Painful encounter: Nor Azizawati showing where the ceramic cistern fell on Nur Alisha at SK Perpaduan, Ipoh. — RONNIE CHIN/The Star
IPOH: A nine-year-old pupil is so fearful of having a ceramic toilet fall on her again that she wants a friend to accompany her to the school loo.
Nur Alisha Adawiyah Mohd Yusri, from SK Perpaduan, said she was scared after the falling cistern hit her head and shoulder.
“I’m a bit afraid now and I will ask a friend to accompany me,” said the Year Three pupil when met at the school in Taman Perpaduan here yesterday.
The incident on Tuesday happened at a toilet on the third floor of the school about 4.30pm.
Recalling the incident, Nur Alisha said she had wanted to flush and had pulled on the rope handle.
“The tank then fell on me, and I was shocked.
“I was also in pain and cried out to the teachers for help,” she said.
Her mother Nor Azizawati Ismail, 37, said she received a call from the school at about 5pm.
“I was shocked after the teacher told me that there was an incident involving my child and asked me to come,” she said.
The housewife said she was also advised by the school to get her daughter medically examined.
“She seemed fine, while the X-ray also did not find anything unusual.
“There’s only a small bump on her head and she went back to school on Thursday,” she said.
Nor Azizawati said a police report had been lodged.
She also hopes the school would replace all the cisterns at the school with plastic ones.
“It’s the first time I have heard of such an incident and I am worried that it might happen to other students,” she added.
Meanwhile, Hulu Kinta assemblyman Muhamad Arafat Varisai Mahamad said he would discuss whether there was a need to replace the wall-mounted ceramic cisterns with those made of PVC, with the relevant authorities.
“The Public Works Department (JKR) has suggested fully securing the mount of the existing cisterns.
“The JKR says it is safe to secure up the cisterns but we will discuss again, to determine which one is safer,” he said after visiting the school.
He added all the toilets for the pupils at the school are closed and the children would be using the teachers’ toilet for the time being,
He pointed out that the cisterns at the teachers’ toilet were made from PVC.
He noted that the toilet at the school was upgraded last year and would check with the supplier to see if there were issues with the hardware.
“The upgrade work costs about RM200,000, including 35 units of the toilet flushing system,” he said.
