Shelter News Tracker

2007 09: Do your bit – help find Nurin

2007-09-20T16:52:00.000+08:00

The Star online. News. Opinion. Thursday September 20, 2007

COMMENTBy LOONG MENG YEE

TWO little girls have gripped the nation’s attention. One is lying nameless, battered and dead in the mortuary.

The other, the nation has not seen in life. But pictures of her cute face, her sweet smile and clear round eyes are piercing, searing an image of innocence in our minds.

Also, there is the worry about her health. Nurin Jazlin Jazimin has high blood pressure and needs medication, otherwise she can get a stroke.

There has been no inkling of where eight-year-old Nurin is despite a massive nationwide search since she went missing on Aug 20.

The SRK Desa Setapak pupil never returned home after going to the night market near her house in Wangsa Maju.

What happened to her? And to the little one who died such a horrible death? What about the 16 other kids under the age of nine who seemed to have “vanished” between January and July this year?

Stories about missing children, especially those abducted, have always tugged at the heartstrings of Malaysians.

We grieve along with the parents. We agonise over the safety of the missing children; we cringe at the thought that they may be hurt in terrible ways, or of them being smuggled out and forced to beg in neighbouring countries.

How we demand that these animals be caught, and sent to jail forever. In fact, under the law, killers must hang. The nation is seething with anger over the way the nameless girl was so brutally killed.

Sadly, she is not the first.

Remember Ang May Hong, Nurul Huda Abdul Ghani or Harirawati Saridi? They were also sexually assaulted and murdered.

May Hong, nine, was raped and strangled just 70m from her home in Jalan Ipoh, Kuala Lumpur in 1987.

Harirawati, 10, was raped and murdered in Kota Kinabalu on Jan 19, 2004.

Nine days later, Nurul Huda, also 10, was raped by a security guard in the toilet of the guardpost of Kampung Pekajang in Johor, just 400m away from her house.

Each time there is such an incident, we get angry and demand action.

Let the same anger fire our determination to find Nurin. She does not deserve any other fate except to be safe in her parents’ arms again.

Every time a child goes missing, the media automatically goes into top gear, churning out as much information as possible.

When this happens, many groups come forward to aid the police by organising searches, distributing leaflets and offering monetary reward for information.

True, the number of missing children who remained lost far outnumber the ones found.
However, all of us doggedly hang on to cases with happy endings to keep us going through the anxious wait.

We constantly tell ourselves Nurin will be found.

After all, Mohd Nazrin Shamsul Ghazali, Ahmad Firdaus Hakim Sharizal and Nur Karmila Mohd Shah Nawas Nantha were reunited with their families.

Their names may not register but the way they went missing and the search for them gripped the nation.

Mohd Nazrin, or Yin, was the five-year-old boy from Ipoh who wandered off from his parents while shopping at Sogo on March 31.

He was found two weeks later. A Myanmar family had sheltered him. The foreign couple later surrendered Yin because they claimed they finally saw his “gone missing” poster. Friends, strangers, taxi drivers, corporate bodies had all chipped in to find Yin.

Ahmad Firdaus was the famous missing case in 2004. Then a six-month-old infant, he was abducted from his babysitter’s house in Kampung Baru in Kuala Lumpur by an Indonesian woman in August.

Taxi driver Jaaman Tamby Chik had seen a picture of Ahmad and a photo fit of the abductor on television. To his horror, the wanted people were guests in his house.

He immediately contacted the child’s father, Sahrizal Mariwan. The baby was reunited with the family some 30 hours later.

As for 10-month-old Karmila, the maid took her from the house in Port Klang.

An elderly couple later handed Karmila to the police a few days later in 2005.

In all these cases, Malaysians rallied around the distraught families after acting on information from the media. Eventually, it had been the kind Malaysians that tipped off the police.

As Wanita MCA chairman Datuk Dr Ng Yen Yen put it: “Malaysia, rise to the occasion, live up to our reputation as caring nation. It is our duty to keep our children safe.

“If you see a terrified child in the arms of suspicious adults, reach out to the child. Or, if you see a child left alone on the streets, please help. The parents will be forever grateful because we choose to care.”

This Hari Raya, let it be a happy one for the Jazimin family.

Please help find Nurin.

2007 09: Children’s safety is parents’ prime responsibility

2007-09-20T16:34:00.000+08:00

The Sun online. Speak Up! The Sun Says... Thu, 20 Sep 2007

The frequency of cases of children being sexually abused, especially after the body of a young girl was discovered in a bag in a Petaling Jaya shoplot on Monday, should be worrying, frightening and a cause of concern to everyone, particularly parents.

Evidently there are still beasts masquarading as men out there waiting to pounce on an unwary and unescorted child. There is no doubt that they are sick and have become beasts when they think nothing of sexually violating children whose safety and welfare are humanity’s responsibility.

But while we grieve for the poor unidentified child we cannot help but wonder why such depraved acts are still happening.

Of course the authorities can be criticised for allowing the system to foster such abominable creatures and the police for failing, however tough their crackdown, to spot and put them away.
But it is the parents who must bear the bulk of, if not all, the blame for their children being snatched away and abused. Images of mutilated and abused bodies of past victims found in guard houses, bushes and under bridges should remind them that the danger to their children is real.

Knowing the statistics and knowing that the beasts are out there waiting should be sufficient inducement for them to keep a watchful eye over their children and to monitor closely their whereabouts. There are no two ways about it.

2007 09: Gang-raped by friends after jam session

2007-09-20T16:27:00.000+08:00

The Star online. News. Nation. Thursday September 20, 2007

JOHOR BARU: A 17-year-old girl who inhaled laughing gas while out with her friends was believed to have been gang-raped by three of them after she passed out.

The victim, a salesgirl, had been out on a jam session in the city and was on her way home with five of her friends.

Johor Baru (South) OCPD Asst Comm Zainuddin Yaakob said the victim lost consciousness after two of her friends had been dropped off in Permas Jaya.

“She only suspected something amiss when she regained consciousness at around 1am and found herself lying undressed in the minivan they were travelling in,” he said of the incident that occurred on Sept 12.

ACP Zainuddin said that one of the youths with her then ordered her to dress, but refused to answer her repeated queries about what he had done to her.

Shortly after that, the three youths dropped her off at the Johor Jaya Square terminal.
Afraid to go home, she spent the night at her friend’s house and only lodged a police report on Sept 15.

ACP Zainuddin said an 18-year-old suspect who was arrested on Sept 15 had since been remanded.

“We are still looking for four others to assist investigations,” he said.
Those with information regarding the case have been urged to contact the police hotline at 07 2212 999.

2007 09: The lost child – a common sight in shopping malls

2007-09-19T13:35:00.000+08:00

The Star online. News. Nation. Wednesday September 19, 2007

PETALING JAYA: Children regularly get separated from their parents at shopping malls – and often, it is the case of adults allowing their children to wander off on their own.

But the child is usually reunited with the parents thanks to measures put in place by the management who are familiar with dealing with missing children cases.

1 Utama public relations executive Joey Choong said children seen without a guardian would be taken to the customer service counter.

“If parents come to us and report a missing child, our security guards will be alerted and will start looking for the child.

“If there’s a need, we also have recordings from the CCTV cameras which we can play back,” she said.

In the case of Muhammad Nazrin Shamsul Ghazali or Yin, five, the cameras helped in determining that a child had wandered out of the complex.

He was seen walking out of the Sogo department store in March and was missing for several days.

As an added precaution, Sunway Pyramid officials will question parents who show up to claim the child.

“A lost child will usually run to his or her parents as soon as they’re in sight but if we don’t see that happening, then we would be extra careful before handing the child over,” he said.

A representative from Sungei Wang Plaza said an announcement would be made every five minutes until the child is reunited with the parents.

“These cases don’t happen very often. Maybe only about two to three cases a month. It is more likely to happen during the festive season and school holidays,” she said.

Mid Valley Megamall assistant public relations manager Catherine Lim said about five cases of lost children were reported every month in the shopping mall.

“They’re not so much ‘missing’ children. Usually, it’s just a case of being separated from the parents,” she said.

In Penang, Gurney Plaza communications manager Pauline Teh said their security guards were trained to look out for children wandering aimlessly around the complex.

“We have a standard operating procedure when dealing with lost children. Once a lost child has been found, we will either take him or her to the information counter or security department and page for the parents,” she said.

2007 09: Nurin Jazlin among 17 children still on police list of missing persons

2007-09-19T13:32:00.000+08:00

The Star online. News. Nation. Wednesday September 19, 2007

PETALING JAYA: As the anguish continues for Nurin Jazlin’s parents Jazimin Abdul Jalil and Norazian Bistaman, there are at least 16 other parents out there anxiously awaiting news of their missing children.

Nurin is among the 17 children under the age of nine – 10 boys and seven girls – on the police’s list of missing persons.

These children seem to have “vanished” between January and July this year, and have yet to be found. Some left their homes, and like Nurin, never returned. Others were lured away by friends.

They are among the 34 cases (under nine years old) reported to the police until July. Sixteen of the cases involve boys and 18 others are girls. Police have so far found six boys and 11 girls.

“There were other reasons as well, such as the children running away because they were not interested in studying anymore and wanted freedom.

“Many also cited being scolded by their parents and they felt their parents did not understand them, or they felt their parents did not care for them,” said CID director Commissioner Datuk Christopher Wan Soo Kee.

“But the main reason for the missing children was family dispute. Ten cases involved one parent taking away the child without informing the other after the couple divorced,” he said.

Wanita MCA chief Datuk Dr Ng Yen Yen said society must accept that times have changed.
“We must re-look the value of trust. Urbanisation and progress bring development but also complicate society. We have all kinds of strangers around us and our children.

“The onus is on us, as parents, not to allow our children go out by themselves, even if it is to the grocery store. It is unfortunate, but we must also teach our children not to help strangers because the young ones are too innocent to differentiate between a ruse and a genuine cry for help,” said Dr Ng.

The Deputy Finance Minister said as harsh as it sounded, parents must also teach their children not to be trusting of strangers, teachers and even relatives.

“It has been proven that children have been terribly hurt by those closest to them. The bad person is not confined to the stranger on the street,” said Dr Ng.

She urged society to be caring enough to look out for all children.

“If you happen to come across a child in need, or one looking terrified as she is being held tightly by an adult, do not turn a blind eye, ask the child if he needs your help,” said Dr Ng.

Child psychologist and Suhakam commissioner Dr Chiam Heng Keng said adults could not expect children to have the ability to fend for themselves, or differentiate a “good” person from a “bad” one.

“Children below 10 are not mature enough to think rationally. In many advanced countries, the law forbids these children to be left alone at home or venture out on their own,” she said.

2007 09: Five remanded over molest

2007-09-19T13:30:00.000+08:00

The Star online. News. Nation. Wednesday September 19, 2007

IPOH: Five men have been remanded for three days until tomorrow for kidnapping and molesting a 19-year-old girl.

District CID chief Deputy Supt S. Glenn Anthony said the five suspects, aged between 20 and 30, were picked up here on Monday.

He said investigation on the case was ongoing.

On Sept 13, the girl was taken on a terror ride from Tanjung Rambutan here, where she was believed to have been molested.

2007 09: Runaway girls return home

2007-09-19T13:27:00.000+08:00

The Star online. News. Nation. Wednesday September 19, 2007

By AUDREY EDWARDS

KUALA LUMPUR: They had people searching for them for more than 48 hours while they roamed more than 50km using public transport.

Yesterday, the three teens, Norashila Jaafar, Rosbazla Mohd Basri and Nursyakila Azlan, reported missing over the weekend, were reunited with their parents.

The search ended yesterday morning when Norashila called her mother to tell her she was under a bridge near Pantai Dalam here, more than 50km from her Bukit Beruntung home in Taman Bunga Raya.

Her grandfather, Othman Mohd Ali then went to get her with some friends.

Their families had lodged police reports and also had search parties out scouring the neighbouring areas and in Puchong Perdana after they received a telephone call from a man saying that the girls were there.

Rosbazla and Nursyakila were at a 24-hour cybercafe in Pantai Dalam after Norashila led the police to the building.

“My father nagged me. So, I decided to run away from home and the other two followed me,” she said when met by reporters at the Pantai police station.

Her parents Jaafar Abdullah, a driver, and trader Zaimah Othman were there to meet her. The parents and family members of Rosbazla and Nursyakila also waited for their daughters.

On Saturday night, Norashila, a student at SK Taman Bunga Raya 1, had told her parents that she was going for terawih prayers with her younger sibling.

She had taken RM50 belonging to her mother and her father’s mobile phone.

The next day, they took a KTM Komuter train from Rawang to the MidValley shopping mall, then a bus to Puchong Perdana and returned to MidValley later in the day where they met a boy, who was a friend of Nursyakila.

They then went to the cybercafe in Pantai Dalam via the KTM Komuter and spent the rest of their time there.

“We ate bread all the time. And we ran if we saw someone trying to follow us,” said Norashila.
At the police station yesterday, Zaimah, 34, was heard repeatedly asking her why she had run away.

The girls’ fathers said they did not face any problem with their daughters.

Norashila’s grandmother, Zainon Amoo, said she kept advising Jaafar and Zaimah not to pamper the child, adding that Norashila was given pocket money and almost anything she asked for.

Brickfields OCPD Asst Comm Sulaiman Junaidi cautioned parents to watch over their children at all times.

“They might think running away is an outlet to calm down. So, parents should do something.”

2007 09: Child found sexually assaulted and killed

2007-09-19T13:16:00.000+08:00

The Star online. News. Nation. Tuesday September 18, 2007

By RASHITHA A. HAMID
rashitha@thestar.com.my

PETALING JAYA: She was just a little girl. But that did not stop some sick monster from killing her after sexually assaulting her.

Her naked body was stuffed into a sports bag and left at the staircase of a shop lot in PJS1/48 Petaling Utama yesterday.

There were bruises on her neck, suggesting that she may have been strangled. There were also bruises on her hands.

The girl, said to be between six and nine, was initially feared to be eight-year-old Nurin Jazlin Jazimin who has been reported missing. But Nurin Jazlin’s parents, who rushed to the Hospital Kuala Lumpur mortuary, said it was not their daughter.

A supervisor with a book distributing company Cheng Yan Fang, 32, found the black-and-blue sports bag at 8.30am outside the premises. She thought the bag belonged to her employer who had just returned from Singapore.

Jack Yeoh Huat Lip, 51, the general manager of the company came in 30 minutes later and said the bag was not his.

When he opened it, he was horrified to see a pair of legs. He immediately called the police.

“Saturday was a half day and the office was closed yesterday,” Yeoh said, adding that the supervisor who left the office at 1pm on Saturday did not see anything near the staircase then.

Petaling Jaya police chief Asst Comm Arjunaidi Mohd confirmed a post mortem report that the killer had placed a cucumber and a brinjal in the girl’s private parts.

“She must have endured so much pain before she died,” he said.

Police believe the girl, whose identity has not been ascertained, had been dead for more than six hours before her body was found.

Police are appealing to those with missing daughters to call the district police headquarters here at 03-79562222. No arrest has been made yet.

......................................................

Women’s groups outraged over murder
The Star online. News. Nation. Tuesday September 18, 2007

KUALA LUMPUR: Women groups expressed outrage and shock over the brutal killing and sexual assault of a little girl whose body was found stuffed inside a sports bag in Petaling Utama.

Women’s Aid Organisation (WAO) executive director Ivy Josiah was shocked when contacted for a comment.

“I am just stunned. What about the family? How would they feel when they find out?” she said expressing her immediate concern.

“It is such a deliberate and cruel crime when we look at the circumstances of the case.

“Sexual assault and murder cases affecting young children are getting more and more prevalent, and we, the public must step up and help prevent such occurrences,” said Ivy.

She said that to achieve this, the public needed to be more aware and immediately report any suspicion of sexual abuse or violence to the authorities.

All Women’s Action Society (Awam) executive director Honey Tan urged the public to gather every resource to track down the killer.

Tan added that such violence was a worrying trend.

“Wemust start helping the people we know deal with their anxiety and stress, which would translate into violence,” she said.

Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Jalil described the incident as a cruel and despicable act.

“The police must go all out in their investigations and bring the culprit to justice,” she said.

2007 09: Fate of killer teen on hold

2007-09-19T13:09:00.000+08:00

The Star online. News. Courts. Tuesday September 18, 2007

PUTRAJAYA: The Federal Court has reserved its judgment on the prosecution’s appeal against a Court of Appeal’s decision to release a teenager detained in prison at the pleasure of the King for the murder of his tuition teacher’s daughter five years ago.

Chief Justice Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim, Court of Appeal president Justice Abdul Hamid Mohamad, Chief Judge of Malaya Justice Alauddin Mohd Sheriff, Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Justice Richard Malanjum and Federal Court judge Tan Sri Zaki Tun Azmi said they needed time to deliberate the matter as it involved the Federal Constitution.

The same panel also dismissed Karpal Singh’s application to recuse the Chief Justice and Justice Zaki from hearing the appeal.

The boy, who turned 18 last month, was freed on July 25 because Malaysia has no law that can sentence a child convicted of murder.

In 2003, the High Court found the boy guilty of murdering the 11-year-old girl at her house here, by stabbing her 20 times and slashing her four times with a sharp object on May 30, 2002, and ordered him to be detained at the pleasure of the King. The boy was 12 when he killed the girl.

On July 12, the Court of Appeal upheld the conviction but ruled that the sentencing was “unconstitutional” as Section 97(2) of the Child Act 2001, which provided for this sentence violated the doctrine of separation of powers by giving the Executive the judicial power to set the term to be served by a juvenile offender.

However, Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail argued that the Child Act 2001 was validly passed by Parliament and the High Court could pass a sentence allowed by the law.
That law said the only sentence for a juvenile convicted of murder was that he or she would have to be detained at the pleasure of the King.

