KUALA LUMPUR: Junior and senior cadets have been separated at the dormitories in Universiti Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia (UPNM) as the Defence Ministry takes further steps to address the bullying issue at the university.
This means the juniors and seniors at the university are residing on separate floors and even blocks to keep them apart and reduce the chances of bullying incidents from taking place.
“We have already separated the lodging areas for the first-year cadets and the seniors.
“We have also installed more CCTVs at all dormitory blocks but we are looking to increase it further to have more surveillance,” Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin told a press conference after launching the ministry’s Integrity Day celebration at Wisma Pertahanan yesterday.
Separate roll calls for the juniors and seniors have also been implemented, said Mohamed Khaled, adding this would reduce interaction between the two groups, following recent bullying incidents which occurred at the ministry’s Military Training Academy (ALK) here. (A roll call is when a commander or high-ranking officer reads aloud the names of all the trainees/cadets on the list to ensure that they are all physically present).
“Roll calls in the military involve checking the attendance of the cadets by calling out their names as well as performing inspections on them to ensure they have discipline and adhere to all rules and regulations,” he said.
Mohamed Khaled also said stern disciplinary action against any form of bullying at the university is aimed at being an effective deterrent.
“We will impose stern punishments fitting the offence committed. A maximum punishment of expulsion will also be considered if a cadet is prosecuted for a criminal offence.
“We want all cadets to realise that such action will only lead to a dark path and not benefit them,” he said.
Mohamed Khaled said it was unfair to label UPNM with unflattering names following the recent alleged bullying cases.
He clarified that both cases involved ALK cadets who were enrolled in a military training course at the academy but at the same time studied at UPNM.
“UPNM not only accommodates the needs of the Defence Ministry by providing placements for the ALK cadets, but they also have civilian students. Currently, UPNM has 4,200 students and 957 of them are ALK cadets.
“As the bullying cases occurred on the academy’s grounds (not UPNM’s), the disciplinary probe is under the jurisdiction of the Defence Ministry, not the Higher Education Ministry.
“We will also scrutinise any shortcomings of the ALK administration and improve it,” he said.
Recently, two bullying cases were reported involving ALK cadets, who were also studying at UPNM.
