How many more young adults must die at the military university, Universiti Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia (UPNM) before the Unity Government takes real, concrete action to prevent the bullying and subsequent deaths and injuries?

There have been a string of alleged abuses and two confirmed deaths at the Sungai Besi campus in Kuala Lumpur. The first shocking death occurred in 2017.

The usual accompanying rhetoric will include “No stone will be left unturned” and “a thorough and detailed investigation will be carried out”. 

Defence Minister Mohamed Khaled Nordin, Higher Education Minister Zambry Abdul Kadir, and Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek will ape the PM’s words that action will be taken and the perpetrators punished.

The PM’s response about the culture of bullying at Malaysia’s top military university was to say that it was “madness” and that it was “not tolerated”.

He said, “This is madness. We talk about knowledge, but we don’t realise that discipline is essential in educating human beings. Humanity and knowledge are key to understanding.”

However, words are not enough. Heads should roll. Lessons should be learnt. An example of the man at the top who failed in his job should be made.

Those in charge should assume responsibility and resign as they have failed the students, their parents and our nation. 

Deaths have occurred but no one has assumed responsibility and it appears to many Malaysians that no one is in charge.

Wrongdoing has happened, but no one has been found guilty.

Noises are made, but weeks or months later, the same abuse and bullying resumes.

Something is wrong, but no one seems to be able to pinpoint the weak areas in the training. Why not?

Why have more cases emerged since the last reported incident? It’s as if the message about stopping the culture of bullying was either not conveyed, or was totally ignored by the teaching fraternity in UPNM.

How strong is the apathy in the university? How deeply entrenched is the culture of fear?

It would not come as a surprise if the parents of any student at UPNM were to take their child out of the university until an independent investigation is done, the culprits investigated, charged if found wrong, tried in court, and sentenced. 

The same treatment should be meted out on the heads of the appropriate faculties, the vice chancellor and the wardens of the halls of residence.

If university students cannot be protected from harm, what guarantees can the authorities give the parents about keeping their teenage children in military camps safe?

These are the people who are responsible for the smooth running of the school and yet they appear to have shrunk into the background as if trying to avoid the public glare to do with these deaths and assaults.

On 8 November, at the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court, Amirul Iskandar Norhanizan, 22, was charged with assaulting fellow cadet, Muhammad Salman Mohd Saiful Surash, 20, with a hot steam iron.

So, didn’t Amirul read the news that seven years earlier, cadet Zulfarhan Osman Zulkarnain had been tortured to death when his peers wrongly accused him of theft of a laptop?

His six assailants were sentenced to death in July 2024. Was Amirul not aware of this tragic case?

In the university induction, was mention not made about bullying and that bullies would be severely punished?

Reading the reports about the latest bullying prompted the armed forces spokesman to say, “No party involved will be protected or spared if found guilty. Legal action will be taken against those responsible.” 

Haven’t we heard this, or something similar before?

On 13 November, Muhammad Amir Rusyaidi Muhammad Zaidi, 25, a Reserve Officer Training Unit (ROTU) cadet at Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM), collapsed and was later pronounced dead at a hospital.

After a gruelling training session during which he was allegedly ridden like a horse by his instructor, the victim was left in the sun for 30 minutes before he fell into a coma. 

The victim’s father, Muhammad Zaidi Abdul Rahman, said instead of calling an ambulance or taking his son to the UiTM medical centre which was nearby, precious time was lost by transporting the unconscious cadet to a hospital which was much further away. Why didn’t common sense prevail?

In the month before, on 21 October, Mohd Adil Mat Awang Ghani, 22, a third-year student, had pleaded not guilty to causing hurt to second-year student Muhammad Haziq Iqbal Ahmad Rashidi, 19, by stomping on the victim’s stomach with spiked boots. The victim sustained rib and spine fracture because of this cruelty.

Was this part of UPNM’s training to toughen up the cadets?

Malaysians are extremely worried because when the National Service programme for school leavers is resumed in the new year, the fear is that the teenagers who are housed in military camps will face similar risks of bullying by their seniors. 

The NS programme started in 2003 and right up to the time it was terminated in 2018, has been plagued with many issues from food poisoning to safety in the camps, sick students denied medical treatment, sexual abuse, and bullying.

If university students cannot be protected from harm, what guarantees can the authorities give the parents about keeping their teenage children in military camps safe?

Sources:

1. Malaysiakini: Heads must roll for rampant bullying at UPNM
2. Malaysiakini: UPNM bullying: Cadet officers to be examined for injuries: minister
3. Malaysiakini: UPNM student charged with stomping on cadet with spike boots
4. Malaysiakini: UiTM cadet dies after allegedly ‘ridden like a horse’, getting heatstroke in training
5. Malaysiakini: Five UPNM military cadets expelled, fined RM189k for being bullies
6. Malaysiakini: 23 deaths in 10 years: MP reminds of National Service’s dark history

(Mariam Mokhtar is a Freelance Writer.)