The boy’s counsel Karpal Singh, however, had argued that the country operated on the doctrine of the separation of powers and the Federal Constitution clearly set out the different roles of the legislative, executive and judiciary.

“There is constitutional guarantee of these arms being independent of each other and it is the doctrine of separation of powers which pervades in the parts and chapters adverted to.”
He added in this case, the offence for murder carried a death sentence, so it was not punishable by law, as Section 97(2) and 97(4) of the Child Act was void.

2007 09: Mum: Still no action after rape report lodged in 2001

2007-09-19T13:07:00.000+08:00

The Star online. News. Courts. Saturday September 15, 2007

By CHELSEA L.Y. NG

KUALA LUMPUR: The father of an eight-year-old rape victim lodged a report in July 2001 against her assailants but, until now, no one has been charged in court, the High Court heard.

The girl’s mother, who filed a suit against the police and the Government, testified yesterday that her husband had since been murdered while her elder son and she had been assaulted for refusing to withdraw the police report.

“The rape incident happened on July 12, 2001.

“Until today, my daughter has not gone to any court to testify about the rape,” she said.

Asked by her counsel M. Manoharan as to why police did not take any action, the 32-year-old mother of four said:

“I have asked the police about why there was no action taken against the suspects and they told me they had not caught anyone and investigations was still ongoing,” she said.

She said she could not understand why the suspects were not caught as they had repeatedly broken into her flat unit to harass her.

She said her husband had once quarrelled with a policeman at the Sentul police station about the lack of protection given to his family despite the continuous harassment by the suspects following the rape report.

“During the quarrel, the policeman tore the statement recorded from me while saying ‘You think we have nothing better to do?”‘

Earlier when cross-examined by senior federal counsel Amarjeet Singh, the woman denied that she had concocted her story in court and in the 15 police reports lodged between July and October 2001.

The housewife said she had no choice but to sue the police who failed to protect her family after the rape report on July 12, 2001.

In the suit, she named two OCPDs, the city police chief, the Inspector-General of Police and the Government as defendants. She is seeking RM450,500 in special damages.

The defendants denied the allegations and claimed that police surveillance was carried out near her house for the purpose of protecting her and her family.

The hearing before Justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat continues on Dec 5.

2007 09: Woman: Cops harassed me after rape report

2007-09-19T13:00:00.000+08:00

The Star online. News. Courts. Friday September 14, 2007

By CHELSEA L.Y. NG

KUALA LUMPUR: A housewife lodged a report after her eight-year-old daughter was raped but instead of giving her protection, policemen harassed her, she told the High Court.

She told Justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat yesterday that the police’s inaction led to her then nine-year-old son being assaulted and finally her husband being murdered in October 2001.

“My son and husband were attacked by the thugs so that the rape report would be withdrawn,” she said to questions by her counsel M. Manoharan.

The 32-year-old mother of four said she had not choice but to sue the police who failed to protect her family after the rape report on July 12, 2001.

In the suit, she named two OCPDs, the city police chief, the Inspector-General of Police and the Government as defendants.

She is seeking RM450,500 in special damages.

The defendants denied the allegations and claimed that police surveillance was carried out near her house for the purpose of protecting her and her family.

The woman said that after her husband’s death, she had to give up her last child, a daughter, for adoption as she could not afford to raise the four children by herself.

“My husband was a rubbish scavenger. After his death, I was not harassed by the thugs anymore but by the police,” she said.

The woman said that following her husband’s death, she was asked to go to the Sentul police station and from there brought to the courthouse near Dataran Merdeka here.

“The policemen told me that I had lodged a false police report and I would be charged in court,” she said.

She added that she was later asked to sign a paper, the contents of which she could not understand.

The policemen then took her back to Sentul and left her at a bus stop, she said.

“One of them told me that since the paper had been signed, they would not look for me anymore,” she said.

Cross-examined by senior federal counsel Amarjeet Singh, the woman denied that she had concocted the rape story.

The hearing continues today.

2007 09: Toddler dies after parents deported to Philippines

2007-09-19T12:58:00.000+08:00

The Star online. News. Nation. Thursday September 13, 2007

By RUBEN SARIO

KOTA KINABALU: A two-year-old toddler whose parents were deported to the Philippines has died of suspected physical abuse here.

Police in Penampang district have detained the boy's 50-year-old grandmother and 14-year-old cousin in connection with the incident.

Penampang police chief Deputy Supt Madang Usat said the boy identified only as Evin died at the Queen Elizabeth hospital here on Sept 5.

He said hospital officials alerted police soon after Evin's death at about 1.30pm on that day due to breathing difficulties and the case was initially classified as sudden death.

However, following a post mortem, police were told that the toddler had sustained internal injuries indicating that he had been physically abused.

DSP Madang said police detained Evin's grandmother, a holder of the IMM13 identification document for refugees, when she came to the hospital to claim the body on Sept 11.

He said Evin's cousin was detained at a restaurant along Jalan Tuaran at about 11pm on the same day. Both the grandmother and cousin were remanded under Section 302 of the Penal Code for murder.

DSP Madang said the toddler had been staying with the grandmother and cousin at an apartment in Beverly Hills here since his parents’ deportation to the Philippines.

2007 09: Mum remembers missing eight-year-old daughter’s wish

2007-09-19T12:57:00.000+08:00

The Star online. News. Nation. Thursday September 13, 2007

NURIN Jazlin Jazimin, who went missing Aug 22, wanted a strawberry cake for her eighth birthday which fell on Tuesday, Utusan Malaysia reported.

She made the request to her mother Norazian Bistaman, 35, a few months ago.

“The request is still buzzing in my ears,” Norazian said at her home in Wangsa Maju.

Unlike previous years when the house was filled with joy on her birthday, this time it was filled with emptiness.

When reporters from the daily visited the family on Tuesday, they found Norazian resting with six-year-old daughter Nurin Jazina, while her husband Jazimin Abdul Jalil had taken their other child out.

Nurin Jazlin, a Year Two pupil of SK Desa Setapak, failed to return home after going to the pasar malam alone at 8.30pm on Aug 22.

2007 09: Girl changed after assault

2007-09-19T12:49:00.000+08:00

The Star online. Metro. North. Thursday September 13, 2007

By K. KASTURI DEWI

PENANG: She used to be a very happy and ac-tive child but these days Loh Irene Khancana, 12, is short-tempered, does not want to leave her house and is even afraid of going to school.

She also complains of giddiness, is hard of hearing and suffers from bouts of pain on the left side of her head.

Last month, Loh received 60 stitches on the left side of her head when an 11-year-old boy whacked her on the head with a stick.

She was playing with two of her friends in a playground at Padang Tembak in Air Itam be-tween 5pm and 7pm on Aug 3 when the incident happened.

“The boy was lighting firecrackers and throwing them at me and my friends.

“We asked him to stop and when he didn’t, both my friends wanted to pick a fight with him but I managed to stop them.

“All of a sudden, I felt something hard on my head and when I turned around, I saw the boy standing behind me holding a very big stick,” she said at the press conference called by state DAP legal bureau chief Jagdeep Singh Deo.

Also present was Loh’s mother M. Jahindi, 42, a hotel employee.

Loh said a neighbour sent her to the Penang Hospital and a CT scan on the brain showed that she suffered from frontal bone fracture haemorrhage.

She was admitted from Aug 3 to Aug 7 and is due to go for an operation on Nov 19 to replace the brain’s frontal bone.

Loh said she only knew the boy from school and did not have any misunderstanding with him.
Jahindi said she lodged a police report at the Kampung Baru police station on the same day.

“My daughter was supposed to return to school on Sept 7 but she is still afraid, in case she sees the boy in school,” she said.

Jahindi also said that her daughter managed to sit her Ujian Penilaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) but could not remember anything.

“The boy’s parents and the boy came to visit my daughter. His parents apologised but the boy refused,” she added.

George Town OCPD Asst Comm Azam Abd Hamid said police would wait for the outcome of the investigations before deciding on the next course of action.

2007 09: ‘Special squads to help ‘street children’ of Johor

2007-09-19T12:45:00.000+08:00

The Star online. News. Nation. Wednesday September 12, 2007

By HAMDAN RAJA ABDULLAH

MUAR: Special squads will be formed by the state to help “street children” found loitering in Johor Baru.

The squads will help and guide these children and provide then with skills training.

State Women, Family and Community Development Committee chairman Dr Robia Kosai said NGOs, organisations and the public would be asked to join hands with the state in the effort.
She said the children, mostly aged between 11 and 19, had been roaming the city, including in the wee hours, although many had parents.

“We want to save these children before they get into trouble and become a nuisance. Plans are under way to set up special squads to help guide, train and advise these children,” she said.

Dr Robia said the state government had set up a special committee to handle the issue, adding that juvenile court advisers in all districts would also be roped in.

She said some of the children were known to be sniffing glue, engaging in casual sex and other immoral activities.

She said these children would usually leave their homes after their parents had gone to bed.
A recent raid in Johor Baru by the Welfare Department resulted in 50 such wayward children being rounded up, she said, adding that most were dropouts.

“We welcome views from the public on how best to tackle this problem. We have to act fast,” she added.

2007 09: Man rapes stepdaughter due to 'emotional distress'

2007-09-19T12:42:00.000+08:00

The Star online. News. Nation. Tuesday September 11, 2007

By M. MAGESWARI

KUALA LUMPUR: A taxi driver, who raped his stepdaughter, claimed it was due to emotional distress after a month-long squabble with his wife.

He was sentenced to 12 years' jail and ordered to be whipped five times.

The Indonesian, with Malaysian PR status, was ordered to serve his jail term from the date of arrest on April 16, last year.

Before sentencing him, Sessions Court judge Datin Anita Harun said she was sad to come across a situation where the man's family still ask to give him a second chance for his actions.

At the start of court proceedings on Tuesday, the girl who was seated in the public gallery, cried and wiped her tears with her hands when a court interpreter read the facts of the case. She sobbed further upon hearing the court verdict and had to step out of the courtroom where she was consoled by her mother.

According to the facts of the case, the 45-year-old man raped his stepdaughter in their house in Cheras after she returned from school at about 4.30pm on April 14 last year.

The 12-year-old girl was said to have entered her room to do her schoolwork. The accused went inside her room and pulled her into his bedroom.

She tried to fight back but to no avail. In his second attempt, he succeeded in pulling down her trousers, before raping her.

When she left his bedroom, he told her not to tell her mother, who was away working at a factory.

The next day, the girl told her mother and lodged a police report a day later.

Pleading for leniency earlier, lawyer Shaun Tan Kee Shaan said the accused had a squabble with his wife for a month and that his client has suffered emotional distress during the period.

Tan said the accused had raped the girl due to his mental state at that time.

DPP Nor Asma Ahmad, however, pressed for a deterrent sentence saying that the accused was supposed to protect the girl, but instead had ruined her future.

"The girl suffered trauma because of his sinful actions," she said, adding that the court had to take into account that elements of force were present in the case.

She said the court had to take judicial notice that incest was rampant in the country and that it could clearly be seen from the statistics released by the police that there is continuous increase in the number of rape cases each year.

2007 09: Johor plans to save street children

2007-09-19T12:41:00.000+08:00

The Star online. News. Nation. Tuesday September 11, 2007

By HAMDAN RAJA ABDULLAH

MUAR: The Johor Government is looking into undertaking effective measures to help save street children who are becoming a social problem for Johor Baru.

State Women, Family and Community Development Committee chairman Dr Robia Kosai said families, society and non-governmental organisations would also be asked to help expedite the project.

Speaking to reporters here she said the children, aged between 11 and 19, had been roaming the city, including in the wee hours of the night, and that many had parents.

"We have decided to save these children before they are lured into vices, drug addiction or turned into vagabonds and become a public nuisance.

"Plans are underway to even set up special groups of people to help guide, train and advise them towards clean living," she said at a dinner held at the Muar Golf Club here on Monday.

Dr Robia said the state had set up a special committee to look after the welfare of such children besides having teams of juvenile court advisers at all the districts.

She said it had been reported that some of the children had picked up bad habits such as glue sniffing, indulged in wild sex, and some became rape victims.

She said many of the children had parents who did not care for them while some parents did not realise their children's activities after dark, adding that, these children would leave the house after the parents went to bed.

She said a recent raid carried out in Johor Baru by Welfare Department officers managed to round up about 50 such children whose ages ranged between 11 and 19.

She said since most did not attend schools, the state planned to provide them with skills training courses to equip them with work knowledge for their future.

"We are now calling for the public, especially non-governmental organisations, to give their views on ways to protect and care for such children.

"We have to act fast before the street children become a social problem to society," she added.

2007 09: Teen to identify cops who beat him

2007-09-19T12:37:00.000+08:00

The Star online. News. Nation. Monday September 10, 2007

IPOH: Police have asked a 15-year-old boy to identify two policemen who allegedly beat him up after he was caught selling pirated CDs in Hutan Melintang.

Human Rights Commission of Malaysia commissioner Datuk N. Siva Subramaniam said the teenager had gone to the Teluk Intan district police station recently to attend an identification parade.

2007 09: Mummy’s boys vs brats

2007-09-19T12:28:00.000+08:00

The Star Online. New. Opinion. Friday September 7, 2007

Why Not?By RASLAN SHARIF

The government's plan to allow mothers five years off to give their full attention to the child in that crucial first year will need further refining if it is not to be a Catch-22 offer.

SHORTLY after a meeting the other day, I received a message detailing, if I remember correctly, at least half a dozen unanswered calls on my part. The calls were all from my wife.

I had switched off the phone so as not to disturb the proceedings of the meeting, which was the reason (and seemed like a good one too) that she couldn’t get through to me.

But, later, I realised that maybe I should have simply put it on silent mode.

Within less than a minute of switching the phone back on and receiving the SMS of missed calls, my wife was on the line with me. There was this pressing matter that required urgent clarification, and this was made clear to me in no uncertain terms.

After the usual exchange of pleasantries (along the lines of, “How come your phone so hard to get?”), she got to the matter at hand: one of her colleagues had heard an item on the radio that said working women were being allowed to take up to five years off to look after their children.
It seems the office was abuzz with the news, and my wife, being married to a journalist, was as usual more than happy to try and find out more.

I gave her the good news that Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak had indeed announced such a thing earlier in the day – and the not so good as far as my wife and her colleagues were concerned – that it was only for women in the civil service.

The “bad news” had dampened some of the excitement at the office, but everyone was still happy that some women now had the option of taking extended leave for the sake of their children.

It would be an understatement to say that the mother-child interaction in the first few years of a child’s life is crucial to his or her later development, and a significant body of scientific evidence attests to this fact.

Currently, women in the civil service are allowed maternity leave of 60 days with full pay five times during their tenure of employment.

After the 60 days they can opt for 90 days’ unpaid leave.

All in all, this amounts to a mere five months, which is a drop in the ocean of a child’s maternal needs in the early years of life, especially in the first year.

Children who experience non-maternal care for more than 20 hours per week in their first year of life are at elevated risk of developing insecure attachments to their mothers, says a 2005 paper on The Effect of Maternal Labour Participation on Child Development in the University of Chicago’s Journal of Labour Economics.

In addition, “children who experience large amounts of early non-maternal care have also been found to be more physically and verbally aggressive.”

It is good that under the latest move, women who plan to have five children can allocate up to a year of leave for each of them.

This would at least ensure that these mothers are able to give their full attention to the child in that crucial first year. Those who plan to have less than five children can set aside even more time for each.

Najib said the move was aimed at providing flexibility for women who want to give more attention to the care of their children.

The objective, he added, was to ensure that attention was given to a child’s early education “because with proper guidance, nurturing and love, the child will become a better person.”

No one can argue with that.

As far as men are concerned, this might mean we could end up with a nation of Mummy’s boys, but I’m betting that most people would prefer such men over “physically and verbally aggressive” ones who had enjoyed little of mother’s love.

Jokes aside and the importance of early mother-child interaction clearly not being in question, why not get the private sector to follow suit with a similar move, as my wife asked after being informed that this was a civil service perk?

Her point is that unless they are of a different species altogether, the children of private sector employees would also benefit greatly from more of mum’s attention.

Again, it would be difficult to argue against that.

The Government could provide tax incentives for companies that put in place similar extended leave schemes. In fact, it might not even have to, as the leave would be unpaid.

But ironically, “unpaid leave” brings us to the crux of the matter. It is a phrase that made many of the dozens of working women I’ve spoken to in the last few days go “hmmm” after the initial enthusiasm over the move.

Reactions to the move suggest that many women feel that long periods of unpaid leave are financially unsustainable.

It’s almost a Catch-22 situation, as exemplified by the response of a 25-year-old clerk and mother-to-be, who told the The Star that she would only take a few months of unpaid leave, since “now that we have a new addition to the family, we need to ensure we have enough, especially for the baby.”

Is there a solution?

Perhaps. If the overarching objective of the move is to enable working women to spend more time with a child in the first one or two years of the child’s life, in recognition of the crucial importance of such an arrangement to the child’s development, then the issue of pay should be a matter that comes a distant second for the Government.

This means that women who opt for extra time off from work should be paid at least part, if not all, of their salary.

No doubt, it would cost the Government more, but if we wanted to, we could see and regard it as an investment. And it would be a sound investment too as, after all, aren’t the children our future?

Star Online editor Raslan Sharif has two intelligent, adorable and very high-maintenance children who he hopes will make it big some day and be able to look after two intelligent, adorable and very high-maintenance parents.

2007 09: Robbers slash villager who shouted at them

2007-09-19T12:24:00.000+08:00

The Star Online. Metro. South & East. Thursday September 6, 2007

By HAMDAN RAJA ABDULLAH

TANGKAK: Three armed robbers, believed to be Indonesians, slashed the ear of a villager after the victim's daughter cried out during an attempted rape on her in Kampung Sengkang near Bukit Gambir.

