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The narrative contrasts childhood memories of fear and corporal punishment with later observations of modern discipline limits, social media scrutiny, and shifting parental power. It evaluates whether such practices build respect and boundaries or create lasting dents, arguing for a middle ground where kindness and accountability coexist through respect, consequences, and emotional maturity.",{"@graph":69,"@context":114},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":53,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/lifestyle/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/the-rotan-better-or-bitter/131684/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/the-rotan-better-or-bitter/131684.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Ava Thompson","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-09-22","2026-08-13",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":29},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"What does the author think about discipline today?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"The author believes discipline has not evolved to replace the rotan, with teachers pressured by parents and social media risks.","Answer","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":116,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":118,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":120,"site_id":62},131684,1786663347,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":123},{"doc_id":120,"user_id":124,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":125,"doc_module":4,"category_id":52,"category_name":53,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":126,"file_id":127,"file_url":128,"file_type":129,"file_size":130,"view_count":29,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":8,"language":131,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":132,"faqs":133,"seo_title":134,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":121,"read_time":14},1649267921044,"https://us-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/1800007509477c92dfb?_k=1786009248482753345","TARIKH:2 NOVEMBER 2025(AHAD)  \nUTUSAN M'SIA[     \nN.STRAITS TIME  \nBERITA HARIAN      \nTHE STAR [   \nSINAR HARIAN      \nThe rotan:Better  \nor bitter?  \nNST2(1·2025 PG·19HEN I first heardDatuk Seri AnwarIbrahim mention inthe Dewan Rakyatthat he “person-ally supports\"the idea of reintroducingcaning in schools—though onty under\"strict guidelines\"and “controlledcircumstances”-I laughed in thatstrange Malaysian way we do whentrauma meets nostalgia.  \nThe rotan is one of those nationaltouchstones that everyone seems tohave a storyabout—right up there withthe wonders of Milo from the truck andafter-school tuition.  \nThe irony?Inever went to school inthis country.My family left when I was7(for my father's studies),and I spentmost of my growing-up years in Eng-land,where the most severe punish-ment you got was being made to standin a corner,write lines or sit throughdetention.No rotan,no slipper,no rul-er across the palm.Just time—long.quiet,humiliating time.  \nTeachers were careful not to touchpupils.There was always that whis-pered fear of suits.\"Corporal pun-ishment\"sounded like somethingmedieval.Yet,even without the cane,Iremember chaos.  \nBoys-especially English boys-wereterribly naughty.Theytalked back,played truantandargued with teacherslike it was a sport.I sometimes won-dered if the absence of fear made thembolder...or simply more brazen.  \nMeanwhile,my own lessons in dis-cipline came from home.①  \n0F FEAR AND RESPECT  \nMy father didn't need a rotan -he had  \na whole arsenal.The belt,the hanger,the ketuk ketampi...the infamous squatpunishment where you hold your earsand bob up and down until your legsburn and your pride evaporates.⑦  \nMy brother and I would face eachother,holding each other'sears,squatting up and down until one of us gavein.It was teamwork in the most painfulsense.Andyet,as much asldreadeditInever thought ofit as abuse.Itwasjustwhat parents did.  \nThat was the Asian way-swit,efi-cient and physical.You didn'targue,youaccepted itas part of the deal.Myfatherdidn't only study law;he WAS the law.Ifeared him,but lalso respected him.To  \nme,he was both judge andexecutionerand somehow,that made sense then  \nNow,decades later,when I hearMalaysians joking about the \"rotargeneration”,I can't help but feel apang of nostalgia mixed with unease.There's always laughter when peopletalk about school caning-stories odisciplineteacherswho treateditlike arOlympic event,complete with a warm-upswish.But beneath the humourliesashared truth:most ofuswere allshapedby fear.65  \nDid it work?Maybe.We learnedboundaries,for sure.We learned howto toe the line,how to behave in front ofauthority.But we also learned some-  \nthing else—to stay quiet,to comply,toavoid standing out.I sometimes won-der how many of us mistook fear forrespect.  \n# FINDING MIDDLE GROUND\n\nWhen 1returned to Malaysia asan adult,Iwas struck by how much had changed.These days,it's often the teachers whoare afraid-of parents,of social media,of getting caught on video.  \nThe rotan might be gone,but dis-cipline hasn't exactly evolved to fill itsplace.You can't cane,you can't scoldand you definitely can't shame.Everyaction risks going viral.  \nDon't aet me wrona.I'm not cam-  \npaigning foranational rotan revival.ButIdo thinkwe've lost the middle ground.Somewhere between the slipper andthe safe space,we've forgotten howtobalance kindness with accountability.  \nWe want children to be confident,expressive,emotionally intelligent —and they should be.But when everytantrumis validated and every teacheris questioned,something gets lost.⑤  \nIf you ask me today whether therotan made us better or bitter,I'd sayit made us both—disciplined,yes,butalso a little dented.The sting fades,but the memory stays,woven into ourhumour,our parenting and ourinstinctto flinch at raised voices.  \nWhen I think about my father now,I don't see cruelty.I see a man doingwhat he thought was right,shaped bya time when love was often expressedthrough control,and discipline wasmistaken for strength.  \nHis hange","cbCaifH78Yr7oy7X","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaifH78Yr7oy7X","pdf",306602,"English","# Finding Middle Ground\n## Fear, respect, and boundaries\n## Modern discipline and accountability\n## Turning pain into stories","[{\"question\":\"What does the author think about discipline today?\",\"answer\":\"The author believes discipline has not evolved to replace the rotan, with teachers pressured by parents and social media risks.\"}]","The Rotan - Better or Bitter? 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