THE arrest of two SPM candidates recently has garnered the attention of many, from political leaders to academics and civil society groups.

Various groups have slammed the apprehension, including rights organisation Lawyers for Liberty (LFL), while an academic urged the prime minister to call upon the education minister for a full report of the incident.

Earlier today, LFL director Zaid Malek demanded that the government explain the arrest of the two boys after their video ridiculing the SPM history paper made the rounds on social media.

He said the police acted in a high-handed and overzealous manner by arresting the secondary school students and condemned the continued use of section 233(1)(a) of the Communications and Multimedia Act, the opaque law cited by police to detain the boys.

Sociologist Sharifah Munirah Alatas, meanwhile, stressed that Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has to play a role to get to the bottom of the matter, adding that the arrest of the boys was outrageous and the teacher’s lodging of the police report in reaction to the video was an overkill.

The daughter of renowned academic Syed Hussein Alatas said the incident has also opened up a bigger problem in the legal system and in the country’s society in general.

“Seriously, I think the prime minister should summon the education minister. Ask her to get to the bottom of this. Teachers are overburdened, yet not too much, since they have time to file police reports,” said Sharifah Munirah.

“The arrests are outrageous and ridiculous. The teacher’s reaction (in making a police report) and the arrests (by the police) are overkill and unacceptable. 

“Furthermore, instead of filing a police report, the teacher should have shown more leadership, maturity, and complained to their parents,” she added.

It was reported yesterday that the boys were detained after police received reports from a teacher about the video that had gone viral on social media.

Hulu Selangor police chief Suffian Abdullah said the video posted on TikTok and Facebook showed a male student in his school uniform expressing his dissatisfaction with the SPM History paper.

“The student used vulgar words to criticise those who had set the questions and also insulted Singapore,” Suffian said in a statement. 

Sharifah Munirah, who is a lecturer at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, said there is a need to reform the Communications and Multimedia Act.

She said in the context of the teenagers, their use foul language and childish ranting against a neighbouring country were not criminal behaviour.

“The teacher should be informed or educated enough to know that a police report should not be her first ‘line of attack’.

“It is a childish reaction to an exam gone sour. Normal teenage behaviour. I’m sure teachers and police personnel have children. They should know,” she added.

Sharifah Munirah also pointed out that the police should have thrown out the report and responded to more serious crimes and to keep ordinary citizens safe from the real criminals.

“Of course the use of vulgar language and images by the teenagers is not acceptable. They are rude and should be reprimanded, but not criminalised.

“The teacher’s first response should have been to summon the teenagers, inform their parents, and then jointly reprimand them or punish them. Making a police report or getting the police involved is silly. This is not a criminal offence. The teenagers were not flashing penknives, destroying school property or hurting anyone while ranting.

“The police too should learn how to dismiss such reports quickly, nip it in the bud, so people like this teacher will think twice before wasting time filing a report,” she said.

Counselling is necessary

In agreement with Sharifah Munirah is youth empowerment group Undi18 who said in a statement that the action of the two boys was not enough to cause trouble or to threaten national security.

It said the students made the wrong move by uploading the video on social media and this was done due to a lack of awareness on the dangers of misusing social media.

“They are just secondary school kids fooling around with their friends after sitting an exam and the act is not enough to cause trouble to society.

“The mistake they made was uploading the video and the teacher who lodged the report made the wrong move. The teacher could have just made the report to the school and take the necessary action through the school’s disciplinary board.”

However, the Parent Teacher National Association believes action taken by the police was not inappropriate.

Its president Prof Mohd Ali Hassan added that the boys must undergo counselling and the session must also include the students’ parents or guardians.

Ali said the Education Ministry should also regulate a new standing order for students on using social media platforms to express their opinion.

“The students must undergo counselling sessions and their parents or guardians must also be present.

“The Education Ministry should come up with a guideline to ensure that a similar incident does not happen again. Students shouldn’t be using expletives on social media,” said Ali. – February 26, 2023.