Stop waiting for tragedy to act on bullying

A recent shooting at a school in Thailand, in which the teenage suspect was reportedly bullied, should be a wake-up call for Malaysia.

We already have our own anti-bullying law. The question now is whether we will enforce it.

We too have had our share of similar tragedies. These range from vocational college assaults to ‘hazing’ (initiation abuse) at military and religious boarding schools. Our record to date shows severe gaps in how schools and colleges have managed the problem.

One of the worst cases came in 2017. A 21-year-old cadet officer at the National Defence University of Malaysia, or UPNM, was tortured with a hot iron by fellow cadets. He died from his injuries.

That same year, an 18-year-old in Penang was attacked by a group that included his former schoolmates. He was beaten with helmets and fists, burned and sexually assaulted with an object. He suffered catastrophic injuries, was declared brain-dead, and later died. The attack was widely reported as bullying-related. The criminal proceedings in the case remain ongoing.

Both cases caused nationwide outrage. But that outrage was not enough to stop further tragedies.

In 2024, a 17-year-old vocational college student in Lahad Datu, Sabah, was beaten to death by 13 dormitory mates. The case was linked to a dispute over missing money. In August 2025, all 13 accused were convicted of murder. The 12 juveniles were ordered to be detained indefinitely. The 19-year-old among them received 30 years’ imprisonment and 12 strokes of the cane.

In 2025, 13-year-old Zara Qairina, a boarding school student in Papar, Sabah, died after falling from her dormitory’s third floor. Investigators say the case involves elements of bullying, neglect and sexual harassment. Five teenage girls have been charged with using abusive language towards her. The case, along with a separate inquest into her death, remains before the courts.

Zara’s death triggered nationwide anger. That pressure helped push the government to act. Parliament passed the Anti-Bullying Bill in December 2025, creating a tribunal that can order compensation of up to RM250,000 for victims. The law came into force in June 2026.

What is troubling is not only the price paid in young lives. It is how much outrage, grief and protest it took before the Ministry of Education and the authorities treated bullying with the seriousness it deserved.

Amid sustained public pressure, authorities revisited questions about how earlier complaints and investigations had been handled. The MoE recorded 2,889 cases – 2,149 in secondary schools and 740 in primary schools.

That figure alone is worrying. Yet advocacy groups say under-reporting makes the true scale of the problem worse.

A national concern

Bullying today looks different from what many of us grew up with. Social media has widened its reach and its cruelty. It is no longer limited to physical violence. Emotional and psychological bullying can now follow a child everywhere and go unnoticed for a long time.

Given the facts and the statistics, Malaysian authorities and parents cannot brush school bullying aside as bad luck or someone else’s misfortune. It is a national concern.

We should be honest about our own habits too. Too often, real reform in Malaysia follows a wave of public anger rather than early warning signs.

Authorities should act on bullying long before it becomes a hidden but dangerous threat to students.

Malaysia now has the law it needed. What comes next is the will, and the follow-through, to make it work.

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