[ Herald Tribune ] Malaysian army probes recruits' alleged abuse, warns against ragging

The Associated Press
Published: October 17, 2007

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia: The Malaysian army is investigating claims by two recruits that they were abused by senior officers, a top official said Wednesday, as he warned of severe punishment for bullies in the force.

Zarul Fahmi Shabsuddin, 20, alleged he was forced to drink weapon cleaning fluid while Khairul Azzuwan Zainal Rashid, 19, claimed he was scarred after an officer cut his arm with a knife, said Lt. Gen. Mohamad Effendi Mustafa, commander of the army's first division infantry.

The two recruits, from a military camp in Sarawak state on Borneo island, filed complaints with police late last month, he said.

"We don't accept any ragging ... we don't tolerate such nonsense. We are investigating the allegations and (anyone found guilty) will get into trouble. They will be punished," Effendi told The Associated Press.

Investigations are expected to wrap up this month, he said.

Zarul and Khairul are on leave for the Eid al-Fitr holidays but are expected to return to the camp this weekend, he said, adding that no one has been suspended so far.

Allegations of abuse are not uncommon in the Malaysian army.
Last week, another family lodged a report, asking police to investigate the death of their son in August in an army camp in southern Negeri Sembilan state.

The army has said Norrafizul Abdul Rahim died after falling from a four meter (13 feet) high fence, but the family claimed the post-mortem report showed their son had 25 injury marks on his body caused by blunt objects, local reports said.

[KSDK] Student Expelled After Hazing At Illinois School

A high school hazing incident has outraged residents in the small town of Virden, Illinois. Parents argue the district is not taking the matter seriously.
The incident in question took place September 19. The school's athletic director said four senior football players ganged up on two freshmen in the locker room, and hazed them.

The district would not release any details about what happened, only to say it was serious in nature.

School district leaders learned of the incident from a third party the following day. After all four students admitted to the incident, they were suspended.

Monday night, the School Board held a disciplinary hearing and expelled one of the students, who officials say played a larger role in the hazing.

Parents say they expect more of the district. Parents, including those of students who witnessed the hazing, say the incident was sexual in nature. Virden school officials will not confirm or deny the allegations.

One parent said his son was in the locker room when the hazing took place. "The just told me things that they had never seen before," Brent Williams said. "And they were very, very uncomfortable. Really troubled by it."

The mother of one of the victims, who wishes to remain anonymous, said her son was not physically harmed, but that he remains emotionally scarred from the incident. The mother and other parents want police to open an investigation.

The school district has the option of handling the matter internally. "We told parents that was an option they had, to press charges," Virden Athletic Director Bruce Paisley said.

VIrden's police chief said his department will not investigate until a report is filed. The report, he said, must come from someone directly involved in the incident.

But parents say any complaint involving a crime of a sexual nature should be not be taken lightly.

"It's not just these two kids. All of these kids are ours. We're supposed to protect them. If we can't protect them, who is? Don't trust school to protect our kids," Kim Armour, a parent said.

Armour filed a report Monday afternoon. Virden Police would not confirm Monday night whether it will in fact investigate.

In response to criticism that all four students should be expelled, Paisley said he believes the district acted appropriately.

Monday night, parents said they were especially upset to learn the students who weren't expelled remain on the football team.

Meanwhile, other parents side with the district's handling of the incident. Many parents, who declined to identify themselves, said the punishment was appropriate.

The Virden School District said it will enact measures to ensure a similar incident does not happen again, Paisley said.

Link to report

[KeyTv] 3 plead no contest in UT hazing death

Three University of Texas fraternity members entered pleas of no contest in relation to the hazing death of one of their frat brothers Tuesday.

Benny Chan, 24, Andrew Nguyen, 22, and Kamal Pulukuri, 23, accepted a plea deal to charges they caused Phantha "Jack" Phoummarath’s death.

Phoummarath, 18, died of acute alcohol poisoning on Dec. 10, 2005. His family spoke in Houston after about the plea deals.

"The plea deal is going to give a message or send a message to other parents that this is what their sons could potentially be signing up for. And so if we can prevent other deaths in this process, then I think we've accomplished what we wanted to,” Phoummarath’s sister Marion said.

At UT, student reaction was mixed.

"I believe that this is an issue that should be taken a little more seriously,” Joy Martindale said.

"I think it's a good penalty," UT sophomore Benjamin Nichols said.

Drug and alcohol counselors feel it will help in the long run.

