IS caning the answer to curb the rise of bullying and gangsterism in schools?
ANITA ANANDARAJAH speaks to secondary school students to find out why they feel it will work, or won’t. IT takes a fair measure of bravado – or blind obedience – to stand still with your hand outstretched for the cane, particularly when you know how badly it is going to hurt. And Govind Nair knows only too well the searing pain that comes after the swoosh of the rotan. The 19-year-old from Kluang, Johor, has had his fair share of run-ins with the discipline teacher – and his trusty cane. He readily admits that he had it coming in some instances. His misdemeanours range from sporting a goatee to skiving off school, and often enough to warrant a few lashes on the hand. Throughout Form Four, Govind sported a finely-trimmed goatee and a gleaming scalp. “I’m Indianlah … If I shave today, I’ll have a full beard tomorrow!” he joked. Only four years ago, the then Deputy Education Minister Datuk Aziz Shamsuddin had said that the Education Ministry would not resort to bringing back the cane to
