‘Knot’ amused by daughter’s punishment

KUALA LUMPUR: A five-year-old girl was allegedly bound and gagged by her kindergarten’s headmistress in Setapak for being too noisy.

The unusual punishment went unnoticed until the girl’s mother caught her tying up her two-year-old brother at home on Nov 4.

“I scolded her and she said she was only doing what her teacher did to her when she was naughty,” said the mother, Teng Aai Hong, 36.

She was speaking at a press conference organised by MCA Public Services and Complaints Depart­ment chief Datuk Seri Michael Chong at Wisma MCA yesterday.

Teng said she confronted the headmistress over the matter a few days later.

Unacceptable punishment: (From left) The victim, Teng and Chong showing copies of Teng’s police report and pictures of the punishment at Wisma MCA . Looking on are Chong’s lawyers, James Ee (left, back row) and Leong.

“She admitted tying up my daughter but insisted that she didn’t do anything wrong because that was her own method of disciplining the children.

“She even demonstrated it by tying up another child,” said Teng.

The mother removed her daughter from the kindergarten and lodged a police report.

“My child could have suffocated,” she said.

Chong said the method is not right and that the headmistress should know better than to discipline young children in this way.

Police are investigating.