Teacher suspended over alleged affair
PETALING JAYA : A secondary school teacher in a southern state has been suspended from teaching following allegations that she had an affair, education minister Fadhlina Sidek said today.
She said her ministry is currently conducting an internal investigation, as the matter involved teacher integrity and conduct, Sinar Harian reported.
However, Fadhlina said the teacher is still working pending the investigation.
'She has only been suspended from her teaching duties. We need her to help out in the investigation process,' she was quoted as saying.
Fadhlina said her ministry took such matters seriously, whether or not they were shared on social media.
'We are responsible for ensuring that all our teachers comply with standards of integrity and teachers' ethics set by the ministry,' she said.
Fadhlina reminded all teachers to watch their conduct both within and outside the school.
The case has gone viral on social media, with people sharing video clips of the man's wife confronting the teacher.
Also shared were screenshots of lewd conversations on WhatsApp, said to be between the cheating pair.
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Malay Mail
19 minutes ago
- Malay Mail
Is KLIA ‘counter setting' a symptom of deeper migrant exploitation? — Haezreena Begum Abdul Hamid
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The act of 'counter-setting' which involves corruption at borders is a well-recognised enabler of both human trafficking and migrant smuggling. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) identifies bribery and abuse of power as systemic 'pull factors' that facilitate transnational crime. In this context, 'counter setting' is not just negligence, it is an institutional gateway for illicit entry under the guise of administrative authority. However, criminalising rogue officers should not automatically lead to the assumption that all individuals who passed through these compromised checkpoints are victims of trafficking or knowingly complicit in smuggling. Immigration Department officers inspecting passports of foreign visitors at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) in this file photo taken on July 3, 2023. — Bernama pic Trafficking vs. smuggling: Distinct legal frameworks Public discourse frequently conflates 'migration', 'trafficking', and 'smuggling', an issue compounded by certain NGO and academic narratives that generalise irregular movement as either criminal or victimhood, obscuring nuanced legal distinctions. Under both the UN Trafficking Protocol (Palermo Protocol) and Malaysia's Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act 2007 (ATIPSOM), human trafficking consists of three essential elements: act (e.g., recruitment, transportation), means (e.g., coercion, fraud, abuse of power), and purpose (e.g., exploitation such as forced labour or sexual servitude). However, ATIPSOM does not clearly criminalise attempts to traffic nor does it automatically recognise someone as a trafficked person simply because they entered the country irregularly. As studies has established, most trafficking victims enter Malaysia legally which means that they are in possession of valid passport and are even given a 30-day visa free entry if they are from South-east Asian countries. Therefore, it is nearly impossible to establish the key component of 'exploitation' unless it is evidently demonstrated at the border entry. Mere facilitation without evidence of exploitation does not constitute trafficking. By contrast, migrant smuggling involves consensual facilitation of unlawful entry in exchange for financial gain. Once the border is crossed, the smuggling transaction ends. In such cases, the migrant is typically treated as an offender who have breached immigration laws. An individual's status only becomes 'irregular' if immigration officers on arrival fail to stamp or process their entry. This administrative omission does not by itself amount to criminal conduct or evidence of trafficking. This brings us to a critical question: how can authorities establish that the individuals who entered via 'counter setting' were trafficked, smuggled, or simply irregular migrants? Without evidence of coercion or exploitation, these individuals remain at best suspects or irregular entrants. As many of us has experienced, it is extremely difficult for individuals to board international flights to Malaysia without valid travel documents. Multiple layers of checks include immigration clearance at the point of departure, airline document verification, and pre-boarding checks by flight crew. This may not necessarily be the case when entering Malaysia through land. 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A rights-based and reform-oriented strategy should include: stricter employer vetting procedures and meaningful penalties for labour exploitation; crackdowns on unlicensed and unscrupulous agents, including those operating under legal facades; enhance institutional oversight across border enforcement agencies to prevent corruption; implement a victim-centred approach that treats irregular entrants as potential victims unless complicity is proven; and ratify the UN Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families. As a conclusion, it is evident that the KLIA 'counter setting' scandal is not just about corrupt officers, it exposes systemic cracks in Malaysia's migration governance, labour recruitment processes, and institutional safeguards. While prosecuting offenders is necessary, structural reforms must follow to protect migrants' rights and preserve the integrity of our borders. To strike a balance between national security and human dignity, Malaysia must clearly distinguish between 'victims', 'offenders', and 'irregular migrants' and, above all, recognise the human realities behind each case. *Dr Haezreena Begum Abdul Hamid is a Criminologist and Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Law, University of Malaya. She can be reached at [email protected] **This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.
Malay Mail
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New Straits Times
an hour ago
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