By Desmond Davidson

KUCHING, MALAYSIA: A reported bullying case in a secondary school in her constituency last week left Assistant Minister in the Chief Minister's Office Datin Fatimah Abdullah red-faced yesterday.

Fatimah was also peeved because she had not been informed of what she described as a "very serious incident", despite the fact that her portfolio includes education matters in the state.

To compound her embarrassment, a recording of the incident had been uploaded onto YouTube and titled "SMK Oya-style wrestling".

And, police had also wrapped up their investigations before she knew about it.

Dalat police chief Deputy Superintendent Martin Koo had told a local Bahasa Malaysia daily that the investigation papers had already been sent to the attorney-general.

"I have not been informed of this," Fatimah said when shown the report of the incident which happened in the rural town of Dalat, near Mukah.

"I should have been informed about matters as serious as this. I will find out why (I was not informed)."

Fatimah was speaking after attending the launch of the Home Managers' programme by Deputy Women, Family and Community Development Minister Noriah Kasnon.

A Form Three student of SMK Oya had lodged a report on Feb 23 claiming that 10 Sixth Formers had assaulted him in the school's boarding house.

The three-minute video clip of the assault showed a younger boy being kicked "Muay Thai-style", stomped on while on the floor, slapped and repeatedly punched.

But Fatimah was not the only official who had not been informed of the incident.

State Education Department director Dr Julaihi Bujang said he only knew of the incident yesterday after he received a call from state police commissioner Datuk Mohmad Salleh.

In Perlis for a conference, Julaihi described the incident as "more than bullying".

"It is worse. It is serious. There will be a full investigation and the penalty will be severe. I have been given the green light to take tough action."

However, Julaihi did not say who had given him the "green light".

Fatimah said strong action was needed to stamp out bullying in school, especially at boarding schools.

She said such incidents would give the impression that boarding schools were not safe.

"That would make parents fear sending their children there. We need to give them the message that it's safe."

Fatimah said cases of bullying in Sarawak schools were not prevalent but "there would be cases when you get students who try to impose themselves on others".

The majority of government schools in the state's rural areas are boarding schools due to the distance between schools and homes of pupils. --NST