Defence Minister Fails To Inspire Public Confidence After Zulfarhan S Murder

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The relevant ministers and the vice-chancellor of the Universiti Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia (UPNM) do not appear to acknowledge the severity of bullying at the university, which resulted in the murder of navy cadet, Zulfarhan Osman Zulkarnain.
Their failure to properly address matters after the death sentence was imposed on Zulfarhan’s killers, does not instil any confidence. Their silence does not help to reassure the current batch of students at the university, their parents and members of their family, or the community.
The heinous torture of Zulfarhan by his peers in 2017 shocked the nation, but to date, we have no details about UPNM’s anti-bullying policy, or if one exists.

We also do not know the seriousness of the bullying culture at our educational establishments. No statistics of previous incidents has been provided. We only hear about bullying after deaths are reported in the media.
Are the students afraid to speak out?Is there a massive cover-up to prevent cases of bullying leaking out?Is evidence withheld to prevent a proper investigation?On July 23, three Court of Appeal judges unanimously found six former UPNM students guilty of murdering Zulfarhan; but it was almost one week later, before defence minister Khaled Nordin issued a statement about the crime.
Even then, the minister’s brief, non-committal statement seemed like an afterthought. There had been a huge outcry on social media about Zulfarhan’s murder. Did he feel obliged to say something?
Sadly, Khaled’s words sounded hollow and insincere. He failed to instil trust in the university or increase public confidence.
We have yet to hear from the vice-chancellor or the board of UPNM, or higher education minister Zambry Abdul Kadir. Their delay in issuing press releases in this high-profile case is damaging not just for them, but for the educational establishment.
Parents want to know if their children are safe at the university. The students want to know if they can depend on the university management for protection.
Khaled said that he was 
confident that there would be no future bullying incidents like the one involving the late Zulfarhan.
Would he like to share why he feels confident? How does he know that any complaints about bullying will be carried out by an open-minded person and that the investigation will be fair?
Does his confidence stem from the knowledge that there is a formal procedure for recording cases of bullying and the person investigating the complaint is neutral and is not in any way involved in the complaint?
Would he tell the rakyat what procedures are in place to protect those who lodge complaints? Will anyone be suspended whilst the investigation is ongoing?
What is the disciplinary action involved?
Khaled noted that no similar incidents have been reported since the 2017 tragedy. He is reported to have said: 
I believe that after that incident, these things have not happened again. So this means the university has likely taken appropriate actions.
Is Khaled extremely naïve or just daft?
His statement shows that he does not really know about the measures implemented and is just guessing.
Do he and his aides not realise that a number of mysterious deaths have been reported after 2017? They include the navy cadet officer, J. Soosaimanicckam, 27, UPNM student Amirul Nashriq Othman,19, private Muhammad Faiz Harun, 26, and Abdul Aziz Aznam, 20.
Moreover, the fact that there are no reported cases of bullying does not mean that there is no bullying going on.
Zulfarhan’s bullies had moved him from one hostel room to another to avoid detection. An anonymous letter was coined by someone who took pity on him, and the whole dormitory acted irresponsibly by failing to report the bullying.
Why? Did they fear his bullies more than they feared the law? Did they fear that taking part in the torture would have meant immediate expulsion and arrest?
Khaled also expressed confidence that the higher education ministry would take necessary steps to prevent such incidents across all universities.
Would he care to tell us more about these necessary steps?
It does not appear as if Khaled knows. Merely expressing confidence and sharing details of these preventative measures are two different things.
He said that his ministry was in 
constant communication with the university management to ensure such incidents don’t happen again.
He clarified that UPNM is under the auspices of the higher education ministry but that the defence ministry works closely with it because of their shared vision.
Zambry has not issued any statement to reassure the public, university students and their parents.
These ministers don’t appear to realise that their respective ministries and UPNM have failed students. - FMT
The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.

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