and, in general, they care for and respect public amenities.
These days, parents treat their children like precious little princes and princesses. In public places, they are allowed to run wild and mess around even with things on display.
I have seen young children shouting at their maids even in the parents’ presence and get away without reprimand. I have seen maids putting shoes on schoolgoing children who seem quite capable of doing it on their own!
So, instead of picking on a teacher who’s trying to do something to instil discipline, let her do her job and retain her respect.
Children have to learn to respect those in authority early in life. If they don’t respect their teachers now, they will have no respect for others in authority later on in life.
JEANNETTE L. TAI,
Petaling Jaya, Selangor.
.........................................................
Their mistake, so they must be punished
The Star Online. News. Nation. Thursday July 26, 2007
AS a student, I strongly agree with the warden’s decision to punish the schoolgirls. They have to realise that it was their mistake, and therefore deserved to be punished.
Students should respect teachers as figures of authorities, because whatever a teacher does is for the benefit of the students.
As for parents, they should understand the reason behind the punishments. If parents continue to spoil their children, what is the point of having teachers to educate students?
CONCERNED STUDENT,
Petaling Jaya, Selangor.
2007 07: School kids lodge police report over injuries inflicted by caning
The Star Online. News. Nation. Sunday July 22, 2007
MIRI: Seven 13-year old students from SMK Long Lama have lodged police reports claiming that they had suffered injuries to their backs and buttocks because of repeated canings by their teacher.
The Form One students are from the remote school located more than 300km inland from Miri, in the East Malaysian state of Sarawak.
They have also lodged complaints at the Miri Education Department following the incident that they alleged took place on Thursday night at their school's hostel.
The parents of the students came down to Miri over the weekend to seek advice from the authorities here after lodging the police reports at the Long Lama police station.
In their reports, they claimed that a male teacher had caned their children between 10 and 20 times each after he had found the hostel in a mess, with rubbish strewn around.
The students suffered physical and mental anguish because of the incident, and some of them had become sick after the caning, said the parents.
The parents claimed that their children could not sleep properly for days after the caning because of the constant pain due to wounds to the skin inflicted by the cane.
The victims' parents want the Education Department to take appropriate disciplinary action against the teacher concerned, and to ensure that such aggressive behaviour was not repeated.
SMK Long Lama has about 500 students, most of whom from deep interior settlements.
Three days ago, more than 200 students from a school in Sibu were forced to squat in a fish pond for more than an hour.
These girls were punished because a warden found toilet bowls littered with sanitary pads, it was alleged.
MIRI: Seven 13-year old students from SMK Long Lama have lodged police reports claiming that they had suffered injuries to their backs and buttocks because of repeated canings by their teacher.
The Form One students are from the remote school located more than 300km inland from Miri, in the East Malaysian state of Sarawak.
They have also lodged complaints at the Miri Education Department following the incident that they alleged took place on Thursday night at their school's hostel.
The parents of the students came down to Miri over the weekend to seek advice from the authorities here after lodging the police reports at the Long Lama police station.
In their reports, they claimed that a male teacher had caned their children between 10 and 20 times each after he had found the hostel in a mess, with rubbish strewn around.
The students suffered physical and mental anguish because of the incident, and some of them had become sick after the caning, said the parents.
The parents claimed that their children could not sleep properly for days after the caning because of the constant pain due to wounds to the skin inflicted by the cane.
The victims' parents want the Education Department to take appropriate disciplinary action against the teacher concerned, and to ensure that such aggressive behaviour was not repeated.
SMK Long Lama has about 500 students, most of whom from deep interior settlements.
Three days ago, more than 200 students from a school in Sibu were forced to squat in a fish pond for more than an hour.
These girls were punished because a warden found toilet bowls littered with sanitary pads, it was alleged.
Monday 23 July 2007
2007 07: Help for the boys behind bars
The Star Online. Metro. Friday July 20, 2007
Kumar (not his real name), 13, has been detained at the Kajang Boys Prison for the past three months for allegedly stealing a handphone.
To bail him out, his parents need to pay RM2,500. The amount is too much for Kumar’s family to afford as they barely have enough to survive.
So Kumar continues to stay behind bars, uncertain of when he would be able to return home again or what the future holds for him, pending a court decision, which can drag on for months.