The incident happened when Buserin Haron, 50, who was also beaten with iron rods on the head and back, shouted at the robbers when one of them tried to rape his 15-year-old daughter early Monday.

He said the robbers, armed with a handgun, a parang and two iron rods had earlier robbed him and his family of some jewellery, four handphones and RM3,000.

“We were asleep when the three men, all wearing black jackets and black pants, suddenly stood before me at about 1.30am.

“They threatened to injure us with the parang if we put up a fight, before robbing us,” he said when met at his house later in the day.

Buserin said that one of them tried to rape his daughter after they couldn’t find anything else to take, but she screamed, prompting him to shout at the robbers.

He said the robbers then turned on him with iron rods and the one with the parang slashed at his ear, before making off in his car.

He said someone called for an ambulance and he was rushed to the Bukit Gambir clinic for treatment, including receiving several stitches for the cut on his ear.

Muar CID chief Deputy Supt Khoo Leng Huat said police found the car near a temple not far from the village.

“We have sent out teams to track the robbers,” he added.

2007 09: Alarming rise in teenage smokers

2007-09-04T15:39:00.000+08:00

The Star Online. News. Nation. Monday September 3, 2007

KOTA KINABALU: Teenagers in Sabah are taking up smoking at alarmingly high rate and some are having sex as early as the age of 10.

A research by health officials among suburban teenagers in Telipok near here found that 30.3% admitted to being regular smokers, which is double the national average of 16% and above the global average of 20%.

“Nearly, a third of the teenaged respondents admitted to be smokers. It seems to be a common trend among Sabah teenagers.

“Even more worrying is that the number of young girls taking up smoking has doubled from 4% to 8% in the last 10 years,” Sabah Health Department deputy director Dr Mohd Yusof Ibrahim said at the launching of the Telipok Teen Health Clinic here on Saturday.

The recent research was conducted by the Telipok Health Clinic on the periphery of the city to gauge the problem of smoking as well as the sexual habits of teenagers, which is to be used as a yardstick by the department for its various public health campaigns.

The study also noted that 1.8% of the teenagers admitted to having premarital sex with a few disclosing that they had done so at the age of 10.

“Premarital sex among teenagers, however, seems considerably lower,” he said, in explaining that it could be due to many respondents’ reluctance to answer direct questions on the matter.

Dr Yusof, however, said based on indirect questions like if they (teenagers) were aware of their friends being smokers or had sex showed a higher average with 66.4% saying they had at least one friend who was a smoker and 16.9% having knowledge of one their friends having sex.

Dr Yusof did not mention the number of teenagers interviewed.

He said the Health Ministry found that 40% of the HIV patients in the country were below the age of 29 and in Sabah, 80% of the HIV infected teenagers had contracted it through unhealthy sexual practices.

2007 09: Boy found loitering at Bangsar LRT station

2007-09-04T15:20:00.000+08:00

The Star Online. News. Nation. Sunday September 2, 2007

KUALA LUMPUR: Do you know this boy (pic) or his parents?

The boy, who is believed to be about eight years old, was found loitering on the ground floor of the Bangsar LRT station at about 4pm on Friday.

Brickfields Deputy OCPD Supt Arjunaidi Mohamed said a police team picked up the boy, who was clad in a pair of brown shorts and blue T-shirt, after receiving a tip-off.

“He converses well in Mandarin and Bahasa Malaysia and also speaks a little English but refuses to give his name and address or talk about his family.

“The only thing he has told us is that he is eight years old, but we are not sure of this,'' he added.

Supt Arjunaidi said proprietors of the shops at the LRT station also did not know who the boy was.

“We sent him for a medical check-up and he was found to be all right,'' he said.

He added that there were no marks or bruises to show that he had been abused.

Supt Arjunaidi said all police stations had been alerted but no one had come forward or lodged a missing person's report fitting the boy's description.

He said the boy would be kept at the Brickfields police headquarters for the time being.

“If no one comes to claim him, then we will send him to the Welfare Department,'' he added.

Anyone with information on the boy can call the Rakan Cop helpline at 03-2115 9999.

.............................................................

Runaway back with parents, father says child is hyperactive

The Star Online. News. Nation. Monday September 3, 2007

KUALA LUMPUR: The boy who was found loitering at Bangsar LRT station on Friday has been reunited with his parents.

The father of Ng Koh Chai, 11, believed to be a hyperactive child, said he had run away from home before but to nearby places. Friday was the first time that he “ventured” to the city.

The father, who did not want to be named, said his son needed special attention as he was very active.

“We never let him out of our sight. However, on Friday, we may have been a little bit careless and taken our eyes off him until he managed to run away again,” he said at the University Malaya Medical Centre where the boy has been admitted for observation.

He said he lodged a missing persons report at the Klang police station after discovering that the boy had disappeared.

“I only came to know my son’s whereabouts from a family friend who watched the news,” he said.

Koh Chai and his father, a vegetable seller, were placed in a special room at the hospital and heavily guarded by security guards to prevent reporters who had gathered in front of the paediatric ward, talking to them.

Brickfields deputy OCPD Supt Arjunaidi Mohamed said Klang police had taken over the case.

Koh Chai was found loitering on the ground floor of the Bangsar LRT station at about 4pm.

A police team picked up the boy, clad in a pair of brown shorts and blue T-shirt, after receiving a tip-off.

He conversed well in Mandarin and Bahasa Malaysia and also spoke a little English but refused to give his name and address or talk about his family, when the police questioned him.

2007 09: Student in coma after having spiked drink

2007-09-04T15:05:00.000+08:00

The Star Online. Nation. News. Thursday August 30, 2007

TAIPING: A Form Two student is in a coma at Taiping Hospital after allegedly drinking bottled fruit juice laced with an unidentified chemical.

Muhammad Shamil Izwan Ahmad Shukri, 14, of SM Agama Addiniah in Cangkat Jering, was suspected to have consumed the drink at his school hostel on Monday.

Perak police chief Deputy Commissioner Datuk Zulkifli Abdullah said police did not rule out the possibility that there was a murder attempt and was interviewing students and teachers from the school.

“We want to know if the boy was asked to drink the weed killer or had accidentally consumed it,” he added.

The boy's police constable father, Ahmad Shukri Ayob, 40, said he received a call from the hostel warden informing him that his son had been sent to Taiping Hospital for suspected poisoning.

Ahmad Shukri, from Pengkalan Hulu near Baling, said he and his wife Nor Syadat Man, 34, rushed to the hospital, arriving at 1.30am to find their son in a coma at the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit.

“I was told by the doctor on duty that my son has a 50-50 chance of surviving,” he said.

He and the school authorities lodged separate police reports after an empty bottlewas found near the boy.

The principal, Ustaz Wan Mu’az Wan Ahmad, said 24 of Muhammad Shamil’s schoolmates had their statements taken by the police and investigations were going on.

“We have asked the students to tell the police everything they know. We’re not certain how the poisoning occurred and the fruit juice has been sent for analysis,” he said yesterday.

.............................................................

Form Two schoolboy held for attempted murder

The Star Online. Nation. News. Monday September 3, 2007

TAIPING: A Form Two student from a religious school in Changkat Jering here has been detained by police for attempted murder in connection with the case of a student who slipped into a coma after drinking water laced with weedkiller at the school hostel.

Larut Matang OCPD Asst Comm Raja Musa Raja Razak said the 14-year-old boy was arrested on Sunday evening when he returned to his hostel after spending the weekend with his family.

“He was produced before a magistrate today and he is being remanded for six days until Saturday to facilitate investigations,” said ACP Raja Musa, adding that the boy was being investigated under Section 307 of the Penal Code.

ACP Raja Musa said the boy had been sent to a special lock-up for juveniles at a police station in Pokok Assam.

ACP Raja Musa said the boy became remorseful after a teacher from SM Agama Adinniah told him that Muhammad Shamil Izwan Ahmad Shukri, who went into a coma last Monday night, had regained consciousness.

He said had also seized a plastic cup, a gourd and a plastic drink container to facilitate investigations. However, he said, the Chemistry Department had yet to identify the liquid found in the seized items.

"ACP Raja Musa did not rule out the possibility that the substance which Muhammad Shamil was allegedly forced to drink had been purchased from a shop.

ACP Raja Musa also said that so far only one suspect had been picked up.

On the notes scribbled by Muhammad Shamil from his hospital bed , ACP Raja Musa said the notes, which had been handed over to the police by the boy’s father, would be used in the investigation.

In the scribbled notes, Muhammad Shamil had named one of his hostel mates as the person who forced him to drink from a cup before he became unconscious.

Meanwhile the boy’s father, Ahmad Shukri Ayob, a police constable based in Pengkalan Hulu said he was glad that his son was recovering.

“He can talk a little bit but he is still weak,” he said, adding that a tube inserted into his mouth had also been taken out on Monday.

Muhammad Shamil, the third of Ahmad Shukri’s five children, was rushed to Taiping hospital last Monday night when he collapsed after drinking water suspected to have been laced with a weedkiller.

2007 09: Newborn abandoned in hospital compound

2007-09-04T14:50:00.000+08:00

The Star Online. News. Nation. Wednesday August 29, 2007

BUKIT MERTAJAM: A newborn, wrapped in a sarong, was found abandoned in the Seberang Jaya Hospital compound near here.

Central Seberang Prai OCPD Asst Comm Mohd Anil Shah Abdullah said a security guard on his routine check early Monday morning spotted the baby boy.

“The guard found the baby on a concrete table at about 4.15am and went looking for the mother at about 4.55am,” he said.

ACP Mohd Anil Shah said that after failing to find the parent, the security guard informed the police at about 7.55am.

He said the baby was healthy. The boy, who was kept for observation at the hospital, will be handed over to the welfare department soon.

ACP Mohd Anil Shah urged the public with information on the baby to call the district police acting CID chief Asst Supt S. Subra-maniam at 019-6351119 or the nearest police station.

2007 08: Baby dies of head injuries

2007-08-31T14:04:00.000+08:00

The Star Online. News. Nation. Tuesday August 28, 2007

SUBANG JAYA: The 11-month-old baby, who was battling for his life after allegedly being abused by a foreign maid, died at the Subang Jaya Medical Centre (SJMC) yesterday.

A post-mortem at the Serdang Hospital revealed that Mohd Naim Alma Zaadi's death was due to head injuries.

District OCPD Asst Comm Zainal Rashid said the police have reclassified the case as murder.

“The 32-year-old Indonesian maid, who was arrested on Saturday, is under police custody until Wednesday (tomorrow), pending further investigations,” he said.

The toddler was admitted to SJMC after his father, Alma Zaadi Annwar, 36, noticed that his son looked ill at about 4pm on Wednesday.

About two hours earlier that day, he received a phone call from the maid saying that the child was crying uncontrollably.

He rushed home to pacify his son and then returned to work.

Later, the maid called again with the same complaint.

Suspecting something amiss, the company director rushed his son to SJMC. Mohd Naim later slipped into a coma.

The toddler, the youngest of three siblings, was laid to rest at the Muslim cemetery in USJ 21 here after zohor prayers yesterday.

Met at the burial ground, his mother, Norashikin Mohd Ali, 37, said although she had noticed some bruises on her son, she was not sure how he had sustained it.

“He had just begun to take baby steps and I am still not sure if the bruises were due to an accident or abuse.

“I hope the Government will make it compulsory for all maids to go through a psychiatric evaluation. Our maid did not show any aggressive demeanour for the three months that she worked with us,” said the assistant manager.

The baby’s uncle, Redzuan Yahaya, 47 said the maid showed no signs of remorse when he told her the chances of the baby’s survival was 50-50.

“Even when I told her that she was going to be questioned by the police, she merely answered ‘OK’, which is quite surprising,” he said.

2007 08: Friendly girl missing for past week

2007-08-31T13:57:00.000+08:00

The Star Online. News. Nation. Monday August 27, 2007

KUALA LUMPUR: Eight-year-old Nurin Jazlin Jazimin’s friendly character could be a reason why she has been missing from home for the past week.

Her father Jazimin Abd Jalil, 33, said she could have followed someone whom she recognised.

“Whoever it was, please bring my daughter back. My wife and I cannot take this torture anymore,” Jazimin said at his home in Wangsa Maju here yesterday.

Nurin, a Year Two pupil of SK Desa Setapak, did not return home after going to the night market near the flats at 8.30pm last Monday. She was wearing a pink dress.

Jazimin said Nurin suffered from a kidney problem and high blood pressure and needed her daily medication.

“Otherwise her body will bloat up,” the taxi driver said.

Her mother Norazian Bistaman, 35, allowed Nurin, the second of four daughters, to go alone as the night market is near their home.

Deputy Rural and Regional Development Minister Datuk Zainal Abidin Osman urged those with information to contact the family at 019-366 7067 or 013- 248 6651 or the UMNO youth public complaints bureau at 019-325 5886 or 03- 40441199.

.............................................................

Girl seen being pulled into van

The Star Online. News. Nation. Thursday August 30, 2007

KUALA LUMPUR: Eight-year-old Nurin Jazlin Jazimin, who has been missing since Aug 22, was seen being pulled into a van near a pasar malam in Wangsa Maju where she had gone.

Sources said that a neighbour’s daughter had seen a man, believed to be in his early 20s, standing outside a van and later pulling Nurin into the vehicle.

Nurin is said to have resisted and overheard saying tak nak, tak nak (no, no).

Sentul OCPD Asst Comm K. Kumaran confirmed that police had received such information.

“We are now investigating,'' he said, adding that police had several leads to work on.

Police have classified the case under Section 363 of the Penal Code for kidnapping from lawful guardianship.

Nurin, a Year Two pupil of SK Desa Setapak, failed to return home after going to the pasar malam alone at 8.30pm that day.

The girl, the second among four children, usually visited the area with her elder sister, aged nine.

Her mother Norazian Bistaman, 35, allowed her to go on her own to the pasar malam as it was close to their flat.

2007 08: Welfare home boys: Seniors sodomised us

2007-08-23T17:39:00.000+08:00

The Star Online. News. Nation. Wednesday August 22, 2007

KUALA LUMPUR: Four eight-year-old boys from a welfare home claimed they were sodomised by their seniors.

The boys, from the home run by the Pure Life Society, were taken to Hospital Kuala Lumpur on Friday and a Welfare Department officer said medical reports showed that they were sodomised.

Police have questioned six senior boys, all above 13.

The home in Jalan Puchong houses abused children and orphans.

Taped recordings of several boys narrating their ordeal were made available to The Star.

The tapes were handed over to Deputy Supt Choo Li Ly, who investigates sexual and child abuse cases in the city. A police report has been made.

It is believed that the children had reported the incidents, which occurred over a year, to the home wardens but no action was taken.

A report was also lodged by a 17-year-old girl at the home who alleged that a supervisor had physically abused and threatened her with a knife.

Pure Life Society vice-president Datuk Ghazali Mohd Yusoff said the organisation viewed the matter seriously and promised to get to the bottom of the matter.

2007 08: Pupil sodomises four-year-old

2007-08-23T17:03:00.000+08:00

The Star Online. News. Nation. Saturday August 18, 2007

A TWELVE-year-old boy sodomised a four-year-old after watching pornography, China Press reported.

The boy, a Year Six pupil in Klang, had watched the movie with his elder brother two days before the incident when no one was at home.

The four-year-old boy was being looked after by the 12-year-old's mother.

A police report was lodged by the four-year-old's mother on Aug 15.

The 12-year-old boy was arrested and was in remand pending investigations under Section 377 of the Penal Code.

2007 08: Sex clip of teen with cop causes stir in Raub

2007-08-19T18:38:00.000+08:00

The Star Online. News. Nation. Thursday August 16, 2007

KUALA LUMPUR: A video clip depicting a 14-year-old girl having sex with a 46-year-old extra police constable is believed to be circulating in Raub, Pahang.

When the girl’s father heard about the clip being passed around, he lodged a police report and the man, who does carpentry work at a police station, was arrested.

An extra police constable does odd jobs like carpentry and chauffeuring.

They do not get involved in operational matters even though they are full-time policemen with a fixed salary, which is less than ordinary constables.

It is learnt the man, with the rank of L/Kpl, was picked up from his house in Raub last Friday.

The girl is alleged to have had an affair with the man for several months and she only informed her mother about the relationship after a friend told her about the video clip.

Pahang CID chief Asst Comm T. Narenasegaran confirmed police had arrested the man for alleged statutory rape. A one-week remand order has been obtained to facilitate investigations.

2007 08: Centre to shelter sex and abuse victims

2007-08-19T17:50:00.000+08:00

The Star Online. News. Nation. Wednesday August 15, 2007

KUANTAN: The state government and police want to establish a “victims and childcare” centre to help those involved in sexual and abuse cases.

Pahang CPO Deputy Comm Datuk Ayob Mohamed said victims would be given shelter pending investigations.

“There is a need for this facility as at present, victims have to be sent to Bukit Aman.

“Bukit Aman also has to serve such victims from Kelantan and Terengganu,” DCP Ayob said in his briefing to Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Adnan Yaakob at the state police contingent headquarters here yesterday.

Adnan had earlier launched the Pahang tourist police unit, with the first to be located here.

An officer will lead the unit of 12 policemen.

DCP Ayob said the personnel had undergone courses in English, public relations and also briefed on the state’s tourism products.

He said four patrol cars and two motorcycles have been assigned to the unit.

DCP Ayob said the unit would be expanded to cover other popular tourist areas such as Cameron Highlands and Fraser’s Hill.

He said a detailed study was also under way to identify areas which needed new and upgraded police stations.

Welcoming these moves, Adnan said it was important for the police to make their presence felt.

2007 08: Four arrested for gang-rape at Felda settlement

2007-08-19T17:47:00.000+08:00

The Star Online. News. Nation. Wednesday August 15, 2007

BAHAU: A 20-year-old man and three teenagers, including the son of a politician, have been arrested for allegedly raping a 14-year-old girl at the Felda Palong settlement near here early this week.

