Teacher apologises for caning student over non-halal food

By Joseph Tawie
KUCHING: The teacher who caned 10-year-old Basil Anak Beginda for bringing non-halal food from home for recess has apologised.
The senior assistant of St. Thomas’ Primary School, Iskander Fadeli, apologised to Basil's mother, Angela Jabing.
Jabing, who attended a meeting with members of the school board of directors and representatives of Education Department, said: “He (Iskander) apologised to me and I accepted his apology on condition that he must be transferred out from the school as my son is still traumatised and is scared to see him.
“I want the education department to take action, and they said that they will let me know what action will be taken,” she said.



Asked if Iskander had admitted to caning the boy, Jabing said 'if he apologised it meant that he admitted' to caning her son.
“In front of the board members and representatives from the education department, he said people make mistakes and he did not expect the matter to be a big issue.
“He is not one of the disciplinary teachers given the authority to cane. According to the headmaster, there are only few teachers who are given the authority and his name is not even mentioned,” she said.
Asked if she was happy with the outcome of the meeting, Jabing said: “It depends on the education department and what is the outcome of their meeting.
"On my side, I agreed to accept his apology on the condition that he is to be transferred out, and they told me that they will bring up the matter with the education department director.
“To me that is the best, because my son is still traumatised by the incident and if he sees the teacher he is still scared," she said.
Misled minister
Jabing said she was not keen on making a police report and did not want to turn the incident into a big issue.
"Today is my fifth time meeting with the school authority and representatives of education department.
"I publicised the whole thing in the papers because they (school) did not take action when I complained," she said.
On the statement made by Deputy Education Minister Wee Ka Siong, Jabing said that Wee 'was misinformed.'
“The deputy minister should not have issued a misleading statement.
"He should have come to Kuching to investigate. He should not rely on the education department because they are trying to protect the teacher,” she said.
Quoting a report from the department, Wee had said that the boy was caned not because he brought the non-halal food to the school, but for another reason.
“From investigations, it was found out that although he brought non-halal food to school – the fried rice with pork sausages, the senior school administrator denied caning the boy for it,” Wee had said.
Visibly annoyed with the statement, Jabing said: “Now that Iskander has apologised to me, it is obvious that the deputy minister issued a very misleading statement.”
Public concern
Meanwhile, Sarawak PKR women's wing vice-president Voon Shiak Ni, said that party did not politicise the issue.
“This issue is of public concern and affects all parents and children. Packing a lunch box for children is a daily chore for all parents.
“It is important and crucial that the school makes its stand clear to all parents and the public to avoid opening up our children to unnecessary and unwarranted intimidation and punishment be it verbally or physically by any school authority,” Voon said.
She said that the issue cannot be watered down by casting doubts on the truth of the complaints or allegations that it is being politicised.
“Whether the issue is politicised or not cannot be the reason to absolve the seriousness of the complaint and unjustified or arbitrary action of the school upon the boy be it verbally or physically,” she added.
Source: FreeMalaysiaToday.Com