"I have worked with several members of that fraternity ever since that incident and they were very, very deeply affected by it," said Chuck Roper, UT coordinator for Alcohol and Drug Education.

As part of the plea deal, the national chapter has to show written proof they have revoked the UT chapter charter. The three men have to acknowledge wrongdoing and apologize to the victim's family and participate in producing educational video focused on risks involved with hazing.

The plea deal stems from a lengthy 12 month investigation into Phoummarath’s death.

The Lamda Phi Epsilon Zeta chapter at UT will have to reapply for its charter. It won't be eligible to do that until
2011.

Link to report

[Electric Show] GOODBYE ROYAL FLUSH, HELLO FUN & GAMES

Dunking someone's head in the toilet bowl for ragging? No, orientations today are more 'freshman-friendly'
By Fiona Liaw
September 17, 2007

IT was telling, the response from the Singapore undergraduate on the other line: 'I think there is a misunderstanding...

'I thought you meant ragging as in the float-building on Rag and Flag Day.'
And that about sums up the change of bearings that has taken place over time - how students who live, work and play in university, particularly in the hostels, are channelling their energy into intense competition more instead of extreme teasing.
No tales of having your head held down in the toilet bowl and flushed, or crawling on your knees to serve drinks.
When MrOh Wen Jun, 23, a third-year undergraduate from the National University of Singapore's School of Computing, was asked to recall his experience when it comes to ragging, his first response was to talk about building floats.
Freshmen orientation began last month for universities here, and this period that lasts through September is the season for students entering universities abroad in the UK and US as well, who will face similar inductions.
Traditionally, ragging used to be a fear-inducing word, implying great suffering in store for the freshmen through harassment and torture by seniors on campus.
Now, it is still associated with the rite of initiation for freshmen, but is used loosely to refer to holding inter-faculty and inter-hostel games to build camaraderie.
For Mr Oh, the old definition of ragging is hardly a talking point these days.
He said: 'It has died down. Whatever 'ragging' in that sense is mild. If not, they are more for fun.'
He cited the example of how a senior may take something from a junior's hostel room and the junior will have to try to negotiate to get the item back. Lame? The junior would say it is 'freshman-friendly'.

SENIORS BEING BULLIED

Miss Emily Chia, 22, a second-year nursing student at NUS, said: 'The funny part is, seniors are now the ones being 'bullied'. Like when we play haunted house, one of them was tied up like a mummy and tickled. Or we throw water bombs at them.'

Certainly, there is a big reason for this change - campus policies have become stricter on ragging.

The NUS code of student conduct, for example, states that the university 'takes a serious view on students who engage in ragging, harassment or any method of initiation which causes bodily danger or mental intimidation/humiliation to other students'.
In Nanyang Technological University (NTU), its student affairs office states that it 'will take action against any student found ragging' because it is 'strictly not permissible'.
Of course, ragging was not approved in the past either, but that did not stop students from doing it.
One 58-year-old, who wanted to be known only as Mr Khoo, entered the Faculty of Law in 1968.
He recalled: 'The bulk of orientation was ragging, with activities like briefings and the Freshie Hop (dance) as booby traps to lure freshmen for ragging.
'An example would be the Royal Flush, where a senior would put the freshman's head in a toilet bowl and flush it.'
Of course, revenge was also sweet, with the freshies ragging their seniors on the last day of orientation.
Mr Khoo's most memorable experience?
'The seniors wanted to extend the six-week orientation period because they felt the freshmen were too cocky. There was a huge rally to settle it.'
Banker Matthew Tay, 52, who entered the then-University of Singapore in 1975, said even in the past, mild ragging existed if you were lucky as a junior, 'like just being woken up in the middle of the night'.
'But there were instances of making freshies blow condoms into balloons, and stripping,' he added.
For trader Soon Teck Onn, 39, a former Arts student, he remembered ragging in the late '80s and early '90s as being about seniors treating juniors like servants.