The four, three of whom are still studying, were brought to the Bahau Magistrate's Court here to be remanded today.

Police are looking for two more people who were allegedly involved in the gang-rape. The two people, one who is still a student, are believed to have fled upon hearing of the arrests of their friends.

According to police sources, one of the teenagers, believed to be studying in the same school as the victim, had invited her to his house at Felda Palong as his parents were away.

"Once there, he allegedly raped her. He then called five of his friends who allegedly took turns raping the victim who is in Form Two," he said adding that police had yet to determine if the victim knew her five other attackers.

After raping her, one of the alleged rapists dropped her off near her home in the same settlement.

The victim's mother only realised what had happened when she saw scratches on her daughter's neck on Monday night.

"When she asked her daughter what happened, the girl, who was initially reluctant to relate her ordeal, narrated the alleged rapes," he said.

Her parents lodged a report at a police beat base in Palong on the same night. Police arrested the four from their homes between midnight and early this morning.

The four would be remanded until Aug 21.

2007 08: Man charged with raping stepdaughter

2007-08-19T17:40:00.000+08:00

The Star Online. News. Courts. Tuesday August 14, 2007

KUALA LUMPUR: A burger seller has claimed trial to raping his underage stepdaughter four years ago.

The 43-year-old man was accused of raping the 13-year-old girl in his house in Sentul at 3.30pm in December 2003.

The girl had lodged a police report over the alleged rape on Feb 12, 2004.

DPP Ahmad Fuad Othman asked the court to deny bail saying that the prosecution was concerned that the accused would disturb the victim pending trial.

Sessions Court judge Datin Anita Harun imposed bail at RM30,000 in two local sureties.

Anita also imposed additional bail conditions – the accused should not contact the victim at anytime and that he had to report to Sentul district police station every Monday.

She set three days from Jan 14 next year for his trial.

2007 08: Shamed by guilt, teen takes own life

2007-08-19T17:30:00.000+08:00

NST Online. Frontpage. 13/8/07

MIRI: It was a shame he apparently could not face.

Despondent and ashamed that he had been found guilty, together with four friends, of a petty crime they had committed in June, a Form Two student of a school in Ulu Baram took his own life on Saturday.

He took his uncle’s shotgun, pressed his face against the muzzle and used his toe to press the trigger until the gun fired.

The 14-year-old had been found guilty together with his friends of breaking into a neighbour’s house and stealing some jewellery some time ago but had been released on bail pending sentencing.

The court was supposed to hear a probation report which was to have been filed on Sept 4.

It is understood that the prospect of having to serve time in a reform school had been weighing heavily on the boy’s mind.

Baram police chief DSP Jonathan Jalin said police had classified the case as sudden death.

He said the boy had left a note for his parents explaining his actions before going to a hut which was used as an iron foundry by the residents of the longhouse where he lived.

There, at 11am, he shot himself.

"Some longhouse residents heard the sound of a gunshot coming from the hut by the river not far from the longhouse and when they went to investigate, found the youth dead inside," said Jalin.

The youth’s body was sent to the Miri Hospital and a post-mortem is to be conducted today.

Bakong is about 80km from Miri.

2007 08: Over 6,000 teens missing since 2004

2007-08-19T17:25:00.000+08:00

The Star Online. News. Nation. Monday August 13, 2007

MORE than 6,270 teenagers had been reported missing since 2004 and 4,620 of them were teenage girls, reported Metro Ahad.

However, police statistics have revealed something more alarming – in 2005, 71 of the girls who fled their homes were found dead. Last year, another 71 missing girls' bodies were found. There were 3,246 missing girls reports lodged last year.

Criminal Investigation Department deputy director Deputy Comm Datuk Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani said between January 2004 and May this year, 67.5% (4,237) of the 6,270 teenagers had been found.

During the same period, a total of 149 girls below the age of nine were also reported missing.

2007 08: Remand at welfare homes

2007-08-19T17:18:00.000+08:00

The Star Online. News. Nation. Monday August 13, 2007

KUALA LUMPUR: The Attorney-General’s Chambers has proposed that minors involved in minor offences be remanded in welfare homes instead of prisons.

Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail said he had discussed the matter with the police and Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil.

“I am very reluctant to charge minors, especially those detained for identity card offences or other offences deemed petty.

“I believe they must be given a second chance. If they are put in prisons then there is a strong possibility that they may be bitter and become even worse upon release.

“It is better if they are remanded in welfare homes where they can be educated and rehabilitated,” he told The Star.

It was reported that there are about 400 young people being remanded in prisons awaiting trial.

Gani said he was sensitive to public reaction and appreciated the expressions of concern.

“To us such reactions are like information and we listen so that we can do justice to those concerned,” he added.

Gani said that in some cases he had no choice but to charge minors and bind them over.

“But if they are caught again they would be remanded in prisons,” he said.

He said details were being finalised on the type of remand centres needed and their locations and he had asked the Prisons Department to inform the Chambers of any minors being charged with petty offences.

He said before a person was sent to a welfare home, the necessary checks would be made to ascertain the type of offences and if it involved a first-time offender.

On another subject, Gani said he had also discussed with Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan on how best to handle witnesses.

He said there have been weaknesses in the handling of witnesses.

“I don’t want to point fingers at anyone.

“We follow strictly the three basic ideals and principals of prosecution that is to ensure a fair trial, protect the accused rights and finally to disclose evidence that is favourable to the accused,” he said.

2007 08: Ice-cream invitation turns into rape for 14-year-old girl

2007-08-19T17:14:00.000+08:00

The Star Online. News. Nation. Monday August 13, 2007

KLANG: A 14-year-old girl who went out on a blind date, made via Short Message Service (SMS), ended up being allegedly raped.

Klang OCPD assistant commissioner Mohd Rodwan Mohd Yusof said the teenager who lives in Kuala Selangor had received an SMS to go out for a good time at a shopping complex on Sunday afternoon.

“Our initial investigations revealed that the schoolgirl met a boy of the same age who also lives in Kuala Selangor. They met at a shopping complex in Sungai Buloh for window-shopping, some vanilla ice-cream and coffee,” he said.

ACP Rodwan added that further questioning showed that the boy had told the girl that he was going to an adopted sister’s home in Kapar and would later return to Kuala Selangor.

“On hearing this the girl accompanied the boy as she did not want him to return to Kuala Selangor alone on his motorcycle. On reaching the house in Kapar, the boy convinced the girl to have sex and they both stayed the night at Kapar. They returned home the next morning,” he said.

ACP Rodwan added that a police report was lodged after the girl related the incident to her mother.

“We have remanded the boy for two days to facilitate medical examinations,” he said.

ACP Rodwan advised parents to keep tabs on their children’s whereabouts and get acquainted with their friends.

In an unrelated case ACP Rodwan cautioned the public to take extra measures to secure their motorcycles or vehicles and not leave their cars unlocked while running errands.

“Last Saturday and Sunday we had 18 reported cases of vehicle thefts. The majority of the cases were due to carelessness where the keys were left in the ignition, parked in dimly-lit alleys and with no alarms,” he said.

2007 07: Types of child abuse

2007-08-14T15:08:00.000+08:00

Source: The Star 29 July 2007

For a clearer view click on the image

2007 07: The abusers and the causes

2007-08-14T15:03:00.000+08:00

Source: The Star, 29 July 2007

For a clearer view click on the picture

2007 08: Boy, 14, found dead with gunshot wound

2007-08-13T14:19:00.000+08:00

The Star Online. News. Nation. Sunday August 12, 2007

MIRI: A 14-year-old boy from a rural longhouse some 100km south of here was found dead in a farm hut with a gaping gunshot wound on his neck yesterday.

The boy, believed to be the son of a farmer, was from a longhouse located deep in the Beleru sub-district, more than three hours by road from here.

Miri police received an SOS yesterday afternoon, from members of the farming community saying the boy had been found shot to death.

An initial probe revealed that villagers heard a gunshot sometime in the afternoon and found the boy dead in the hut.

His body was still in a sitting position and he was holding a hunting rifle. It is also learnt the villagers found a note with some handwritten words.

2007 08: Ministry studying issue of children under remand

2007-08-13T14:16:00.000+08:00

The Star Online. News. Nation. Sunday August 12, 2007

PETALING JAYA: The Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development is looking into the issue of children under remand.

Its Minister, Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, who visited the Kajang Prison in May, said the issue was discussed at the National Advisory and Consultative Council for Children.

The council set up a committee consisting of representatives from the ministry, the police, Attorney-General’s chambers, the Prison Department, courts and several related NGOs.

After a series of meetings, the committee came up with several proposals to be submitted to the council.

Among the proposals are making bails more affordable for parents or guardians, fast-tracking children’s cases, ensuring that children get legal aid and ensuring that remand centres for children have child-friendly facilities.

Provisions such as education, recreational activities and health would also be included in these remand centres.

Shahrizat said the policy on children was that only those charged with serious offences could be remanded in prison.

“The non-serious offenders should be remanded under the Department of Social Welfare. We are also looking at moving these children to the centre under the department,” she said.

Shahrizat was referring to the case of Jeff Lee Kwong Yong, 19, who was jailed more than six months after pleading guilty to an identity card offence. The case had been postponed five times.

.............................................................

Not the place for children

The Star Online. Opinion. Sunday August 12, 2007

There is an urgent need to set up special courts with magistrates assigned solely to cases involving children, and to expedite court hearings. The Child Act 2001 has to be enforced in spirit and not just in letter.

JEFF Lee Kwong Yong is now safely back home after being held in remand at Kajang prison for six months and seven days. With the welfare of one boy now taken care of, there are now in excess of 400 boys left to be dealt with – in Kajang prison alone.

In Malaysia, an accused is presumed to be innocent until proven guilty. Unfortunately, for these 400 boys, they appear to be receiving punishment even before they have been tried. This is all because – for one reason or another – bail has not been posted pending their respective trials.

Some of them, like Lee, end up spending terms that exceed the incarceration period for their offence as prescribed by law.

Lee, at 19, is not considered a child (under the Child Act 2001, a child is 18 years of age and below) but a young offender (below 21), hence his incarceration in this particular place of detention.

Notwithstanding Lee's age, a six-month incarceration may seem to be excessive punishment for a minor offence like not being able to produce an identity card, but according to the strict letter of the law, it is all by the book.

Under Section 84 of the Child Act 2001, a child must be brought before a magistrate in a Court For Children within 24 hours to determine bail.

The problem, however, arises in instances where the accused is not bailed. According to Section 86 (1) of the said Act, a child awaiting trial who has not been bailed shall be held in a “place of detention”. Kajang Prison has been gazetted as such.

The Malaysian Bar Council Criminal Law committee chairman Datuk V. Sithambaram, who was also legal counsel for Lee, says, “Most of them are being held for bailable offences but their families have not posted bail. Therefore, if they are not bailed, they inevitably end up spending time there.”

Lawyer Yapp Swee Hock, who works together with the Shelter Home for Children on certain cases, adds that many are detained on minor offences where the bail set is very low, sometimes as low as RM500. One child, for example, is still in Kajang Prison for stealing a motorcycle because his parents were not able to come up with RM1,000 for bail.

Why then are these cases not expedited so they do not spend extended time in prison? Says Sithambaram: “To be fair to the courts, there is a shortage of magistrates, interpreters and courts – all these have resulted in cases being adjourned for long periods. We have the same magistrates who sit in the Court for Children who are also handling traffic cases.”

Additionally, there are other mitigating circumstances that can lead to delays in the system.

In the case of Lee, says Sithambaram, he could not remember his IC number and refused to let his family know of his whereabouts, which contributed to his case being postponed up to six times because they were unable to verify his identity.

But he qualifies, “Everything is online, and they knew four months earlier that he was working in Kuala Lumpur, so it should not have taken six months to verify.”

Another issue is that some children who appear in the Court for Children for bail hearings do not have legal representation.

Yapp says that some are represented, but not all of them are.

“It all depends if the parents have appointed a lawyer or not. As for free Legal Aid, they would not necessarily know as the bail hearing is set soon after the charge. So if nobody knows they are being detained, nobody will take any action.”

Yapp also believes that some of the children's families cannot afford a lawyer. “If they cannot even afford the deposit for the lawyer, what more the bailable amount?”

James Nayagam, executive director of Shelter, is distressed that such situations can arise.

“They are supposed to have legal representation, but in most cases they do not. This worries me because they are just children and have to stand alone with no protection – so off they go to Kajang Prison.”

Nayagam says that sadly Kajang Prison is not the only place that has been gazetted as a “place of detention”, and there are more conducive environments where children can be held in remand, such as the Tunas Bakti boarding schools.

“Simply put, it appears the magistrates are not aware of, and not even provided with a list of options besides Kajang Prison, so they follow whatever is convenient.”

Sithambaram believes that there is a need for a revamp of the whole system. Special courts for children need to be set up that are different and separate from the normal courts, with dedicated magistrates assigned solely to take care of cases involving children, and not just deal with the problems when they crop up.

“This concerns the rights of children. One should take serious notice because if you do not, the people will lose respect for the Rule of Law. In that context, children are a major issue. The Child Act has to be enforced in spirit and not just in letter,” he adds.

Fortunately, the outlook is not all doom and gloom, and Nayagam speaks of a task force – of which he is a member – set up in March this year, the brainchild of Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil.

The task force is headed by Datuk Shamsiah Abdul Rahman, with its members consisting of personnel from the Attorney-General's department, the Judiciary, the Police, the Social Welfare Department and the Legal Aid department.

“Our main task is to advise the minister on the well-being of children in detention and to present a fast track for court hearings. We have come up with a proposed flow chart on how to deal with such cases,” Nayagam says.

Among the issues proposed are to have parents and a social welfare officer – as a protector – present at the time of the police report, and a maximum detention period of one month or less if possible.

“Not only are we looking to reduce the number of cases, but also rehabilitation programmes at centres with proper facilities. We also need proper detention centres – it should be more like a hostel managed with the co-operation of the Prisons Department, and upon release, there should be a follow-up to the well-being of the child. We should no longer need the services of a prison.”

Nayagam adds: “I am very encouraged by the participation of the members and would like to thank them for speaking freely and being committed to dealing with the situation.”

.............................................................

Something is very wrong with us

The Star Online. Opinion. Wednesday August 15, 2007

The 2,718 male children aged 14-20 being remanded in prisons to abuse of toddlers, some resulting in death, by young parents, are indeed worrying to say the least. Yet little seems to be done to reduce or to prevent this from happening altogether.

YOUNG people are in the news again, with the recent furore about them being remanded in prison. Although it may be too late for many of them, hopefully the concern expressed by NGOs, the public and the Government will mean that no more children and young ones will be subject to prison for the smallest of offences.

However, we have to wonder why there are already 2,718 male children aged 14-20 in prisons before someone finally made a fuss. Surely it was already an injustice for the very first child to have been held in prison. Why had nobody raised the issue earlier? Surely even prison wardens must have known this was not right.

Some of these children were arrested for not having their identity cards on them. As much as this is an offence under the law, surely it should not lead to prison especially for children. Do we follow the law in automatic fashion leaving no room for humanitarian considerations?

Having now realised that there are all these children in prisons, in what way will we compensate for their loss of childhood? Prison is hardly the most conducive place for children.

Who knows what sorts of things are now wired into the minds of these unfortunate young people setting the course for their futures.

Teenage years are a particularly sensitive time and not handling them correctly can lead to later misbehaviour. How do we prevent that from happening? Or do we simply blame them later without considering our own complicity?

It seems to be a particularly Malaysian thing to not spend much effort on prevention when often it is much easier to do than to sweep up the after-effects of lack of forethought later.

Our refusal to teach young people proper sex education means that unwed pregnancies are not prevented. Even if young people get married because there is a baby on the way, what do we do to prepare them for the many responsibilities of marriage including the stresses and strains that one can expect?

If there is one thing that seems to be common among the recent cases of child abuse is how young the parents are, barely out of childhood themselves. In the recent death of a 17-month-old toddler, the mother was 18 and the father was 22. The child was the elder of their two children.

In Penang, a 22-year-old man pleaded guilty to physically and emotionally abusing his girlfriend’s two-year-old daughter. Another 25-year-old man in Kota Kinabalu was accused of abusing his lover’s four-year-old son.

Perhaps when a baby ceases to be cute and becomes ever-more demanding, young parents become less patient. Perhaps they are no longer with their child’s other biological parent and feel less secure with their new boyfriend or girlfriend.

Nothing could be less attractive than a wailing child. Perhaps one day it just got too much.

We should realise that sometimes prevention has to start several steps before the very dangers we want to prevent. If we had good sex education in schools which talks about risks and responsibilities, we might avoid teenage pregnancies altogether.

If we counselled couples that did get pregnant and had to get married, we might be able to teach them better ways of handling conflict. As it is, many premarital courses are just another step on the way towards getting that marriage certificate.

As the Mufti of Perlis has pointed out, for all the premarital courses we’ve had, the divorce rates (among Muslims) hasn’t reduced. Perhaps if we taught young people parenting and relationship skills, and told them where they can get help, their young children may not become vulnerable to abuse.

Of course, it’s not just young parents who are the ones who abuse children but it does seem to be a common thread in recent cases that have not been remarked on.

Ultimately what will happen to these cases? The abusers will probably wind up in jail, which leaves the question of what will happen to their children.

Are they likely to abuse children who are not theirs, that they should be put away from society?

Or do we serve society better if we rehabilitate these parents, perhaps help to solve the problems that may have put unbearable pressures on them. That may include having to deal with adult abuse as well.

In order to really deal with the many social issues that we have, we need to approach things from a holistic perspective, with the understanding that they rarely occur in isolation. Factors in the environment create the dangerous scenario and then something triggers it off. We need to ascertain what those are.

