KOTA TINGGI: Universiti Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia (UPNM) will step up safety measures at its Military Training Academy, including carrying out more roll calls, to curb bullying and abuse cases, says Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin.
The Defence Minister said the ministry will not compromise on any bullying activities at UPNM and will take stern and appropriate action.
“We will frequently make roll calls and install more closed-circuit television cameras (CCTVs) and so on.
“If there is a fight or bullying involving cadets, then more roll calls will be made, depending on the situation,” he told a press conference after launching a Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) community programme at Felda Bukit Aping Timur here yesterday.
Mohamed Khaled, who is also Kota Tinggi MP, said UPNM will also increase the number of wardens at the academy as part of its safety measures.
He had said on Thursday that his ministry would take every effort to stop the culture of bullying and abuse at UPNM immediately.
He said this was in line with the decree of His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim, King of Malaysia, who wanted all parties to take action to put an end to the unhealthy culture.
“We abide by His Majesty’s decree. It is very clear.
“As for the ministry, we have outlined our plan in Parliament to improve all aspects.”
Mohamed Khaled said the punishment of cadets involved in bullying and abuse had sent a clear message that such conduct would not be tolerated.
The Armed Forces has also said steps were taken to address bullying at UPNM.
“His Majesty’s decree clearly shows that bullying cannot be allowed to occur as it not only affects unity among students but also besmirches the reputation of this higher education institution and the Armed Forces in general,” it said in a statement.
“Awareness programmes are being conducted to prevent more incidents from occurring within the cadet body and that monitoring mechanisms such as the installation of 21 new CCTVs at the living quarters have been implemented,” it said.
A request to add manpower had been made to manage the current workload and ensure that monitoring was being conducted in a more systematic fashion.