“When these boys were caught, they were charged under the Penal Code which gives the warrant to send them here,” said Kajang Prison deputy superintendent Ranjit Singh Gurdev Singh.
“People have asked me why parents do not bail their children out, but they do not know of the extreme poverty some of these families have to endure. Some poor parents are happy when their children can find some money of their own. But they are not bothered to know how and where their children get the money from,” said Ranjit Singh.
Currently, there are about 600 teenage boys detained in the prison, of which 400 are under remand while the rest are convicted prisoners.
“It’s sad that these young boys, for some petty offences committed, are spending an undefined amount of time in prison while waiting for their cases to be heard by courts. That’s why the prison has drawn up a list of daily programmes from basic vocational skills to education to help them pick up something while they are here,” Ranjit said.
Also investing their time and effort to help the boys are facilitators from the Shelter Home for Children, who teach basic computer skills, facilitate group therapy sessions, as well as teach examination subjects for those sitting for the PMR and SPM.
“There’s no future for these poor boys without education,” Shelter executive director James Nayagam said.
“When they come out, they would have lost out on education and unable to go back to school again, especially since they have dropped out for three months or so. They carry a stigma that becomes the talk of the town.
“Without acceptance from society, they turn to their old circle of bad friends again and this is what triggers a vicious cycle,” said Nayagam.
He said Shelter Home was very concerned about the mental development of the teenagers.
“These are boys at their prime with their blood rushing. They should be out playing soccer, watching movie with friends, or be involved in activities that keep their brain active. When they are imprisoned, they feel a sense of disappointment, regret, hopelessness and anxiety. About 80% of them have self-esteem that are below average,” Nayagam said.
“I believe rehabilitation is the answer to making them better persons, not punishment. Mental development programmes are vital to help these boys to speak about their parents and upbringing in a therapeutic way. Without being taught to express their feelings, they will grow up to become vengeful adults,” said Nayagam.
He appreciates the good work the prison is doing in helping the boys. But he questions the lack of action by other agencies.
“Where are these parties? What are they doing to help? Why is preference given to VIPs for court hearings when there are boys waiting for people to show them some mercy?” he asked.
Shelter Home workers visit the prison on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays to facilitate the various classes for the boys aged between 13 and 19.
It has been three and half years now since the programme started. On Saturdays, Shelter brings in dental and medical teams to conduct check-ups on the boys.
Nayagam also writes recommendation letters addressed to the courts to help reduce jail sentences, reduce bail, or acquit the boys. This year alone, he has, through his recommendations, helped to dispose of cases, provide bail, and acquitted some 200 of them.
Ranjit said 19 boys in the prison were illiterate.
“For this group, the prison conducts the basic 3M (membaca, menulis, mengira) classes to help them read, write, and count. A member of our staff also guides the Muslim boys who don’t know how to pray and know nothing about Islam as they are illiterate,” Ranjit said.
Assistant superintendent Thavamany Gopal said the prison had also started a Putra Programme, where the boys were trained in marching while the Therapeutic Community (TC) programme for convicted prisoners is a behaviour modification and management programme for prisoners convicted on drug addiction and crime.
“At the end of the day, we want them to be assertive enough to say no to drugs. For rape cases, we conduct psycho-drama techniques to help the rapists release their feelings. A lot of self-awareness is involved, as we teach them about respect for women,” said Thavamany, a trained counsellor.
Ranjit later showed StarMetro a cell which has been converted into a library with books donated by the Rotary Club of Ampang. Then, there is another cell with sewing machines for the boys to pick up tailoring skills.
If only the boys were charged differently under the Juvenile Court, they would be sent to Henry Gurney School in Malacca and not end up here.
As for young Kumar, Nayagam will be writing a recommendation letter in order to relocate him to Tunas Bakti, a remand centre with a homely setting.
Shelter Home, meanwhile, is in need of more volunteers to facilitate classes at the prison and funding that would be channelled directly there.
To assist, call 012-314 1100 or 03-7955 0663, or write to P.O Box 23, Jalan Sultan, Petaling Jaya. Alternatively, log on to http://www.shelterhome.org/
Kumar (not his real name), 13, has been detained at the Kajang Boys Prison for the past three months for allegedly stealing a handphone.
To bail him out, his parents need to pay RM2,500. The amount is too much for Kumar’s family to afford as they barely have enough to survive.
