JOHOR BARU: A 13-year-old boy alleged that his discipline teacher caned him in the toilet after he failed to bring his physical education attire because he claimed that the instruction was given out in Bahasa Malaysia.
His father Lim Hock You, 55, said his son Ching Fei, who was enrolled in a Remove Class at SMK Taman Megah Ria, did not understand Bahasa Malaysia and that was why he did not bring along the uniform to school on Jan 14.
Lim said that he came home from work in the evening on the same day and found his youngest son hiding in his room and decided to find out why.
“After asking him a few times, he told me what happened and showed me the red bruises across the back of both his thighs,” he told a press conference in Jalan Bakawali, Taman Johor Jaya here on Sunday.
“My son said after being scolded and pinched by his physical education teacher for not bringing the uniform, he panicked and had a stomach ache when he saw the school’s discipline teacher walking his way with a thick cane.
“When Ching Fei ran to the toilet, the male discipline teacher followed him in and hit him once across his thighs with the thick cane,” he said, adding that the punishment was too heavy on a small boy.
“The teacher should have asked my son if he understood the instructions before hitting him.
“I sent my boy to the school to learn, not to get treated like that just because he did not understand some instructions,” said the carpenter.
Lim added that he went to the school next day and the assistant principal told him that teachers in the school were not allowed to use anything thicker than the standard rotan to hit students.
“I hope that the authorities can look into the matter and investigate the discipline teacher before any other students are hurt this way,” he said.
Meanwhile, Pasir Gudang PKR legal advisor Jimmy Puah, who organised the press conference, said that he would assist Lim in speaking to the school authorities to carry out necessary investigations on the discipline teacher.
When contacted, Seri Alam OCPD Supt Roslan Zainuddin confirmed that a police report has been made and the case was being investigated under Section 323 of Penal Code for voluntarily causing hurt.