He recalled: 'They wanted us to greet them and call them 'senior lady' or 'senior gentleman', even if we saw them in the toilet.'
He said he 'rejected' their rag, and got away with being slightly sidelined.
'I wasn't as bonded to the rest. I regret that a little bit,' he said.
Indeed, the aim of orientation, along with ragging, is to get freshmen to fit in quickly, so as not to be anti-social or left out. But taking things to the extremes could hurt or alienate people further.
Or it could be seen as sexual harassment, particularly in games where food is passed through bodily contact between strangers.
DIRTY IDEAS
A 29-year-old Nanyang Technological University alumnus, who wanted to be known only as James, recalled how his hostel mate was doused by a gross mixture of cat food, toothpaste and oil, and how he had to roll about in mud as seniors called out numbers to indicate how many times you had to roll.
'I heard there were also others who were taken to the Nanyang Lake (on campus) and dunked there.'
Other physical 'tests' include having to do as you were told by road markings such as 'strips ahead' or 'hump ahead'.
'You do what the words say when you reach there,' James said.
These days though, it seems getting wet is about the wildest it can get.
Law freshman Yvonne Poon, 19, said: 'During one of the night walks, the seniors asked us questions, and anyone who answered wrongly had water poured on them. It was all in the name of fun.'
Mr Oh, who recalled 'mistakes' in a dance item as the only embarrassment in his freshman year two years ago, suggested why students have disengaged themselves with the old concept of ragging these days:
'It's a generation thing, maybe. Just like how teachers used to be able to cane students in schools, now they can't or don't do it. In the past, too, people were more 'obedient', they took what they got and did not complain. Now, people are more vocal, they voice their objections readily.
'There is also a shift in perepctive and orientation goal, to make freshies feel more comfortable rather than to just let seniors have fun by ragging the juniors.'
Mr Khoo, who was a freshman in 1968, saw the 'good' in the bad old ragging though: 'Sometimes it is through hardship that you can really see the character and nature of a person. This whole process of ragging can also develop it.'
The young could also argue that in place of severe bullying, 'hardship' these days can kick in through the rumble of inter-hostel rivalry and contests, the fight to be the overall champion 'hall of residence', or to get the award of best float.
In NUS, the building of floats for the yearly Rag Day is the dominant event. And students parade their floats and perform dances and back-breaking acrobatic stunts to thank supporters for their donations on Flag Day, which happens a few days before.
There is also a competition to see which faculty or hostel can raise the highest amount.
Mr Oh, who was the co-head of the 'float committee' at last year's Rag and Flag, said that during orientation, they often worked from 9am to midnight every day and will hardly have time to engage in ragging to sabotage the juniors.
'You'd be too tired to do that,' he said.
But at the end of orientation, after all the 'work' is done, the parties and feasts still go on. More bonding may even take place in nightclubs, as in this year's NUS Law Camp, for example.
Mr Manfred Pan, 22, a Singapore Management University undergraduate, said his most memorable camp experiences were usually those when they went to clubs and had a few drinks.
And that, as they say, might make the freshman game of finding out 10things you never knew about that 'senior gentleman' seem much easier.

Link to Report

[Daily Times] College ragging not flagging

By Saif-ur-Rehman

LAHORE: The long summer break is over and classes have re-started at the city’s colleges. Some students are new entrants, while the rest have been promoted to higher classes.

The new entrants are nervous about their unfamiliar surroundings and huddle together for a sense of security. This insecurity does not stem from a fear of the new campus or of teachers or

of the course of study. They fear what freshman all over the city fear: being ragged.

Ragging is the systematic ritual physical and psychological abuse of freshmen or other juniors by their seniors in an educational setup, with the purported intent of socially inducting the newcomers into the group. It is widely practised in schools and colleges across the world and includes verbal and physical ragging.

Daily Times conducted a survey of various colleges and talked to freshman and seniors about the first day at college.

Lahore School of Economics: Most MBA-I and 2nd year bachelors students uderwent some sort of ragging. Most of it was verbal and nothing serious. Qasim Zia, an MBA-I student, said he was told to stand on top of a table in the main cafeteria and sing his favourite song. “Everybody at the café joined in and sang along. It was a lot of fun,” he added.

Mehvish Saleem, a 2nd bachelors student, said raggers told her to give them all the money she had in her bag. “The raggers ended up making Rs 3,000. The money was well spent on a round of drinks for all at the café. The ice has been broken and everyone knows me now,” she said.

Mohsin Khan, an MBA-II student, told Daily Times that his group caught hold od a junior and made him sit in a murgha position for five minutes. “We also took money from him and treated the entire MBA-II batch to drinks,” he said, adding that he was never physical with juinors.

Lahore University of Management Sciences: Freshman at this institution have to undergo a more serious kind of ragging. Ragging styles range from standing on one foot for a long time to measuring a large courtyard with a ballpoint cap.

Ali Jan, a freshman, said he was told to do front rolls in the football field. “The field was wet and I got mud in my ears and clothes. The best part about all this was that I went home to change my clothes and did not return,” he added.

