Of Bullies and Thugs in Schools, Uni - Time to Educate the Heart

Aug 13, 2026

The text examines renewed bullying and violence at Universiti Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia (UPNM), where a navy cadet was reportedly tortured by seniors and sentenced offenders faced severe penalties. It argues that education systems focusing on knowledge while neglecting character, combined with tolerance toward bullying and gangsterism, allow such behavior to persist. It proposes immediate zero-tolerance actions starting with leaders at schools and universities and emphasizes future reforms that educate the heart as well as the mind.

LanguageEnglish

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Of bullies and thugs in schools, uni

Immediate measures

Future measures

TARIKH:4 NOVEMBER 2024 (ISNIN) N.STRAITS TIMES UTUSAN M'SIA BERITA HARIAN # Of bullies and thugsin schools,uni Time to educate the heart,not just the mind NSf 4(·2024 P4.2 "T has happened again,in the very university—UniversitPertahanan Nasional Malaysia (UPNM)—where in 2017navy cadet Zulfarhan Osman Zulkarnain was bullied todeath by several ofhis seniors.Zulfarhan wastortured with ahot iron while his hands and legs were tied.Six of them weresentenced to death and 12 others implicated were handed prisonterms of three to four years by the Court of Appeal in July.Thedeath sentence could have served as a fresh lesson,but as it hasturned out,it wasn't.This time,the victim escaped fatal injuries,though a hot iron was allegedly used.Yet,why did it happenagain at UPNM?And why is such thuggery continuing inschoolsand other institutions in the country?Prime Minister Datuk SeriAnwar Ibrahim offered a two-part answer to the questions at adialogue at UPNM on Friday.One,our education system em-phasises knowledge,but not character.Two,this is made worseby the culture of tolerance towards bullying,thuggery and gang-sterism.We could not have put it better.Ignore theheart,and themind embarks on its own frolic of madness.Ignoring thuggerycreates a culture of permissiveness toward it.Now that we know the remedies,how do we proceed?There SINAR HARIAN THE STAR are measures for now and measures for theTo befuture.The measures for now must beginbrutal,with putting an end to the permissive at-bullying istitude towards thuggery in educational in-stitutions.This must start with headmas-a pervasiveters,principals,vice-chancellors and col-problem.lege heads,as suggested by the primeminister.Zero tolerance for bullying mustoriginate there.Followership often needsan example to follow.Incidents of bullying that refuse to go away say one thing:zero tolerance for thug-gery isn't a culture of the institution.Consider schools.AC-cording to statistics disclosed in the Dewan Rakyat by theEducation Ministry in November last year,bullying in schoolsis on the uptrend.Last year,there were 4,994 cases,a sig-nificant increase from 3,887 in 2022 and 326 in 2021.Thefigures do not give the true picture of the problem because notall cases are reported.To be blunt,bullying is a pervasiveproblem.And a permissive attitude helps it thrive. Now for measures for the future.Educating the mind withouteducating the heart is no education at all,said Aristotle.Sur-prisingly,the Western education model,which pays homage toGreek philosophy,has chosen to give the Aristotlian wisdom amiss.Malaysia,in adopting the Western education model,hasdone the same.By this measure,many have missed an ed-ucation.For the longest time,our very own renowned philoso-pher,Royal Professor Tan Sri Syed Muhammad Naquib Al-Attas,has been writing—profusely,it mustbesaid-about theneed to educate the heart,too,but in contrast to the Grecianway.To him,education isn'tjust teaching and insight,but alsoabout changing attitudes and behaviours,two elements that goto build a good character.The purpose of education,to SyedMuhammad Naquib,is to produce a good human being,onewho knows one'srightful and proper place in this and the nextworld.Malaysia hasn't been listening to him,but if it wants toproduce good human beings,it is time it did.

FAQs

What prompted the discussion about bullies and thugs in the text?

It follows a renewed incident at UPNM, referencing a prior case of severe bullying and torture by seniors against a navy cadet.

Why does the text say bullying continues despite court sentences?

It argues the deeper issues are an education system that emphasizes knowledge over character and a culture of tolerance toward bullying, thuggery, and gangsterism.

What solutions are suggested for now and for the future?

For now, it calls for zero tolerance starting with school and university leadership. For the future, it stresses educating the heart as well as the mind to build good character and behavior.

Aug 13, 2026

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