Otherwise we’ll continue to shake our heads at more child tragedies.

By MARINA MAHATHIR

2007 08: 13-year-old babysitter found hanged

2007-08-13T13:57:00.000+08:00

The Star Online. News. Nation. Friday August 10, 2007

BATU GAJAH: A 13-year-old babysitter was found hanged from a beam in a room at her sister’s house at Kampung Muhibbah, Ara Payong here.

A relative found G. Paramesawari Bai at about 11.20am yesterday.

Paramesawari Bai, was babysitting for her 25-year-old sister M. Janagi, who works at a plastic factory at Taman Perdana here.

“I was shocked when my neighbours informed me (of the incident),” Janagi said.

“A stool was near the bed,” she said, adding that the deceased was in jovial mood in the morning.

The body was sent to Batu Gajah Hospital for a post-mortem.

Paramesawari Bai’s mother, S. Muniamah, 48, said the girl had been babysitting for Janagi for two weeks.

Muniamah, who lives at Kampung Bendera with Paramesawari Bai, said the girl was an obedient and helpful person.

Police have ruled out foul play.

2007 08:Shelter Home to provide legal aid to juveniles in jail

2007-08-13T13:42:00.000+08:00

The Star Online. News. Nation. Thursday August 9, 2007

PETALING JAYA: Welfare organisation Shelter Home will provide legal aid to the 700-odd juveniles in Kajang Prison.

Its executive director, James Nayagam, said the bulk of the juveniles were facing very minor offences, and most were held under remand.

“Some of the boys have been stuck in prison for three years because their cases, like Jeff Lee’s, have been postponed umpteen times.

“If no one fights for them or at least takes into consideration their suffering, they will definitely be socially lost forever.

“These are young boys who have committed minor offences being thrown among hardcore criminals. What do you think each passing day in jail would do to them?” asked Nayagam.

He said the organisation has assembled a legal team that would be going out immediately and approach as many juveniles as it could.

While he admitted that not all imprisoned juveniles were totally “innocent,” Nayagam is determined to do what he can to give help to those who deserve it.

“A recent research conducted by Shelter showed that 80% of child offenders came from broken homes and were very socially disturbed.

“One must understand that it is a vicious cycle. If we do not help them now, they give up hope on life and will certainly find difficulty in finding a job or even a life partner for that matter in future,” Nayagam said.

2007 08: Two students quizzed about fire in school

2007-08-09T16:18:00.000+08:00

The Star Online. News. Nation. Wednesday August 8, 2007

BANTING: Two Form One students allegedly set fire to a wooden rack at the SMK Methodist Telok Datok in what is believed to be a case of revenge.

They are believed to have retaliated against the school’s afternoon session supervisor who had punished them earlier.

Teachers who had gathered for an assembly noticed thick smoke billowing from the room on the first floor of the school’s main block.

They rushed there and doused the flames.

A report was lodged and police picked up two boys, aged 12 and 13, for questioning but released them on bail pending investigations.

It is learnt that the two had approached a fellow student and asked him if he would like to join them in setting the room on fire but the latter laughed it off thinking that they were only joking.

The two students were spotted entering the school compound with a bottle believed to be filled with petrol.

Kuala Langat OCPD Supt Zulkifli Mohamed, who confirmed the arrest, said police had classified the case under Section 435 of the Penal Code for mischief by fire or explosive substance with intent to cause damage.

2007 08: School says sorry for caning that left bruises

2007-08-09T15:57:00.000+08:00

The Star Online. News. Nation. Monday August 6, 2007

SUNGAI Petani's SMK Sin Min issued a statement to apologise to parents after two disciplinary teachers caned 30 students for flouting rules and bruised some students' buttocks, China Press reported.

The bruising led to upset parents demanding an explanation from the school.

The case, which was reported in Chinese newspapers, received public attention and many versions of the incident were circulated among the Chinese community, causing hurt to teachers and students, the paper quoted the statement.

School authorities, after chairing a meeting with the school's board of directors and the parent-teacher association on Friday, said it regretted the incident and apologised to the parents.

It also said caning students who had flouted disciplinary rules was one of the approaches used by the school for many years to discipline students.

SMK Sin Min principal Lok Kin Hong said that to avoid a recurrence of such an incident, students who are to be caned more than once would not receive the canings on the same day.

On Wednesday, 30 Form One students were caned for not submitting their homework, talking in the class and attending classes without textbooks.

Three of them suffered bruises and their parents confronted the school over the incident.

2007 08: Youths languishing in prison for minor offences

2007-08-09T15:40:00.000+08:00

The Star Online. News. Nation. Sunday August 5, 2007

KUALA LUMPUR: A 19-year-old youth from Sabah has been languishing in prison for six months because his single mother is unable to post the court bail of RM1,000.

For his offence of not carrying his MyKad, Jeff Lee Kwong Yeung faces a fine of between RM3,000 and RM20,000 but his case has been postponed several times since he was first charged in court on Feb 5.

To complicate matters, the MyKad number Jeff gave was found to belong to someone else and his fingerprints are being verified to ascertain his identity ahead of his next court hearing on Aug 24.

Jeff, who is being remanded in Kajang Prison, is but one of the 2,718 male juveniles aged 14-20 who are at the Kajang, Sungai Buloh and Simpang Renggam jails as of May.

Many are there for petty crimes, including peddling illegal software, traffic offences and stealing handphones.

Some are also there for serious crimes such as murder, rape, assault and robbery.

James Nayagam, the executive director of Shelter Homes feels that courts need to be informed that youths with petty offences could be detained in Tunas Bakti boarding schools or other boarding schools and not necessarily in prison.

“Very often, the parents cannot afford to post bail and the detention period depends on how soon the courts can dispose of their case,” said James.

Even when they are released, the juveniles suffer all their lives as there is a social stigma attached to having been in prison, he added.

He also questioned the rationale of placing juveniles who commit minor offences together with those who commit serious ones.

“It is like placing them in a lion’s den,” he said during the recent Sixth National Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect here.

If youths are detained in prison for serious offences, there has to be a timeframe for their cases to be heard, he added.

The period of detention should be no longer than the jail sentence itself, unlike the case of a 16-year-old boy who was detained for six months for selling illegal DVDs when the jail sentence was only three months.

James started working with juveniles in Kajang Prison three years ago and there were 350 juveniles there then. Today, the number has swelled to 650 juveniles.

The youngest prisoner James has come across was an eight-year-old. There are three categories of remanded juveniles – those remanded under the pleasure of the ruler, those convicted for other crimes and those awaiting trial. Adult prisoners, however, are separated from juveniles.

A matter of concern is the fact that some juveniles have been in jail for a long time while waiting to be tried in court.

“Cases have been postponed for six months just because someone didn’t turn up in court. Meanwhile, the youths are being exposed to other criminals,” said James.

Malaysian Bar Council president Ambiga Sreenevasan said it all boiled down to the issue of backlogged cases, and called on affected parents to inform the council so they could push for reform.

.............................................................

Youth detained for not producing MyKad free at last

The Star Online. News. Nation. Tuesday August 7, 2007

KUALA LUMPUR: A 19-year-old youth who had been languishing in Kajang Prison for six months and seven days for failing to produce his MyKad to the police for inspection was freed today.

Jeff Lee Kwong Yong had pleaded guilty in a magistrate's court here on Feb 5 to the offence but the sentencing was set for May 16 pending statement of facts. The case was postponed another five times for various other reasons, including mismatch of his MyKad number, unavailability of a probation report and a fingerprints report on him.

Lee, from Sabah, was finally handed his sentence today, with magistrate Tasnim Abu Bakar imposing a jail term of six months and seven days for the offence under the National Registration Regulations 1990. She ordered his jail term to run from the date of arrest on Jan 31.

The case was originally slotted for Aug 24 but was brought forward after the Bar Council, through its Criminal Law committee chairman Datuk V. Sithambaram, requested for an earlier date.

This followed a front-page report by The Star on Aug 5, highlighting Lee's plight. He was reported to be one of 2,718 male juveniles aged 14-20 who are at the Kajang, Sungai Buloh and Simpang Renggam jails as of May.

Yesterday Sithambaram questioned the many delays saying that it was unfortunate for his client to be detained for such a period for a minor offence.

He said his client lost his wallet together with his MyKad a day before his arrest and had wanted to lodge a police report over the matter before he was arrested.

He said he forgot the exact number of his MyKad adding that the police should have checked his particulars from his former employer.

Sithambaram said the move gave the police force and judiciary a bad name.

Sithambaram said the Bar Council was grateful to the court for bringing the case forward in view of public interest and fair justice.

Lee, who is a former cook, was charged with failing to show his MyKad to policewoman Seri Ariani Mahmud for inspection at Jalan Sultan here at 3pm on Jan 31.

2007 08: Mum held after teacher spots bruises on pupil’s back

2007-08-06T17:34:00.000+08:00

The Star Online. News. Nation. Saturday August 4, 2007

JOHOR BARU: A teacher who spotted bruises on the back of one of her 11-year-old pupils lodged a report alleging that the boy had been abused.

The boy’s mother, who is in her 30s, has been detained for suspected child abuse.

Johor Baru (North) OCPD Asst Comm Ruslan Hassan said the mother was picked up from her home in Kulai on Thursday.

“We have questioned the boy's mother as there were bruises on the boy's back. We have since released her on bail,” he said.

2007 08: 12yr-old among 6 youths arrested for gang-rape

2007-08-06T17:30:00.000+08:00

The Star Online. News. Nation. Saturday August 4, 2007

JOHOR BARU: A 12-year-old school dropout was among six teenagers detained for allegedly abducting and gang-raping a factory worker here.

He and the five other suspects, aged 16 to 19, were picked up in a series of raids soon after the incident occurred at about 11.40pm on Friday.

The 30-year-old victim and a 24-year-old female friend were riding home on a scooter in Taman Nusa Damai, Pasir Gudang Friday night, when a lorry is believed to have overtaken them before forcing their off the road.

The suspects grabbed the victim when she fell off the scooter, bundled her into their lorry and drove off, leaving her friend behind.

The victim was later brought to a secluded area in Pasir Gudang before being gang raped.

The victim’s friend managed to alert the Sri Alam police.

A police task force was immediately set up headed by Sri Alam CID Chief Deputy Supt Mohd Nor Rasid and officers from the state police headquarters.

Combing the surrounding housing estates, they managed to locate the lorry in Taman Nusa Damai and rescued the woman eight hours after her abduction.

However upon seeing the police car, the suspects managed to flee.

Police rushed the victim to the hospital and started their hunt for the suspects, who were picked up in a series of raids around Kota Masai.

State acting police chief Senior Asst Comm I Datuk Mohd Mokhtar Mohd Shariff said the suspects would be remanded on Sunday.

He said they were being investigated under Sections 376 and 365 of the Penal Code for rape and abduction.

They have been sent to the hospital to have their urine and blood tested for drugs and alcohol.

2007 08: Sex romps when parents are away

2007-08-06T17:22:00.000+08:00

The Star Online. News. Nation. Friday August 3, 2007

FIVE schoolgirls and several boys held no-holds-barred sex romps when their parents were not at home, Harian Metro reported.

The girls, aged 13 to 17, allegedly gave their bodies willingly to the boys, who grouped under the names “Geng Apache,” “Pangkah Shell” and “Budak Shell,” the tabloid said.

The boys favoured these girls from three schools in Putrajaya over others because they are said to be promiscuous and need not be “forced” into having sex.

Sources told the paper that the girls were so daring that they carried out their exploits at either their or the boys' homes after school and when the parents were not at home.

However, their illicit activities were exposed after 25 schoolboys were caught smoking and sniffing glue in two houses at Precincts 9 and 11, Putrajaya.

Several of the boys confessed that they had had sex with the girls over the past few months without any of their families knowing about it.

Sources said no action had so far been taken against either the boys or the girls, because no police report has been made.

2007 08: Tuition teacher nabbed in connection with alleged rape of pupil

2007-08-06T17:11:00.000+08:00

The Star Online. News. Nation. Thursday August 2, 2007

KOTA KINABALU: A tuition teacher, with two wives, was arrested in connection with the alleged rape of his 11-year-old pupil at Pulau Gaya off the city here.

Kota Kinabalu deputy police chief Supt Rowell Marong said the 42-year-old suspect was nabbed by the girl’s cousin on the island on Tuesday and handed over to the police who have since detained the teacher for investigations.

The suspect is alleged to have lured the girl to his house for extra class and allegedly raped her in his house in Kg Pondo around 8pm on Friday.

The girl complained to her grandmother about the incident and her elder cousin then took the girl to lodge a police report.

2007 08: Victim of bullying slashes classmate

2007-08-06T17:03:00.000+08:00

The Star online. News. Nation. Wednesday August 1, 2007

SHAH ALAM: A Form Two boy of SMK Section 24/2 here slashed his classmate in the back in an alleged retaliation to constant bullying.

It is understood that the suspect had hidden a folding knife in his school bag and had waited in the classroom until recess at about 10am before attacking the alleged bully. Both are 14.

A classmate, who came to the aid of the victim, was injured near his ear when the suspect turned on him, too.

The victims were sent to the Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital in Klang, where they were given outpatient treatment.

The school's discipline teacher has lodged a police report. Police have recovered the knife that was allegedly used in the attacks.

It is learnt that the first victim suffered a 3cm long cut in his back.

Shah Alam OCPD Asst Comm Noor Azam Jamaludin, said the suspect had been picked up for questioning.

“The boy is underage so we also called the parents to the police station,” he said, adding that the boy was expected to be released soon.

2007 08: Molest victim still in a trauma

2007-08-06T16:59:00.000+08:00

The Star Online. News. Nation. Wednesday August 1, 2007

ALOR STAR: The teacher involved in an alleged molest case last week has been temporarily transferred to a district education office. But the 16-year-old victim is still too traumatised to return to school.

The victim had to undergo medical counselling because she turns hysterical whenever she sees men.

A psychiatrist from the Alor Star Hospital had given her medical leave until tomorrow.

The girl had initially sought treatment at the Jitra Hospital, but her case was referred to Alor Star Hospital because the doctor felt she needed specialist attention.

The victim also dreads returning to school because of taunts by teachers who supported the alleged perpetrator.

“My friends told me the teachers are saying things about me. They also defended the bad person,” she said when met yesterday.

The victim was also too afraid to sleep because the alleged perpetrator kept appearing in her nightmares, she said.

The victim’s sister said they had to take the girl for medical counselling on Sunday.

The doctor also prescribed sleeping pills.

“We are giving her all our support at home. But she fears stepping out of the house. The sight of men makes her scream. She is so traumatised,” said the 22-year-old sister.

The victim lodged a police report last Wednesday, claiming that the teacher had molested her in a small room inside the art room at school.

She claimed that the teacher gave her RM15 after caressing her cheek, breasts and thigh.

Kubang Pasu OCPD Supt Mohd Karim Abu confirmed that a report had been lodged.

2007 08: Mechanic charged with raping underaged girlfriend

2007-08-06T16:54:00.000+08:00

The Star Online. News. Nation. Wednesday August 1, 2007

KUALA LUMPUR: A mechanic claimed trial at a Sessions Court here to raping his girlfriend two years ago.

Norfazli Amberan, 19, was accused of raping the underaged girl at Taman Batu Muda in Sentul between 1am and 5.30am in the middle of May 2005.

The 14-year-old girl had lodged a police report against him about a month later – on July 13, 2005.

The teenager was arrested for the alleged rape on Nov 29, 2005 and subsequently based on an order dated Dec 6, 2005, he was released on a police bail.

The police later recorded his statements over the matter. On April 19 this year, the police had obtained instructions from the Attorney-General Chambers to charge him for the alleged rape.

DPP Rozaliana Zakaria has asked the court to deny bail to the accused saying that the offence was serious and that the prosecution was concerned that he would "disturb" their witnesses.

Norfazli, however, pleaded for lower bail. Judge Datin Anita Harun granted granted his bail at RM15,000 in one surety and set Sept 17 for mention, pending the appointment of a lawyer for Norfazli.

2007 08: Shocking: Rape, robbery, abduction, extortion

2007-08-06T16:50:00.000+08:00

The Star Online. News. Nation. Wednesday August 1, 2007

SHAH ALAM: Two electricians claimed trial at two Sessions Courts here on Wednesday to multiple charges involving rape, outraging the modesty of a child, robbery, abduction and extortion.

Two girls, aged 17 and 12, and a 46-year-old man were the alleged victims of the crimes that purportedly took place on Feb 17, 2006.

R. Shasidaran, 23, and S. Kalidas, 19, were charged with raping the elder girl in a Perodua Kancil at Bukit Pencawang Letrik, Batu 11, Kampung Desa Aman in Sungai Buloh at between 5.40am and 6.40am on that day.

Each of the accused appeared in separate courts for the charge.

In one of the courts, Shasidaran was also accused of using criminal force against the younger girl, with intent to outrage her modesty in the same car and at the same place and time.

Shasidaran pleaded not guilty and appealed for a bail before Judge Datin Zabariah Mohd Yusof.

In the other court, Shasidaran and Kalidas were charged with robbing the 46-year-old man with a parang and taking away from him RM140 and a wallet at the Rahman Putra industrial area in Sungai Buloh at between 5.30am and 7am on Feb 17, 2006.

The two were also charged with abducting the girls at the same place on that day.

Shasidaran and Kalidas are also accused of extorting RM1,000 from the father of one of the girls at Jalan Sebelah Kolam Pancing Ikan in Kampung Desa Aman, on the same day.

All the charges would be jointly mentioned on Aug 16.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Hana Hadinah S. Mohd Ghazali said bail should not be allowed to the two accused because of the many crimes and serious crimes they were involved in.

She said the two girls were travelling to school in the car with their 46-year-old guardian man, when the two accused stopped the car.