So Kumar continues to stay behind bars, uncertain of when he would be able to return home again or what the future holds for him, pending a court decision, which can drag on for months.
“When these boys were caught, they were charged under the Penal Code which gives the warrant to send them here,” said Kajang Prison deputy superintendent Ranjit Singh Gurdev Singh.
“People have asked me why parents do not bail their children out, but they do not know of the extreme poverty some of these families have to endure. Some poor parents are happy when their children can find some money of their own. But they are not bothered to know how and where their children get the money from,” said Ranjit Singh.
Currently, there are about 600 teenage boys detained in the prison, of which 400 are under remand while the rest are convicted prisoners.
“It’s sad that these young boys, for some petty offences committed, are spending an undefined amount of time in prison while waiting for their cases to be heard by courts. That’s why the prison has drawn up a list of daily programmes from basic vocational skills to education to help them pick up something while they are here,” Ranjit said.
Also investing their time and effort to help the boys are facilitators from the Shelter Home for Children, who teach basic computer skills, facilitate group therapy sessions, as well as teach examination subjects for those sitting for the PMR and SPM.
“There’s no future for these poor boys without education,” Shelter executive director James Nayagam said.
“When they come out, they would have lost out on education and unable to go back to school again, especially since they have dropped out for three months or so. They carry a stigma that becomes the talk of the town.
“Without acceptance from society, they turn to their old circle of bad friends again and this is what triggers a vicious cycle,” said Nayagam.
He said Shelter Home was very concerned about the mental development of the teenagers.
“These are boys at their prime with their blood rushing. They should be out playing soccer, watching movie with friends, or be involved in activities that keep their brain active. When they are imprisoned, they feel a sense of disappointment, regret, hopelessness and anxiety. About 80% of them have self-esteem that are below average,” Nayagam said.
“I believe rehabilitation is the answer to making them better persons, not punishment. Mental development programmes are vital to help these boys to speak about their parents and upbringing in a therapeutic way. Without being taught to express their feelings, they will grow up to become vengeful adults,” said Nayagam.
He appreciates the good work the prison is doing in helping the boys. But he questions the lack of action by other agencies.
“Where are these parties? What are they doing to help? Why is preference given to VIPs for court hearings when there are boys waiting for people to show them some mercy?” he asked.
Shelter Home workers visit the prison on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays to facilitate the various classes for the boys aged between 13 and 19.
It has been three and half years now since the programme started. On Saturdays, Shelter brings in dental and medical teams to conduct check-ups on the boys.
Nayagam also writes recommendation letters addressed to the courts to help reduce jail sentences, reduce bail, or acquit the boys. This year alone, he has, through his recommendations, helped to dispose of cases, provide bail, and acquitted some 200 of them.
Ranjit said 19 boys in the prison were illiterate.
“For this group, the prison conducts the basic 3M (membaca, menulis, mengira) classes to help them read, write, and count. A member of our staff also guides the Muslim boys who don’t know how to pray and know nothing about Islam as they are illiterate,” Ranjit said.
Assistant superintendent Thavamany Gopal said the prison had also started a Putra Programme, where the boys were trained in marching while the Therapeutic Community (TC) programme for convicted prisoners is a behaviour modification and management programme for prisoners convicted on drug addiction and crime.
“At the end of the day, we want them to be assertive enough to say no to drugs. For rape cases, we conduct psycho-drama techniques to help the rapists release their feelings. A lot of self-awareness is involved, as we teach them about respect for women,” said Thavamany, a trained counsellor.
Ranjit later showed StarMetro a cell which has been converted into a library with books donated by the Rotary Club of Ampang. Then, there is another cell with sewing machines for the boys to pick up tailoring skills.
If only the boys were charged differently under the Juvenile Court, they would be sent to Henry Gurney School in Malacca and not end up here.
As for young Kumar, Nayagam will be writing a recommendation letter in order to relocate him to Tunas Bakti, a remand centre with a homely setting.
Shelter Home, meanwhile, is in need of more volunteers to facilitate classes at the prison and funding that would be channelled directly there.
To assist, call 012-314 1100 or 03-7955 0663, or write to P.O Box 23, Jalan Sultan, Petaling Jaya. Alternatively, log on to http://www.shelterhome.org/
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
