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A 14-year-old boy in Malaysia has been charged with murdering his 16-year-old schoolmate, who was stabbed to death.
With the incident just one among the recent spate of school violence, the government has mooted various solutions to rein in the cases. The proposals ranged from bringing back caning to banning the use of smartphones for those under 16.
But concerns are being raised over a government plan for social media accounts to be tied to the national identity card in the name of child protection. Critics called the move heavy-handed, and questioned its efficacy. It has also sparked fears of political abuse to clamp down on online dissent.
Such worries have grown since Datuk Seri Anwar took power in 2022. Despite being elected on a reformist platform, his government has increasingly used and broadened its powers to clamp down on free speech by blocking access to dissent and enacting controversial new laws to control social media.
Another issue which has generated widespread uproar is football’s global governing body Fifa sanctioning Malaysia over claims of falsifying documents to field seven naturalised players.
Malaysia’s move to boost national squads by scouting foreigners with local ancestry is a tactic that’s not new in South-east Asia. The strategy has seen mixed results in the region.
But the manner in which it was allegedly done by Malaysia — forging birth certificates and the use of discretionary powers by the home minister to hand out citizenships — has triggered disgust in a country where citizenship and loyalty to the nation have long been politicised.
When covering the match against Laos on Oct 14, ST correspondent Lu Wei Hoong found that diehard fans were still backing Johor Regent Tunku Ismail Idris despite questions over his role in the registration of the seven naturalised players sanctioned by Fifa.
However, the turnout in Bukit Jalil Stadium showed otherwise. A drink seller who wanted to be known only as Mr Lim said that just a quarter of the normal turnout were present, compared to the previous match with Vietnam on June 10.
“I could only sell 100 glasses, compared to 1,000 in the Vietnam match. I needed to halve the selling price,” Mr Lim said, illustrating the disappointment among fans.
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