“They forced open the car, robbed, and drove away with the two girls.

“They also extort one of the girls’ father on the same day,” she said.

The DPP said the two accused had been charged in a Petaling Jaya Sessions Court for robbing and raping a 31-year-old woman and were denied bail.

Kalidas has an additional charge of forcing the woman to perform oral sex on him and another charge in the Petaling Jaya magistrate’s court for a drug-related case.

DPP Hana Hadinah said Kalidas also has a robbery case pending at the Selayang magistrate’s court.

2007 08: Schoolgirl slapping clip shown on YouTube

2007-08-03T13:29:00.000+08:00

The Star Online. News. Nation. Tuesday July 31, 2007

CHINA Press reported a YouTube clip showing a bully slapping a schoolgirl for reporting about truancy.

The incident took place in a vacant classroom in Ipoh.

The bully was heard asking the girl if the slap was hard enough.

The bully warned the girl that those who had skipped classes were her “people” and not to report the matter to the school.

The girl, who was silent, was seen weeping in the empty classroom which was guarded by two other girls.

Youtube stated that more than 1,800 people had viewed the footage since July 29, with many criticising the bully.

2007 08: Beaten up, stripped and photographed

2007-08-03T13:26:00.000+08:00

The Star Online. News. Nation. Tuesday July 31, 2007

NINE secondary schoolgirls beat up their schoolmate mafia-style and took nude photographs of her after cornering her as she was on her way to a friend’s house, Harian Metro reported.

The daily reported on its front page that one of the girls and her friends approached the 16-year-old victim, demanding to know if she had called her gemuk (fat) behind her back, in Muadzam Shah, Rompin.

The victim repeatedly denied the accusation but the nine girls, not satisfied with her reply, beat her up and slapped her before stripping her naked, the daily reported.

The assailants then used a mobile phone to take pictures of the nude victim as she lay crying on the roadside.

After her attackers left, the victim returned home and related the incident to her family, who then took her to lodge a police report.

The victim received treatment at the Muadzam Shah Hospital for bruises. Police have detained the nine girls.

.............................................................

Nine apologise to schoolmate

The Star Online. News. Nation. Saturday August 4, 2007

MUADZAM SHAH (Pahang): Nine female students from SM Keratong, Bandar Tun Razak here, who were involved in assaulting and taking nude photographs of their schoolmate last Friday have apologised to the 16-year-old victim.

The nine Form Four students cried as they asked for their friend’s forgiveness, accompanied by their mothers at a special gathering at the school yesterday.

Pahang education director Abdul Aziz Abdul Latiff said the case had ended harmoniously after Deputy Education Minister Datuk Noh Omar sent his special officer Shashim Shah Harun to help resolve the matter. – Bernama

.............................................................
Bullying among girls getting more rampant

The Star Online. News. Nation. Tuesday August 7, 2007

I REFER to the report ‘Nine apologise to classmate” (The Star, Aug 4) regarding the case of nine girls of SM Keratong, Bandar Tun Razak, who bullied their classmate.

These girls at least had the courage to admit their wrongdoing, but what they did was a disgrace not just to their alma mater but also to their fellow classmates and their families.

This is a classic case of girls behaving badly or should I say “Mean Girls” in real life.

Many people assume that boys only bully but then again this is no longer true. Female students are as capable as their male counterparts in bullying their peers, and the damage they leave is very serious and sometimes for life.

Bullying among female students not only come in the form of physical abuse but also usually come in more subtle forms such as emotional and psychological abuse through telling lies, spreading rumours, playing mind games, hurling insults, social exclusion, and even making degrading remarks about the victim either face-to-face or behind her back to destroy the victim’s self esteem.

Bullying among girls is becoming rampant in many societies and it is a fact that must be taken into consideration.

Girls who think that bullying make them superior to their peers are the ones with the problem, not the victims.

Studies have shown that female bullies resort to bullying not only due to insecurity problems but also due to problems at home. Research shows female bullies are likely to end up continuing to bully into adulthood whether at home, within their social circle or at the workplace unless their bad behaviour is curbed as early as possible.

If we want to reduce the growing incidences of bullying among female students, families, school staff and communities need to work together in combating the problem.

Moreover, these bullies need to undergo counselling and therapy, just like their victim, so that they will not repeat their bad behaviour in the future.

2007 08: Boy freed before ransom collection, two nabbed

2007-08-03T13:19:00.000+08:00

The Star Online. News. Nation. Tuesday July 31, 2007

JOHOR BARU: In another case of bungling kidnappers, the abductors of a six-year-old boy released him before collecting a RM3,000 ransom here.

The boy was found wandering in Skudai hours before his family was to drop the money at a location on July 16.

Police arrested two suspects, in their 20s, one of whom was picked up in Singapore last week.

In the earlier case on July 18, a group of kidnappers released a 16-year-old schoolboy in Sungai Petani before their accomplices could pick up a RM50,000 ransom in Penang.

In the Skudai incident, it is learnt that the boy’s grandfather was sending his two grandsons to kindergarten when a car bumped into his motorcycle at 7am.

They fell and three people came out of the car and bundled one of the boys into their car and drove off.

Several hours later, the boy’s father, who works in the shipping sector in Singapore, received a call asking for RM300,000 and not to report to the police.

But the parents, who informed the police, managed to reduce the amount to RM3,000, which was to be dropped off at an undisclosed location in Skudai.

Hours before the money was to be placed at the agreed location, the family got a call that police had found the boy wondering alone in the district. The kidnappers failed to show up at the drop-off point.

Police arrested the first suspect in Woodlands, Singapore, with the help of police there last week. The other suspect was picked up in Skudai.

A senior police officer said they were looking for another suspect.

2007 08: EDITORIAL: Uncovering child abuse

2007-08-03T12:57:00.000+08:00

NST Online. Columns. 29/7/07

THE shock and horror over the rise in child abuse almost everywhere have less to do with the fact that it happens at all but where and by whom.

In Ireland and the United States, offences against children were sensationally found to be endemic in church-run facilities, committed by men of the cloth. In the siege of the Lal Masjid in Islamabad earlier this month, many of the human shields suborned by the mad mullah Abdul Rashid Ghazi in his standoff against the Pakistan military were boys and girls. A recent study by Unicef and the Indian government adjudged two out of three children to be abused, giving the lie to the families and communities that were thought of as their guardians. In Malaysia, the worst offenders are not the dirty old men bearing sweets and trinkets, but mothers and fathers as seemingly ordinary as the ones next door.

Violence in the home is difficult to winkle out, shrouded as it usually is in a conspiracy of silence between perpetrator and victim, and sometimes abetted by a society that prefers not to know. The "don’t ask, don’t tell" syndrome constrains even the government’s willingness to intervene. Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil’s first reaction to the latest alleged baby beating case in Johor Baru was disbelief at the egregious degree of parental neglect and dysfunction involved. She made a plea for family members to look out for the danger signs of "stress" that could whiplash into child abuse. Shahrizat’s ministry, although watchful of the cases that do come to its notice, is clueless about those that are not reported to the police or the hotlines and other services the Welfare Department provides.

Whether or not the government’s child protection mechanisms are adequate depends on how much abuse there actually is below its somewhat limited radar. The harming of minors under care can have causes and effects so complex that only psychologists can detect them. As in India, comprehensive research would almost certainly reveal the sort of mistreatment that was once unheeded, covered up or regarded as none of anyone else’s business. In India, too, an in-depth academic study was a precursor to the evolution of laws from a "needs-based" to a "rights-based" approach to child development. The deaths of Shearwel Ooi Ying Ying and others may or may not be due to an anomalous breakdown in the biological ties between parent and child. Either way, newspaper headlines of such heart-rending instances are no basis for future policy.

2007 08: MOM-STER IN THE HOME: The ugly spectre of growing child abuse

2007-08-03T12:41:00.000+08:00

NST Online. Frontpage. 29/7/07

Mothers and fathers are doing the unthinkable: Abusing their children and scarring them for life. In some cases, they have sent them to an early grave. What drives such insanity? P. SELVARANI and TAN CHOE CHOE examine the social phenomenon that is leaving Malaysians shaken to the core

MOTHERS are said to have been created by God as He could not be everywhere.

But some are committing the ultimate betrayal by abusing their own flesh and blood — their children.

This is a phenomenon puzzling to the authorities and the average Malaysian alike, that the very people charged with raising and nurturing children — parents — are hurting them beyond belief, sometimes to death.

There is no escaping the ugly spectre of worsening statistics: Child abuse cases have increased by 60 per cent in the past five years, from 1,242 in 2002 to 1,999 last year.

It paints a frightening outlook for the future.

Mothers were responsible for 493 of the 1,999 cases of child abuse last year, according to Welfare Department statistics.

Fathers, their children’s supposed hero and protector, came in a close second. They were responsible for 441 of the cases.

Collectively, parents were responsible for nearly five out of 10 cases of child abuse last year.

Police statistics show that of the 26 child murder cases reported in the first five months of this year, five were committed by fathers and two by mothers.

Some of the victims were newborn babies.

At least two out of 10 victims were less than 4 years old.

Those between 7 and 15 made up the majority of reported cases.

Statistics also show that in 214 cases, the boyfriend or girlfriend of the victims had a hand in the abuse.

Other abusers were friends, relatives, step-parents, babysitters and neighbours.

The figures were so alarming that police set up the Sexual Crimes and Children division, or D11, to handle them.

According to the department, the reasons for abuse vary but family problems were the main cause cited (659 cases).

In 116 cases, the abusers were found to be mentally disturbed.

There were also abusers who were alcoholics (83), dadah addicts (81) and those who were abuse victims themselves (28).

Living apart from the family in their early growing up years was also cited as a reason for abuse, especially among parents.

There were abusers who blamed the child for being hyperactive, making it difficult for the parents or guardian to watch over them. Exhaustion led to frayed tempers and in 101 cases, violence.

A small number of abusers cited financial problems, superstitious beliefs and the intention of disciplining children.

To 33 abusers, the fact that a child was born out of wedlock was enough cause for abuse.

In about 10 per cent of cases, no one could identify a reason for the abuse.

Urbanisation may also be a factor as the incidents mostly occurred in more developed states, such as Selangor, Penang and Kuala Lumpur.

"This is a possibility as city dwellers usually work long hours and are generally stressed.

"From our data, higher density areas generally have more reported cases," said Welfare Department director-general Datuk Rafek Reshidullah.

Some 50 per cent of cases reported to the department last year came from government hospitals.

The 24-hour Teledera helpline, a dedicate telephone line to report child abuse, referred only 37 cases to the department over the same period.

"The number is not big but Teledera is very effective, especially in reaching out to those who need advice or immediate help.

"During office hours, the department will handle the telephone calls. Calls outside office hours are routed to the Malaysian Red Crescent Society.

Most cases reported are new cases, said Rafek.

"We have a registry that keeps track of victims and abusers. We know who they are, and repeat incidents are rare.

"However, he said not all abuse cases were reported to the police, with reported cases being the very severe ones.

Once an abusive parent or guardian is referred to the department, a welfare officer will separate the child from him (or her) and place the victim in a temporary shelter.

The parent or guardian will then be counselled.

"We will investigate the case and the findings will be presented to the Children’s Court.

"The court will decide if the child remains with the parent or guardian or is placed in the care of a more fit and proper person.

"In most cases, the child is usually returned to the care of the family, providing the parent or guardian who abused the child is repentant.

"Otherwise, the child may be placed in foster care or, as a last resort, sent to a welfare institution or orphanage.

The sorry episode does not end there. The abused victim may go on to become an abuser.

2007 08: Girl claims teacher molested her

2007-08-03T12:12:00.000+08:00

The Star Online. News. Nation. Sunday July 29, 2007

ALOR STAR: A 16-year-old schoolgirl has lodged a police report alleging that a teacher had molested her.

She claimed that the teacher had given her RM15 after he had caressed her cheek, breasts and thigh.

She said the incident occurred at about noon in a small room inside the school’s arts room on Wednesday.

She said she had earlier asked the teacher to send her elder sister, who is in Form Five, home as she was suffering from tonsillitis.

“I asked my friend to accompany us as I did not want to be alone with the teacher on our way back to school.

“When we reached the school, the teacher parked the car in a secluded area and asked my friend to go back to the classroom,” she said, adding that the teacher asked her to follow him to a room where he allegedly molested her.

She said he later gave her RM15.

“I threw the money and rushed back home,” the girl said.

Kubang Pasu OCPD Supt Mohd Karim Abu confirmed that the girl had lodged a report alleging that her teacher molested her.

“We have questioned the teacher. The teacher claimed he did not do it,” he said.

2007 08: Parent: Teacher slapped my son

2007-08-03T11:26:00.000+08:00

The Star Online. News. Nation. Saturday July 28, 2007

KLANG: In another case of school rage, a motor workshop owner alleged that a Tamil schoolteacher slapped his son.

M. Shanmugamoorthy, 35, claimed that the teacher was angry that the Year Four pupil had been slow in picking up litter which she had ordered him to clear.

“She scolded my son for the delay and slapped him,” he said, adding that the boy, S. Kirbakaran, stumbled and the left side of his face hit the corner of a desk.

Shanmugamoorthy said he lodged a police report after fetching his son from the school, following Tuesday's incident at the SJK (T) Batu Empat in Kampung Jawa here.

He then took the boy, who had a blue-black mark near the eye, for a medical check-up at the Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital.

2007 08: Student may be suspended for strangling his teacher

2007-08-03T11:14:00.000+08:00

The Star Online. News. Nation. Saturday July 28, 2007

KOTA TINGGI: A secondary school student may face suspension for strangling his teacher.

On Thursday, a 28-year-old teacher was strangled by the 17-year-old student at SMK Bandar, Kota Tinggi, after she told him to do squats as punishment for being noisy in the school's toilet.

The victim was teaching in her class at 10.25am when she heard a group of students causing a commotion in the school toilet.

She went there and told nine male students to come out.

However, she was met by jeers and taunts by the suspect when they did came out.

The teacher then decided to reprimand the student and three others by telling them to do squats 10 times but the same student ignored her orders and went back inside the toilet.

She grabbed his wrists but he brushed her hands away and shoved the teacher against a wall.
He then strangled her before other students came to break up the scuffle.

Kota Tinggi OCPD Supt Osman Mohamed Sebot said the teacher suffered bruises on her neck and other minor injuries.

State education director Mokhy Saidon said that the department would investigate the matter to determine the right course of actions to be taken.

"We will investigate and see whether there is a need to suspend the student," said Mokhy when contacted here yesterday.

Mokhy said the department would also arrange a meeting between the teacher and the student's parents before deciding on further actions.

.............................................................

Boy who attacked teacher expelled, but he can appeal

The Star Online. News. Nation. Sunday July 29, 2007

KOTA TINGGI: A secondary school student who tried to strangle his teacher for reprimanding him has been expelled.

State education director Mokhy Saidon said that the department had investigated the matter and decided to expel him.

“But he can appeal against the decision,” said Mokhy when contacted here yesterday.

On Thursday, a 28-year-old teacher was attacked by the 17-year-old student at SMK Bandar, Kota Tinggi, after she told him to do squats as punishment for being noisy in the school’s toilet.

She was in her class at 10.25am when she heard a group of students causing a commotion in the toilet.

She went over and told the nine boys to come out. The boys came out. Some jeered and taunted her.

The teacher decided to reprimand them by telling them to do 10 squats. However, the 17-year-old student ignored her and turned to return to the toilet.

The teacher grabbed his wrist to stop him but the boy shook off her hands, shoved her against a wall and started choking her before other students rushed to stop him.

Kota Tinggi OCPD Supt Osman Mohamed Sebot said the teacher suffered bruises on her neck and other minor injuries.

Mokhy said the department met the teacher and the student’s parents before reaching the decision.

“Students do such things probably because they feel that the teachers should not discipline them.

“This could be due to recent reports where teachers were reprimanded for punishing their students,” said Mokhy.

.............................................................

Schoolboy makes amends for action

The Star Online. News. Nation. Tuesday July 31, 2007

KOTA TINGGI: The 17-year-old boy who tried to strangle his female teacher has made amends for his action.

In the presence of Deputy Education Minister Datuk Noh Omar, who was at SMK Bandar Kota Tinggi to investigate the matter yesterday, the boy shook the teacher's hand and kissed it.

“We consider the case closed. The boy can appeal against the expulsion or asks to be transferred to another school,” Noh said.

The teacher said she would apply to be transferred to another school.

“I want to put the incident behind me,” said the teacher who taught English, Science and Mathematics.

Noh reiterated that all schools must follow the proper procedure in dealing with discipline issues, to be fair to all parties involved.

He said that while punishment was important to deal with discipline problems, adhering to the right process was even more important.

“I reminded all district offices last week that in such cases, the student, teacher, parents, parent-teacher associations and the police must be summoned to a hearing,” he said.

In this case, both parties acted emotionally, he said, adding that all teachers should not make spontaneous decisions.

“The student was wrong in this matter but the school was too focused on punishment and disregarded the right procedures.

“The student and his eight friends will undergo a motivation course at the curriculum centre in Johor Baru while the teacher will seek counselling,” said Noh.

Noh also said that a teacher in Bandar Baru Darul Aman, Kedah, who allegedly molested a student, would be suspended for two months.

2007 07: Ministry to amend rules on punishment for students

2007-07-31T16:18:00.000+08:00

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.

2007 07: Child Act to be amended in next sitting of Parliament

2007-07-31T16:15:00.000+08:00

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.

2007 07: Parents and teachers: Another slapping incident

2007-07-31T16:11:00.000+08:00

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.

2007 07: Housewife reports maid for allegedly abusing baby

2007-07-31T15:11:00.000+08:00

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.

2007 07: Education Ministry goes on the road to talk about school discipline

2007-07-31T15:08:00.000+08:00

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.

