Anti-bullying education should be embedded in school curriculum
It is not the bruises or visible injuries that worry me most about the person who is being bullied but the quiet withdrawal, drop in confidence and loss of joy for learning in him or her.
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New Straits Times
5 hours ago
- New Straits Times
Year Four pupil bullied twice, Johor authorities promise strict action
JOHOR BARU: The State Education Department has given assurance that it will resolve the case of a Year Four pupil who was bullied twice, leading to memory loss. State Education and Information Committee chairman Aznan Tamin said the education department is in the process of finalising follow-up actions, including engagement with the victim's family and the perpetrators. "Everything is being handled by the state education department. We have held discussions, and several actions will be taken against the perpetrators and so on, but the process is still being finalised. "Sometimes it's not just the student who needs counselling; the family is also given guidance so that they can overcome the trauma from this incident together," he said when met after visiting the pupil at the Pediatric Ward of a private hospital here today. Also present were the Women, Family and Community Development Committee chairman Khairin-Nisa Ismail and the State Education Director Mohd Hanafi Samad. In a related development, Aznan said he had chaired a meeting of the Johor State Special Anti-Bullying Committee held in Iskandar Puteri. The meeting, co-chaired with Khairin-Nisa, was part of an aggressive and integrated effort to address the increasingly concerning issue of bullying. He said the meeting outlined a comprehensive action plan, including phased campaigns and intervention programmes in all educational institutions, particularly schools, involving teachers, parents, and the community. The Johor anti-bullying campaign is being launched to ensure that schools become safe spaces, where students are protected, parents are more aware, and the culture of bullying can be eradicated. "Alhamdulillah, earlier we had a discussion on several standard operating procedures regarding bullying issues in Johor. "We will follow the existing SOPs set by the Education Minister, but we will increase awareness campaigns, training, and so on for students, teachers, and parents about bullying misconduct," he said. It was reported that a 10-year-old cancer survivor is now battling brain trauma after allegedly being bullied twice this year, leaving his mother pleading for justice. The boy who has been fighting adenoid cystic carcinoma for the past two years, was allegedly first attacked by a 12-year-old schoolmate on Feb 21 at a religious school in Skudai. The assault, said to have stemmed from a rejected crush involving his elder sister, saw him kicked, punched, his head slammed, and forced to strip.
The Star
6 hours ago
- The Star
Too weak to save anyone
IN several Gaza hospitals still barely functioning, nurses are fainting from hunger and dehydration. Managers often can't provide meals for patients or staff, doctors are out of formula for newborns – sometimes giving them water – and at least three major hospitals lack nutritional fluids for treating malnourished patients. This is the new front line: hunger. After months of warnings, international agencies and doctors say starvation is now sweeping the territory. Scores of Palestinians have died of hunger in recent months, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. Seven doctors – four local, three foreign volunteers from Australia, Britain and the US – working at four hospitals, described how medics are collapsing in wards, revived only by saline and glucose drips. And while trauma cases still flood in, there's now a surge of patients wasted by hunger. 'We're losing malnourished babies because we can't give them what they need – not even safely,' said Dr Ambereen Sleemi, an American volunteer at Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza. 'They come in starving and we can't bring them back.' The very fluids needed to slowly feed and stabilise children are missing. Rapid refeeding could kill them. But even the small amounts hospitals can safely give aren't always enough. Dr Nick Maynard, a British surgeon who recently left Nasser Hospital, described seeing a seven-month-old who looked like a newborn. 'Skin and bones doesn't do it justice,' he said. 'This is man-made starvation. It's being used as a weapon of war.' Since late July, Israel began limited aid drops over northern Gaza and paused military activity in certain areas to allow land deliveries. But the new aid distribution model, implemented after a total blockade from March to May, has proven dangerous and ineffective, doctors and rights groups say. Food used to be distributed at hundreds of UN sites close to displaced families. Now, supplies arrive at a few large hubs, managed by Israeli-backed US contractors. Reaching them requires walking kilometres through Israeli-controlled zones. Hundreds of Palestinians have reportedly been killed on those routes. Israel says the change was to prevent Hamas from stealing aid. Yet, military officials have admitted they have no proof the UN systematically lost aid to Hamas. Doctors Without Borders recently reported that one in four children and pregnant women at their clinics were malnourished. The World Food Programme says a third of Gaza's population is going days without food. Starvation is killing babies directly and weakening adults to the point where otherwise survivable injuries become fatal. Miscarriages are rising, and more babies are born underweight and immuno-compromised. Dr Hani al-Faleet, a paediatric consultant at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, put it bluntly: 'The baby doesn't get enough to eat – and neither does the mother.' Even when aid arrives, it's too expensive for many. Hanin Barghouth, 22, can't walk to the new aid points. Her husband never reaches them before supplies run out. Their three-month-old baby girl, Salam, was born after the blockade began. She weighs just 4kg – well underweight. 'I've lost 13kg since the war started,' said Hanin. 'I breastfeed when I can. When I can't, I give her formula – but only if I have it.' A tin of formula now costs about US$120 – more than twice what it sells for outside Gaza. While Salam still receives some care in central Gaza, access is even worse farther north. Two-year-old Yazan Abu al-Foul, skeletal and silent, lives near the beach in Gaza City. His family can't afford food, and hospitals have told them they don't have the resources to admit him. 'There is nothing,' said Dr Mohammad Abu Salmiya, director of Shifa Hospital. 'No supplements, no infant formula, no IV nutrition. These children need the basics to live – and we don't have them.' Even hospital staff are collapsing on duty. 'Some faint in the emergency ward or the OR because they haven't eaten,' Mohammad added. 'The burden is immense.' — ©2025 The New York Times Company This article originally appeared in The New York Times
New Straits Times
6 hours ago
- New Straits Times
Cancer survivor briefly loses consciousness amid recovery from alleged bullying
JOHOR BARU: A 10-year-old cancer survivor, who is being treated for a concussion following an alleged bullying incident, suffered a health scare today when he briefly lost consciousness for nearly 10 minutes—sending his family into a panic. His 39-year-old mother said her son had been complaining of severe headaches and a loss of appetite. "Earlier today, he fainted and was unconscious for about 10 minutes. We panicked, but thankfully the doctors managed to stabilise him," she said. The housewife said her son had initially been expected to be discharged this week, but doctors may extend his hospital stay for monitoring if his condition does not improve. "They advised him to rest more and limit visitors. Since yesterday evening, many agencies have come to see him, and we are grateful for their concern," she added. She said doctors also cautioned that her son was at risk of seizures and needed to recover fully before returning to school. Earlier, the New Straits Times reported that the boy, who had survived cancer, suffered brain trauma after he was allegedly bullied twice by schoolmates. Johor police chief Commissioner Ab Rahaman Arsad said police are awaiting a full medical report before concluding investigations into the claims that the boy suffered a brain concussion after he was allegedly bullied twice in a span of six months by two of his schoolmates.