Alia Haider, another freshman, said raggers told her to go up to 10 boys and introduce herself to them. She said, “It was a bit embarassing because I am a bit shy. The boys were sweet about the whole affair.”

Beaconhouse National University: This year seniors at BNU went around taxing the new students and made about Rs 500 per head, but spent them on treating the freshmen. They also caught hold of a couple of boys, made them stand on tables and strut like models.

Osmanul Amin, in his last year, said the raggers filmed the boys and would keep the shots in their archives. “Maybe, at the end of the term, they make a video of their college experiences and add these shots in them,” he added.

National College of Arts: Seniors at NCA are most creative when it comes to ragging freshman. Zara, who graduated from NCA in 2002, said she was asked to hug a tree in the middle of a courtyard and scream on the top of her lungs ‘mein tum say pyar karti hoon’.

Ashraf Azhar, another graduate, said, “We would keep a Rs 1,000 note next to the gate and stand around watching who would pick it up. The first freshman to pick it up got it from us. We would start screaming ‘chor, chor’, which would be very embarassing for him or her.”

All students Daily Times talked to said ragging was not bad or harmful as long as it was not physical. They said seniors knew their limits and would not push freshman. “This is common culture and we have come to accept it. It has a positive effect on the personality of the freshman and helps with breaking the ice amongst students. We are being ragged today. Tomorrow it is us who will be doing the ragging,” said LSE freshman Asma Obaid

Link to Report

Students may get public caning

September 03 2007 at 01:22PM

Kuala Lumpur - Malaysia announced on Monday it is considering re-introducing the previously banned act of public caning in schools as a deterrent to undisciplined students, an official news report said.
Currently, school principals are allowed to cane trouble-making students but only in a private room with another teacher present as a witness, Deputy Education Minister Noh Omar said.

"We need to discuss the matter and take into consideration that public caning was introduced in 1959," Noh was quoted by the Bernama news agency as saying in parliament on Monday.

The government banned public caning in 2004 but allowed school headmasters to cane students in their rooms with a witness.

Noh was responding to calls by teachers and parents for the government to enforce stricter rules to control undisciplined students, especially those found to have a history of violence and bullying.

One local lawmaker recently suggested that public caning would be effective in stopping students from creating serious disciplinary problems as their image would be tarnished in front of other students.

Noh said the government would consider all other options before deciding on whether to reverse the ban on public caning.

"All principals of fully residential schools will be given courses to remind them of the dangers of ragging or 'orientation,'" he said.

"We will also invite the police to give talks to the senior students on the matter before the new school term begins."


Recently, several cases of bullying by older students have been highlighted in the local media with many of the young victims suffering from serious injuries and sometimes even death. - Sapa-DPA

Link to report

UCF Fraternity Suspended Until 2011 [13 Central Florida News]

Monday, June 04, 2007 4:23:39 PM

A fraternity at the University of Central Florida faces a longer suspension after the university says it violated the terms of it's original suspension.

Pi Kappa Phi was suspended for a year in 2006 after hazing allegations. However, the national director of the Pi Kappa Phi said some students took part in a fraternity event while on suspension.

The UCF Office of Student Conduct extended Pi Kappa Phi's suspension from the university until 2011.

Link to News

UPDATE: Four Coopersville baseball players

Posted by Chronicle News Service June 04, 2007 22:05PM

COOPERSVILLE -- Four junior varsity baseball players were expelled by the Coopersville school board tonight after a district investigation found they were involved in hazing incidents that included putting their bare rear ends in the face of victims and other "sexual harassment."
Three other students who also were involved in the incidents were handed lesser penalties tonight by the board.

Dating back to April, about 13 incidents were perpetrated by one or more of the four students who were expelled, district officials determined. They hazed and sexually assaulted other members of the team, and on one occasion a member of the freshmen baseball team, district officials found.

A separate criminal investigation by the Ottawa County Sheriff's Department continues.
A school district report, released today, outlines details of the hazing, including restraining students by holding down arms and legs, slapping victims' stomachs to cause the skin to turn pink, applying pressure to the victim's rectal area through their clothes using thumbs or fingers -- on one occasion, a toothbrush was used to apply pressure -- pulling down (perpetrators') pants and putting their rear ends in the face of victims, and using their hands in the victim's genital areas.

For the complete story, return to Mlive.com on Tuesday or pick up a copy of Tuesday's Muskegon Chronicle.

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