2007 07: Toddler dies on way to hospital, possible abuse

2007-07-31T14:54:00.000+08:00

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.

2007 07: Malay kids most abused

2007-07-30T18:28:00.000+08:00

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

2007 07: Cop: Children under pressure to run away

2007-07-30T18:24:00.000+08:00

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.

2007 07: 7yr-old held by the neck and caned by teacher

2007-07-30T18:03:00.000+08:00

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.

2007 07: DISCIPLINE IN SCHOOL: What is a teacher to do?

2007-07-30T17:52:00.000+08:00

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.

2007 07: Teenager at clinic robbed and raped

2007-07-30T17:46:00.000+08:00

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.

2007 07: Child beggars targeting Arab tourists

2007-07-30T17:31:00.000+08:00

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.

2007 07: Girl alleges rape in school

2007-07-30T17:28:00.000+08:00

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.

2007 07: Civil servant charged with raping teenager

2007-07-30T17:21:00.000+08:00

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.

2007 07: Baby abandoned in cardboard box

2007-07-26T17:54:00.000+08:00

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.

2007 07: Ministry to probe squatting incident

2007-07-26T17:45:00.000+08:00

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.

2007 07: School kids lodge police report over injuries inflicted by caning

2007-07-26T17:33:00.002+08:00

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.

2007 07: Help for the boys behind bars

2007-07-23T13:48:00.000+08:00

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/

2007 07: Ministry to investigate slapping allegation

2007-07-23T13:44:00.000+08:00

The Star Online. News. Nation. Friday July 20, 2007

RANAU: The Education Ministry will investigate an incident where a headmistress allegedly slapped 22 pupils of a primary school for failing to turn in their homework in Tuaran here on Wednesday.

Education Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein said his ministry will not compromise on issues of teachers involved in any wrongful methods to discipline students.

“This is a serious matter as it involves the discipline of teachers,” he said when commenting on news reports that a headmistress slapped the Year 4 pupils - 13 girls and 9 boys- for allegedly not turning in their civics homework on Wednesday.

The students, through the Parent Teacher Association of the school, lodged a police report with the Tuaran police on Friday.

“On matters of discipline involving teachers, we have set up a committee headed by my deputy minister Datuk Noh Omar who will look into such matters of discipline,” Hishammuddin told reporters after opening the Ranau Umno division meeting.

He said if necessary Noh Omar will come down to Sabah to investigate the allegations made by the pupils through the PTA.

“However, my advice is, it is better to get the views of both sides before any decision is made,” he added.

........................................

Teachers must conform to guidelines on punishment

The Star Online. Opinion. Friday July 20, 2007

I READ the articles and letters commenting on the incident of the teacher who punched a girl because she uttered a vulgar word in class and found some of the comments interesting but others out of focus. There are two separate issues here.

The first is whether the punishment that was carried out by the teacher was excessive. On this, I must say that any form of physical punishment inflicted on a female student is wrong. The rules are very clear when it comes to punishing female students. They cannot even be caned.

Under no circumstances can a teacher be condoned when he or she breaks this fundamental rule and the Deputy Minister of Education is correct in announcing his suspension pending the police investigation. To excuse him by claiming he was provoked is inappropriate.

The second issue is the profanity used by the girl which resulted in the uncalled-for violence on the part of the teacher.

Such utterances are common among students in general. Any teacher who has been teaching for a short time would have heard such vulgar words often enough to be able to react normally to them.

I wish we have the means to suppress the use of profanity but when a child is exposed to such words by their parents and adults in general, how much can we do in schools?

We are fortunate that in Malaysia, our censorship is so stringent that it cuts off all spoken profanity, yet the effect is not as desired as our people still use them! We have to punish her, but in the appropriate way!

Therefore, I hope that we do not excuse wrong kinds of punishment imposed by teachers just because a student did something wrong. Appropriate and punitive punishment must be meted out by the Education Ministry to let teachers know that they must conform to the guidelines on punishment, if not our children will become punching bags for teachers.

A board must be set up to examine teachers involved in violence so that they can be given proper treatment or sacked if they are unable to manage their anger

......................................................

School head suspended for allegedly slapping 22 pupils

The Star Online. News. Nation. Monday July 23, 2007

KOTA KINABALU: A primary school principal here was suspended with full pay for two months following complaints that she slapped 22 Year Four pupils for failing to turn in their homework.
Deputy Education Minister Datuk Noh Omar said the suspension of the SK Gayang headmistress in Tuaran was to facilitate a probe into the July 18 incident.

“The Education Department will investigate before deciding whether any further action would be taken,” he said after opening a national convention of school principals on Sunday.

The pupils – 13 girls and nine boys – claimed that the principal slapped them for failing to submit their homework for the Civics subject.

The pupils, through the school’s parent teacher association (PTA), lodged a police report last Friday.

Mohd Noh said the investigation by the Tuaran Education Department would include reviewing the headmistress’ service record to ascertain if she was involved in other cases.

He said the pupils would have to attend motivational talks while their parents would be asked to go for parenting talks.

On the incident where 200 girl boarders of SMK Bawang Assan in Sibu, Sarawak were made to squat in a pond, Noh said he had yet to receive a report on the matter.

In Kota Baru, state PAS secretary Datuk Takiyuddin Hassan defended the action of the school's warden, Wee Yim Pien.

He said Wee made the right decision as it was a deterrent punishment to ensure the students did not litter anymore.

He said the public should not feel offended as the punishment was supposed to fit the crime or offence.

Earlier, Noh reminded principals that any disciplinary action against students must be in accordance with existing regulations.

“Our rules do not allow students to be abused in any way. Teachers are not allowed to make their students sit in ponds. This is not the right way,” he said.

2007 07: Schoolboys hungry for sex

2007-07-23T13:38:00.000+08:00

The Star Online. News. Nation. Friday July 20, 2007

SCHOOLBOYS are willing to go hungry so that they can spend their money on illicit sex, Harian Metro reported.

Some were even willing to share their pocket money to fulfil their basic instinct, the tabloid said in its exposé.

“My mother gives me RM4 every day for my school money and I skip my meals to save the money.

“At the end of the month, my friends and I pool our money to visit prostitutes,” said a 15-year-old boy who introduced himself as Ahmad Firdaus.

The paper learnt that the students would visit brothels in the day, when the rate is cheaper.

Ahmad, interviewed by the daily in Kuala Lumpur, said he had been going to these places for a year after being persuaded by an older friend.

Initially, the elder youth, in his 20s, took him to Lorong Haji Taib “to just mencuci mata (ogle)” at the women soliciting there.

“A man who confided that he was a pimp offered to get me a woman for RM50,” Ahmad said, adding that the experience was an eye-opener for teens craving to try something new.

Another friend of his, however, had a painful encounter when a man, who claimed he was the boyfriend of the woman the boy had booked, beat him up.

The 15-year-old boy, who said his name was Ahmad Rosli, said he has since stayed away from vice dens and regretted his immoral activities.

2007 07: Stepdad rapes girl after oral sex

2007-07-23T13:01:00.000+08:00

The Star Online. News. Nation. Thursday July 19, 2007

JOHOR BARU: A nine-year-old girl was raped by her stepfather after she was forced to perform oral sex on him.

The incident took place at their home in Taman Kenanga here on July 7 at around 8pm, when the victim’s mother was at work.

Johor Baru (South) CID chief Dept Supt Norhashim Mohamed said that the suspect led the girl into a bedroom and fondled her private parts before forcing himself on her.

“The victim later confided to her friend and a teacher at a school before lodging a report at the Tampoi police station with the teacher,” he said.

The 31-year-old suspect was picked up from his home on Tuesday and has been held in remand until Monday.

2007 07: 36 yrs jail and 20 strokes of cane for man who raped niece

2007-07-23T12:58:00.000+08:00

The Star Online. News. Nation. Thursday July 19, 2007

MUAR: The Sessions Court here yesterday sentenced a man to a total of 36 years' jail and 20 strokes of the rotan for raping his niece.

The man, 49, from Taman Sri Treh near here, had been charged on two counts with raping the girl at two houses between 1998 and 2003, after the girl, then 14, lived with him in 1998.

The accused, represented by counsel K.P. Lau, was called to enter his defence last week and yesterday, the court found him guilty to the two charges of raping the under-aged girl.

The man was first charged with raping the girl between 1998 and 2002 at a house in Jalan Sakeh and between 2002 and 2003 at a house in Taman Sri Treh.

On each of the charge, the court sentenced the man to 18 years' jail and 10 strokes of the rotan. The judge ordered the jail sentences to run consecutively from Thursday.

Lau asked the court for a stay of execution, pending appeal but Judge Mohamad Haldar Abdul Aziz rejected it.

Prosecuting officer ASP Lim Ah Bah asked the court for a deterrent sentence as the man was supposed to look after the girl but ended up raping her.

He told the court that the girl had to live with the uncle after her mother separated from her father and moved to Pagoh to work, adding that the man had agreed to look after the girl.

However, the man took advantage of his niece and raped her several times a week for five years until she decided to lodge a report on March 25, 2003.

2007 07: Woman charged with murdering 10-month-old son

2007-07-20T13:49:00.000+08:00

NST Online. NewsBreak. 18/7/07

BACHOK: A woman was today charged in the Magistrate’s Court here with killing her 1 0-month-old son last month.

Bahasniza Abu Bakar, 34, was charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code which carries the mandatory death sentence.

Magistrate Nor Hasliza Che Seman fixed Aug 20 for re-mention of the case after the prosecution requested for a medical report.

No plea was recorded from the accused. Bahasniza is alleged to have killed her son Mohamad Asyhraf Nor Aswadi at an unnumbered house in Kampung Kubang Berulat here between 12.30am and 3am on July 7.

The media had reported that the body of the toddler was found at about 7am in a canal, about five metres away from the house.

2007 07: Give juveniles a second chance

2007-07-20T13:23:00.000+08:00

The Star Online. Opinion. Sunday July 15, 2007

IT IS heartening indeed to know that the judiciary and laws of this country have not abandoned juvenile criminals and delinquents like so many countries in the West have done.

In a time when our children are increasingly being victimised and brutalised by monsters masquerading amongst us as human beings, the last thing we need is for the system and the law that has vowed to protect them to victimise and turn on them instead.

I laud the move by the Court of Appeals to rule that it is “unconstitutional” to hold a minor at the King’s pleasure for whatever crimes the minor had committed.

Although I may not be well versed in legal jargon, I firmly believe that holding a minor at the pleasure of the King infringes upon the child’s rights and is not the best possible way to rehabilitate and counsel the minor involved.

Even though the child has committed a heinous crime, the said child still has every right to be given the chance to redeem himself, and be given the chance to pick up the pieces of his life rather than be locked away in a prison, in the company of the worst possible criminals on earth.

There’s no doubt the child would probably be isolated from adult criminals, but just think about the repercussions on the child’s mental state when he is imprisoned in such an environment.

I have followed this boy’s case since it was first reported in 2002, and my heart goes out to him. Even though I am shocked by his actions, I am convinced it was the result of years of pent-up frustration, anger and emotions that was too much for a child to cope.

It still does not absolve him of the crime, but what he needs is not punishment, but intensive rehabilitation and counselling, and in this case, house arrest would have been a fitting solution.

The child needs someone to talk to, someone who can understand him, someone who can be there for him in his darkest hour, and I am glad to see that his parents have not cast him off like many parents of juvenile criminals are so wont to do.

There is hope yet for our juvenile delinquents in prison and reform schools throughout the country. We must learn and be willing to understand why a child commits a crime and must teach him to understand why it is wrong.

Five years in Kajang Prison is more than what a child at his age could bear. He deserves a second chance, like all of us do when we make mistakes.

Let’s give this child and other minors out there a chance to lead normal lives once they have put the past behind them and have truly been reformed.

PHILIPP C.K. GAN,
Petaling Jaya.

.....................................................................

Juveniles are no longer naive
The Star Online. Opinion. Tuesday July 17, 2007

I DISAGREE with Philipp C.K. Gan – Give juveniles a second chance (The Star, July 15). In his letter Gan wants juveniles committing serious offences to be given a chance.

I have no problem with that. By granting a second chance to the juveniles, we are giving them a glimpse of hope of a future.

However, we must never deny that a 12-year-old child who has committed such a heinous act must be seen as not innocent.

What guarantee can anyone give that he would not become more monstrous?

What assurance can Gan give that after much “intensive rehabilitation and counselling” this juvenile will not stab another person the moment he is mocked and teased for being fat or ugly?
Our courts of law must not only base their judgments on the age factor, but also the crime committed. With the advances in technology, our juveniles are no longer stupid and naive, but a bunch of people with unimaginable intelligence.

SYED MOHAZRI SYED HAZARI AL-QADRY,Port Dickson, Negri Sembilan.

...................................

2007 07: Little girl seen rummaging through city rubbish

2007-07-20T13:18:00.000+08:00

The Star Online. News. Nation. Tuesday July 17, 2007

MIRI: The sight of little children rummaging in rubbish dumps has raised concern among several people in this city.

Three months ago, two boys, aged seven and nine, were found lying motionless in the rubbish area at Imperial Mall, apparently high after sniffing glue.

Now, a little girl has been found going through rubbish dumps in the red-light area of this city in the evenings and nights.

Checks by The Star found her scavenging through stacks of rubbish bags and cardboard boxes at a rubbish dumping zone near the wet market several times over the past weeks.

The girl could not be more than five or six years old.

The streets in the old part of the city are infamous for vice activities.

Further checks showed that there would be a woman close by watching the little girl.

Attempts by The Star on several occasions to get close to the girl and the woman failed.

Whenever this reporter tried to approach the girl, the woman would grab her hand and they would take off into the back lanes.

Nearby shopkeepers said the little girl might have been forced to live in such pathetic conditions.

A shop assistant at a shoe outlet said the two would appear late in the evening or night.

“They search through all the rubbish dumps along the streets and gather whatever seems valuable to them.

“The little girl goes through the rubbish because she is small enough to move between the piles of discarded items,” he said.

As for the two boys found at the Imperial Mall rubbish area, police picked them up and referred them to the Miri Welfare Department after they were found by state Assistant Minister for Infrastructure Development and Communications Lee Kim Shin.

However, the welfare officials returned the two boys back to their father two days later.
They live in a squatter area in Pujut Corner.

Miri Resident Ose Murang then asked welfare officials to find out the actual conditions in which the family was living and what help they needed.

Murang also asked the media to follow the officials when they went to check on the family.

However, until today, no visit has been organised.

2007 07: 10 students beat me up, says MCKK boy

2007-07-20T13:12:00.000+08:00

The Star Online. News. Nation. Tuesday July 17, 2007

KUALA KANGSAR: A student of the Malay College Kuala Kangsar here has alleged that he was beaten up by 10 schoolmates at their hostel on Sunday.

The victim, a Form Four student, was given outpatient treatment at the Kuala Kangsar Hospital following the 2.30pm incident.

His father Mej (R) Ahmad Mohd Kassim said: “They not only kicked and punched my son but also used a plastic broom to scrub my son’s back.”

He said he rushed here from Kedah after being informed by a teacher.

He said his son told him that the students decided to “teach him a lesson” for breaking a hostel regulation.

“My son admitted that he had gone out of the hostel to eat laksa in town.

Kuala Kangsar OCPD Supt Zakaria Pagan could not be reached for comment.

2007 07: Victimising Kids: It’s time to deal with this seriously

2007-07-20T12:58:00.000+08:00

NST Online. Letters. 16/7/07

By : DR TAN ENG BEE, Kajang

IN recent months, we have had quite a few reports of crimes committed against children, a situation which prompted Minister of Women, Family and Community Development Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil to state that the police and her ministry would study cases of these terrible crimes to determine why mothers resorted to such action.

Shahrizat is not alone. I believe the entire nation is puzzled as to why children have to bear the brunt of adult fury. Cases of child abuse, rape and beatings are surfacing as never before. Almost every day we read of all sorts of crimes committed against innocent children.

What has gone wrong and what steps can we take to address the problem?

Such crimes against children were little heard of in the past.

The question which many would want to ask is what is happening in our society nowadays as far as crime and treatment of children are concerned? Where have we gone wrong? Why do parents or adults resort to treating children so mercilessly? Has our society lost the human touch and look upon children as mere punching bags?

The best way of seeking answers is to set up a high-powered investigative committee where such a study could be conducted, apart from what Shahrizat is planning to do.

I suggest the committee should consist of the relevant ministries, non-governmental organisations, religious bodies, and knowledgeable and experienced figures who have worked with children or who are well-versed in child affairs.

The high-powered committee would then convene a national meeting to address the problem and to recommend to the authorities as to what should be done to arrest or deter crimes against children.

2007 07: Murder victim’s dad turns to MPs

2007-07-20T12:42:00.000+08:00

The Star Online. News. Nation. Monday July 16, 2007

BUKIT MERTAJAM: Carrying a thick file of letters, newspaper clippings and photographs of his murdered nine-year-old daughter, lorry driver Ahmad Dasuki Mohd Noor came to the Parliamentary Caucus on Human Rights and Good Governance meeting here with a query which moved the panel.

“How long more do I have to wait for justice?” he asked the six-member panel about his daughter Siti Syazwani’s fate. The girl was raped and murdered in Taman Rhu, Sungai Petani, in 2004.

“There is still no trial date fixed after so long,” lamented Ahmad Dasuki.

He was among 300 people who packed the SM Jit Sin (Private) hall here where the caucus, chaired by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz, was held.

Ahmad Dasuki did not let go of the opportunity to raise his grouses with the panel.

“The police claimed they solved the case within 24 hours after it happened. But they later released the Indonesian suspect because the DNA did not match.

“Nothing happened until I met the Prime Minister last year to seek his help. Now another suspect has been caught but there is still no trial,” he added.

