KUALA LUMPUR: His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim, the King of Malaysia, today called on the government to launch a comprehensive anti-bullying campaign, starting at the primary school level.
The King warned that failure to address the issue early could result in a generation devoid of respect and compassion.
In a post on his official Facebook page, Sultan Ibrahim shared a blog post penned by Her Majesty Raja Zarith Sofiah, Queen of Malaysia, titled "When Schools Should Be Safe Places".
Below is the post in full:
"When Schools Should Be Safe Places"
It often happens that our rambling family conversations will touch on many topics and issues: from the health of our elderly relatives, to the weather, and then to international and local news.
And, as always, it ends with our shared concern about what is happening locally. It is, as always, too, almost impossible to ignore what is of concern to most Malaysians.
Since late July, we have all been aware of both happy and sad news that have made headlines in both mainstream and social media. And thus it was that we ended up sharing stories about bullying at our schools and other educational institutions in Malaysia.
Over the years, news and accounts of bullying and their often tragic results have always made for disturbing reading.
In 2017, Zulfarhan Osman Zulkifli, a navy cadet, died from burn wounds on his body. In the same year, T. Nhaveen, from Georgetown, died from internal bleeding in his head. Both of them were the victims of bullying.
Schools and other educational institutions, including universities, should ideally be places where our children (of whatever age) feel safe. But the opposite is true for far too many of them: these are instead places where many become the victims of their peers.
Why do some of those who have been bullied choose to keep their ordeals to themselves? During another chat with a family friend, I found out that one of the reasons a student will not expose the identities of their bullies is to protect their circle of friends: if they "snitch" about their tormentors, their friends would be bullied too. So, to protect their friends, they would keep quiet.
Others who are lucky enough to be able to leave their schools would choose to do so. But those who do not have this choice would stay on and endure whatever is done to them.
After my conversations with both family and friends concerning bullying at our schools and universities, I scrolled through the different social media platforms.
I had been told by my younger relatives to watch a locally-produced series and a film about bullying at a boarding school, both of which are based on real events. I watched the trailer but decided against watching the entire film: this was no light-hearted comedy.
One article written about the series noted that "…If you've been to a boarding school before, you'll have experienced the thrills and spills of asrama life…However, for many Malaysians, the word 'asrama" will remind them of its negative aspects like bullying, for example."
Bullying at schools has become an unwanted and ugly culture in Malaysia. Just talking to family and friends proves that it happens more often than not. And that it is real. It is rampant.
Do we just ignore it because it hasn't happened to our own son or daughter? Must another teenager or young adult die a painful death before we say enough is enough? How many more parents and families have to endure the grief of losing a loved family member? If we aspire so much to be called a "caring" society, then it's time for us all to answer these questions.
Malaysian children, teenagers, and young adults should not dread having to be at schools or universities because they must face yet another day, yet another night, of being tortured by their fellow classmates. Parents, too, should not have to worry about the safety of their children at school whilst they struggle with financial burdens and family problems.
It is our collective responsibility as a society to make sure that those who have died at the hands of their bullies have not died in vain.