Ahmad later passed over a stack of documents to Nazri, who pledged to submit them to the relevant authorities.

Security was the main issue brought up at the hearing, with many questioning the increasing number of rapes, snatch thefts, burglaries and armed robberies, and the lack of police presence on the streets.

Summing things up, Nazri told the audience that MPs would highlight their grievances in Parliament.

Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang, who was among those in the panel, urged the police to take heed and pay greater attention to reducing the crime rate.

2007 07: Unhappiness at home leads to bad behaviour

2007-07-20T12:37:00.000+08:00

The Star Online. Opinion. Sunday July 15, 2007

CHILDREN behave badly or go missing for many reasons, but unhappiness at home, real or imagined, is a common factor. Since 2004 up to May this year, 1,900 children had been reported missing, most of them girls, disclosed Deputy Internal Security Minister Datuk Mohd Johari Baharum.

Parents blame the teachers, who in turn bristle at the injustice of parents dumping the entire weight of responsibility on them. Ideally parents and teachers should work in tandem. But the reality is that a teacher faces 50 hyperactive children each day, a clutch of whom are actively disruptive to lessons.

On and off the school grounds, teenage temptations beckon like tall-grass at their feet — smoking, sex, drugs, easy money and junior-league gangsterism.

Some do trip and fall, and those who commit and are convicted of lesser offences would be placed in designated approved schools.

For more serious crimes, boys aged between 14 and 21 would be sent to the Henry Gurney reform schools, which gives them a second chance, a skill and often, sadly, a stigma.

The assumption that adults know best now no longer holds true. Today's young people show far more knowledge than their years, although “In terms of dependence on their parents, however, compared to developed countries, we are three to four years behind,” said Dr Mohamed Fadzil.

Nevertheless, they would like to be consulted on their preferences as punishment: conventional youth correctional facilities, innovative community service as well as the much-maligned caning. Plus any other out-of-the-box solutions for “bad behaviour”.

In the end, laws must reflect the values of the environment of the day, said Dr Mohamed Fadzil. Otherwise the laws would become straightjackets, caging the youths in adult expectations.

2007 07: Doing away with the cane

2007-07-20T12:29:00.000+08:00

The Star Online. Opinion. Sunday July 15, 2007

The Women, Family and Community Development Ministry is proposing to abolish the cane, which has long been the tool of old-school disciplinarians and in the punishment of convicted child offenders.

AS kids, many of us have had our bums whacked! One doting grandfather recalled that when the teacher caned him and he sought compassion from his mother, she too would pick up the rotan, or a piece of firewood, and add to his lashes — no questions asked.

“I was a bit of a rascal in my (all-boys) school, and we did harmless mischief like throwing chalk at each other,” he admitted. By the time he was midway through primary school, he just bore his welts in philosophical silence.

“But I am none the worse for it,” he added. Tellingly, he never laid a hand on his own children.
Another person brought up by the cane is herself today a teacher.

“I don't resent my own mother caning me because I was remorseful about whatever naughty thing I had done. But I did resent it when my religious teacher slapped me on the face for daydreaming,” she said.

The days when parents brought their children to the teacher, presented him with a light rotan (cane) and urged “Cikgu, buatlah macam anak sendiri (treat him as you would your own child),” are long gone.

Among teachers who strictly uphold this role of mentor and have not hesitated to wield the stick, the ball rebounds swiftly with furious parents rushing to the headmaster complaining against Encik Farid and Cikgu Faridah.

Now, the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry is proposing to abolish the cane. A signatory to the (United Nations) International Convention on Children's Rights (CRC) since 1995, Malaysia wants to give life to mere words. If passed, it means that the Court For Children will no longer have caning as an option for child offenders.

Under the present Child Act 2001, only boys between the ages of 10 and 18 may be subjected to corporal punishment. And there are clear guidelines:

a maximum of 10 strokes with a light rotan;

the boy must be clothed;

whipping must not be inflicted on the face, head, stomach, chest and private parts;

the person meting out the punishment must not raise his hand over his head;

if a doctor deems the boy no longer fit to be whipped, the caning must stop; Caning, a negative reinforcement, has lost its popularity among many who have interacted first-hand with children today.

They prefer the non-punitive approach, focussing on positive reinforcement of good behaviour such as praise, love, tokens for younger children, recognition, rewards and treats, said Director of the Institut Sosial Malaysia, Associate Professor Dr Mohamed Fadzil Che Din.

Even positive discrimination like taking away an hour of television, or cutting back on pocket money, or negative discrimination such as standing on a chair or the “submarine” (where the child has to sit under the table), which I went through, are preferred, he said.

A trained psychologist and a lecturer in psychological counselling for 10 years with Universiti Putra Malaysia, Dr Mohamed Fadzil has worked with non-governmental organisations, adolescents and schools and today continues to advise adults and children alike.

“How a child sees himself will determine whether he is self-confident or anxious,” said Dr Mohamed Fadzil.

“Caning may bring about a negative self-concept, where he grows up in fear, panicking easily. This tendency follows into adulthood. If as children they are afraid to try, as adults they are not independent, not industrious.”

This makes them a manpower liability. After having spent millions on educating them as children, to then have to pour millions more to make them creative adults is a drain on the nation's coffers, he pointed out.

“One of the side-effects of caning is hatred, revenge, rebellion,” he added.

“In an aggressive personality, in its extreme form, we get terrorists.

“But passive personalities internalise the aggression. They become runaways, or in extreme cases, commit suicide.”

More to the point, corporal punishment, even for adults, has not been proven to be psychologically effective in character development. Depending on the individual, some who survive the school of hard-knocks may in fact become hardened by the experience.

The trend for adults, but even more so for children, has shifted to community service.

A legal practitioner admitted that he had been a naughty lad. One day, angry with his elderly neighbour, he lit a matchstick and threw it at his neighbour's roof. His mother roundly scolded him, not least because their adjoining roofs meant he could easily have burnt his own house down.

But it was his neighbour's forgiving generosity that was the turning point. His punishment? To tend to the neighbour's flowers and plants.

The real authority who may cane a child are his parents. But here too there are pitfalls.

Neighbours might hear the child regularly crying out, see the welts on his arms and leg, and complain to a welfare officer or even the police of child abuse. But what is the alternative? Spare the rod and spoil the child?

Judging by reports, caning is more frequently conducted in schools, where it falls under the ambit of the Child Act.

Ideally and theoretically it is the punishment of last resort.

In urban schools, teachers concur and parents concede that children are spoilt, especially in dual-income families. Parents admit to wanting so desperately to give their kids a better childhood than theirs: sushi snacks, maids, mobile phones, branded shoes and Disneyland school holidays.

The proposal to withdraw the cane should be seen in the context of another proposed amendment to the Child Act 2001 made just last year — to punish parents for errant children.

That proposal from the police received the support of Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said.

At present, Section 33 of the Act metes out a fine of up to RM5,000, a two-year jail sentence or both for failure to properly supervise a child under their care.

But is it fair to blame parents for errant children?

For most of their primary years, children mirror their parents. Aggressive parents beget school bullies while offspring of reticent parents become their victims.

But caning also begets a chain reaction.

“Studies have shown that many criminals and convicts either came from troubled families or had suffered corporal punishment as children,” said Dr Mohamed Fadzil.

By setting the age of criminal responsibility at 10, the Act recognises that individual characteristics set in around that age and thereafter. Somewhere after 11, parents start “losing” their adolescents. Instead it is their peers who have the greatest influence on teenagers.

This age of criminal responsibility differs from country to country, reflecting the societies in which they operate. In Hong Kong it is 10, while mainland China, Taiwan and the United Kingdom set it at 14; France has lowered it from 15 to 13; Greece and Netherlands to 12.

2007 07: 15 expelled from MRSM for beating up students

2007-07-20T12:10:00.000+08:00

The Star Online. News. Nation. Saturday July 14, 2007

JOHOR BARU: Fifteen Form Three students of Maktab Rendah Sains Mara (MRSM) in Negri Sembilan have been expelled for beating up 10 Form Two students.

Entrepreneurial and Co-operative Development Minister Datuk Seri Khaled Nordin said such disciplinary offences would not be tolerated.

“MRSM is an institution to develop students who are successful in their studies as well as in behaviour and character.

“We are not going to compromise on any student involved in group beatings,” he said.

On June 17, the 15 Form Three students beat up the Form Two students in MRSM Kuala Klawang, Negri Sembilan between 2am and 4am.

The expulsion letters were issued on Thursday after a full investigation into the matter was completed.

Khaled said such stern action was needed especially as there were cases where problematic students continued the same offences after being transferred.

“We even have reports where the victims themselves transferred because the issue was not addressed accordingly,” he told a press conference after the Umno Pasir Gudang division meeting on Saturday.

“We are currently investigating other similar incidents and we will not hesitate to take stern action against the culprits,” he added.

.....................................................................

Have Plan B for expelled students, says Lam Thye

The Star Online. News. Nation. Monday July 16, 2007

MALACCA: The Government should provide an alternative path for expelled students to stop them from becoming misfits in society, said Malaysian Crime Prevention Foundation (MCPF) vice-chairman Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye.

Lee said yesterday while he understood the need for expulsion in certain cases, the MCPF was concerned as to where the affected students would go.

He suggested sending them to reform schools for rehabilitation.

Lee was commenting on the expulsion of 15 Maktab Rendah Sains Mara (MRSM) students for beating up 10 Form Two students.

Entrepreneurial and Co-operative Development Minister Datuk Seri Khaled Nordin said such offences would not be tolerated because “MRSM was an institution to develop students who are good in their studies, behaviour and character.”

Khaled said such stern action was needed as there were cases where problematic students continued with the same offences when transferred to other Mara colleges.

.....................................................................

Expelled students: Time to move on and focus on studies

NST Online. Letters. 19/7/07

By : W.M. RAMLI, Ulu Klang, Selangor

I REFER to the case of 15 Mara Junior Science College (MRSM) students in Kuala Kelawang, Negri Sembilan, who were expelled for bullying.

The Form Three students were reported to have been involved in a two-hour hazing session on 10 Form Two juniors on June 17 ("No way back for college bullies" — NST, July 17).

Bullying or hooliganism has become the bane in schools. I think the stern action taken was appropriate.

The expelled students have only themselves to blame for involvement in such acts.

What is left now is to look at what has happened in a positive way and learn from it.

It is not the end of the world. Get back into any ordinary school and devote your time to studies towards achieving good results in the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM). Learn from your mistakes.

.....................................................................

Expelled students: A warning to others to behave

NST Online. Letters. 19/7/07

By : MOHD FAIZAL ABDULLAH, Kuala Lumpur

I SUPPORT Entrepreneur and Co-operative Development Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin’s decision against allowing the 15 expelled Mara Junior Science College (MRSM) students to be reinstated and to continue their studies in the residential college ("No way back for college bullies" — NST, July 17).

The students, along with their parents, have apologised to their victims and appealed to be given another chance.

The minister’s refusal serves as a warning to other students that bullying and ragging will not be tolerated.

.....................................................................

Help, not expel, the problematic students

The Star Online. Opinion. Saturday July 21, 2007

ENTREPRENEURIAL and Cooperative Development Minister Datuk Seri Khaled Nordin has taken a firm stand not to entertain appeals from parents of 15 Maktab Rendah Sains Mara students in Kuala Klawang, Negeri Sembilan, who were expelled for beating up 10 other students.

According to the minister, the decision to expel them was taken after “serious consideration” and should serve as an “example and reminder” to other students to behave themselves and that bullying and ragging would not be tolerated.

His no-nonsense and uncompromising approach on matter’s concerning discipline in a residential college is understandable.

But the question is why has discipline deteriorated to the extent that the junior students have to run away for fear of being beaten?

What action has been taken by the school to deal with the problem of indiscipline? What has happened to the wardens and other personnel in charge of security and discipline?

No one will disagree that stern action has to be taken against school bullies in the interest of protecting other students.

However, what concerns people like me is the future of the 15 expelled.

The perception among the public is that expelling the “problematic” students is tantamount to transferring a serious problem from the college to the society as these students, without proper counselling or rehabilitation, could turn out to be potential gangsters or criminals.

In my opinion, the affected students should be placed in alternative schools where they can continue their studies and be counselled so that they can turn over a new leaf and continue their education, instead of just expelling them.

Statistics from the Royal Malaysian Police has shown that juvenile and student involvement in index crime has worsened.

For the first six months of this year, students’ involvement in index crime totalled 881 cases with 1,596 arrests as compared to 863 cases with 1,467 arrests for the same period last year.

We do not want to see the 15 expelled adding on to these statistics.

The police statistics are a grim reminder to us that juveniles and students can be potential criminals if matters concerning discipline in schools and colleges are not addressed effectively.

TAN SRI LEE LAM THYE,
Vice-Chairman
Malaysian Crime Prevention Foundation.

........................................................

EXPELLED MARA STUDENTS: Discipline must come first

NST Onlines. Letters. 23/7/07

By : TAN SRI LEE LAM THYE, Vice-chairman Malaysian Crime Prevention Foundation

THE Malaysian Crime Prevention Foundation is pleased that the 15 expelled Form Three Mara Junior Science College (MRSM) students from Kuala Klawang, Negri Sembilan, have been given the chance to study in a normal school, provided they are prepared to behave.

When the students were expelled for ragging their juniors, we were concerned they were not given an opportunity to turn over a new leaf.

When asked for comment by the media, I was looking at the problem from the point of view of student delinquency and their involvement in crime and other social issues.

The fact is that if the expelled students were not given a chance to continue their studies, then they would likely end up as misfits in our society and get involved in crime.

While we understand the need for MRSM Kuala Klawang to take stern action to remove the students concerned as a lesson to other students to behave, the MRSM management should act to bolster efforts and prevent future indiscipline among students in the residential college.

Recent statistics from the police show that juvenile and student involvement in crime has increased.

For the first six months of this year, there were 881 cases, with 1,596 arrests, of students involved in crime compared with 863 cases and 1,467 arrests for the same period last year.

The statistics are a grim reminder that juveniles and students can be potential criminals if matters concerning discipline in schools and colleges are not addressed effectively.

We certainly do not want to see students from MRSM or elsewhere ending up as part of police statistics.

................................................................
EXPELLED MARA STUDENTS: Bullies must go

NST Onlines. Letters. 23/7/07

By : R.M.A., Kota Samarahan, Sarawak

Even though the punishment is viewed by some people as harsh, they should focus their attention on what the students have done to their victims.

As a person who was once bullied in secondary school, I know that the bullies can inflict long-term psychological trauma on their victims.

The victims will not feel safe and they cannot enjoy a meaningful school experience like other students, as long as the bullies are around them.

Therefore, I laud the sound action and believe the punishment is fair.

The expelled students should be thankful for being given a second chance to finish studies at another school.

2007 07:

2007-07-18T14:44:00.000+08:00

2007 07: Traditional healer pleads guilty to raping 15yr-old

2007-07-18T14:22:00.000+08:00

The Star Online. News. Nation. Friday July 13, 2007

KUALA LUMPUR: A traditional medicine practitioner pleaded guilty to two counts of raping a policeman’s underage daughter in her house.

Mohd Faizal Zakaria, 22, was accused of raping the girl in Jalan Semarak on June 26 and July 4.

The 15-year-old girl, whose mother was said to have sought treatment with the accused, had lodged a police report over the rape on July 4.

The accused, from Tumpat in Kelantan, was said to have been staying with the girl during the treatment period.

DPP Nurul Ain Hamzah objected for bail saying that the case was a statutory rape.

"If the court decides to use its discretion then the prosecution is proposing for his bail to be set at RM20,000 in one surety.

"This is because the victim knew the accused as he had been staying with her during the period," she said.

Upon hearing this, Mohd Faizal, who was arrested on July 4, said he has nothing to say on his bail.

Sessions Court judge Zamri Ibrahim denied bail and set Aug 7 for the hearing of the statement of facts and sentencing.

2007 07: Housewife in double murder trial

2007-07-18T14:14:00.000+08:00

The star Online. News. Courts. Thursday July 12, 2007

BALIK PULAU: A 30-year-old housewife has been ordered to stand trial at the High Court for the murder of her two sons, aged six and two.

Magistrate Noorhisham Mohd Jaafar transferred the case to the High Court yesterday after deputy public prosecutor Mohd Rehan Mohd Ariff made the requisition order.

Rosniza Ibrahim is charged with two counts of murdering her sons Muhamad Alif Hakimi, six, and Muhamad Alif Hazimi, two, by strangling them with an electric iron cord at their flat in Taman Indah, Lebuh Batu Maung 8, Bayan Lepas, on Feb 18.

Rosniza was not represented by any lawyer.

She was first charged in court on March 1, and the court sent her to the Hospital Bahagia in Tanjung Rambutan for observation.

The hospital found her fit to stand trial.

2007 07: Teenager charged with five counts of raping girlfriend

2007-07-18T14:06:00.000+08:00

The Star Online. Nation. News. Thursday July 12, 2007

IPOH: A teenager was charged in two Sessions courts here with five counts of raping his 14-year-old girlfriend.

The 19-year-old youth pleaded guilty on Thursday to four of the charges, two of which occurred behind the community library at Kampung Tengku Hussein Baru here on June 27 and 28.

Another happened at the village's kindergarten toilet area on June 29 and another at the 19-year-old's house at Kampung Tengku Hussein Baru on July 3.

All the incidents were alleged to have taken place between 3.30am and 4.30am.

However, the youth claimed trial to another charge of raping the girl on June 30 at the same kindergarten toilet area between 3.30am and 4.30am.

Sessions Court judges Rasidah Chik and Tan Hooi Leng fixed bail at RM8,000 for each charge in one surety.

Both judges fixed Aug 29 for sentencing and for the teenager to appoint a lawyer for his trial.

If convicted, the youth faces a maximum 20 years' jail with whipping under Section 376 of the Penal Code.