Look, man threw dog into manhole!

Scores vent anger at Somali dog killer

PETALING JAYA: Scores of people are lodging police reports against a Somali student and his friends who killed a dog by throwing it into a manhole recently.

The student had been taking care of the dog named Kanilla while its 19-year-old Jordanian owner was away on a month's holiday at his home country.

People were further infuriated after watching a recording of the incident on YouTube which shows the perpetrators running away laughing after throwing the dog into the manhole.

The video has since been removed.

Lawyer C. H Tan, who lodged his report at the Bukit Jelutong police station on Wednesday evening with three others, said he was livid over what had happened.

“When I see acts of cruelty perpetrated against animals, I feel a dire and almost desperate need for justice to be dispensed against the perpetrators,” said Tan.

“Even worse was that the entirety of the deranged act was captured on video as some sick memorial,” he said.

The mass police reports were initiated by canine welfare project Malaysian Dogs Deserve Better (MDDB).

MDDB rescue coordinator Irene Low urged the public to lodge more police reports to express their disdain over what had happened.

“MDDB has provided a sample to be copied and pasted when lodging police reports on our Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/MalaysianDogsDeserveBetter,'' said Low.

Angry animal lovers also bombarded the Facebook page of the university, in which the Somali is believed to be a student, with comments.

A former student Colin Kuan urged the establishment to pay heed to what had happened.

Business owner Nortanti Latip urged the university to hand the perpetrators to the police and ensure they are sent back to their country of origin.

Meanwhile, a friend of the perpetrator said he believed the Somali student and others involved in the incident had been drinking.

He also said the perpetrator was very frightened and was in hiding.

“The news is everywhere with so many people angry at him,'' he added  - The Star/Asia News Network

 Related post:

How low can cruel people go?

How to impress Malaysian law examiners?

The semester examination has just ended at my university. Working late till the wee hours of many mornings, I completed the evaluation of several thick bundles of examination scripts. As always, a fair number of answers were illegible, incomprehensible and terribly disorganised.

FOR all of us in the teaching profession, the periodic ordeal of marking examination scripts arouses suicidal as well as homicidal instincts!

Many students fail to exhibit basic knowledge of the subject and, understandably, fail the examination. Others have undoubted ability but not the technique or methodology of writing effective answers. It is to the latter group of law students that I wish to address today’s column.

Let me begin by saying that law is “reasoned argument”. To perform satisfactorily in the field, some special skills and techniques need to be cultivated.

Language: A law student should understand that oral and written communication skills are absolutely indispensable for the effective practice of the law. Law students should seek constantly to improve their command of the language by reading newspapers, law books and law journals.

Original sources: A good law student buys her own textbooks and statutes and does not rely entirely on class handouts. She constantly supplements class handouts with self-study from textbooks and adds to the “bank account” of knowledge opened by the lecturer for the students.

Art of reading: Reading is an art. Unless we have a smart strategy, it is entirely possible to get lost in the undergrowth. In reading a book or article, the student must avoid beginning at the beginning and plodding to the end. She must first look at the headings and sub-headings to get a broad feel or outline of what the chapter contains.

She must proceed from the general to the particular; from the woods to the trees. If an easy book or handout is available, she must read that first to get a background.

Self-study: Her study techniques must have three aims. First, to understand the basic principles of the law. Second, to recall basic ideas. To achieve this she must summarise the main principles or ideas in simple diagrams, charts, “magic words” or acronyms. These “scaffoldings” or outlines must be committed to memory. A third aim must be to evaluate existing materials and to highlight the flaws in the laws.

Attending tutorials: Successful students go prepared to class bubbling with queries. During the class or tutorial, they don’t just hear, they listen. They jot down prolific notes. They ask questions orally or by e-mail or in other written form. They participate.

Study groups: Successful law students form informal groups for study and revision. They try to be in a group of hard workers and independent thinkers. They encourage differences rather than conformity. They expose their understanding to scrutiny by others.

Summarising notes: Organising, systematising and summarising knowledge is the best way to master it. In preparation for the examination, a good student summarises each topic on one A4 page or on index cards or uses flow charts or diagrams to organise the vast amount of material collected.

For example, the whole topic of constitutional supremacy in constitutional law can be summed up in six points:

> Article 4(1) and 162(6) on supremacy of the Constitution
> Fundamental rights
> Federal-state division of powers
> Judicial review
> Amendment process
> Darurat (emergency).

These six points can, in turn, be summed up in one magic acronym AFFJAD to help you to recall the broad contours of the topic effortlessly.

Likewise, important cases could be summed up in half a page with a few lines each on three important parts of each case: the facts, the issues, and the court’s decision on each issue.

Past years’ examination papers: Familiarity with existing patterns of evaluation helps greatly in preparation. A successful student obtains and analyses past years’ examination questions. She prepares charts to discover the examiners’ preferences or patterns. She is, however, aware that examiners change from year to year and are not bound by patterns or precedents.

Practising written answers: A good student solves some past years’ questions and submits them to her lecturer for evaluation. This way she seeks to learn by simulation. She submits her knowledge as well as her methodology to sympathetic scrutiny.

Effective presentation: Examinations are like life. Substance is important but so is show! An organised, easy-to-read presentation always secures higher marks than one that is all jumbled up, disconnected and disorganised.

In writing her answers in the examination hall, a wise student does not start writing the moment she is allowed to do so. She spends five minutes organising her answer; drawing up the scaffolding or the outline on the left page of the answer book.

ATACR formula: For each essay or problem question, a wise student follows the ATACR formula. “A” stands for analysis or breakdown of the question or problem into its constituent parts. The more issues the student spots, the higher her marks are likely to be.

“T” refers to theory or the law relating to each issue identified above. The theory and the law are found in statutes, decided cases and juristic works.

The next “A” stands for application of theory or law to the facts of the case or question at hand.

“C” refers to conclusion on the point being discussed and “R” signifies the remedy or course of action to be recommended.

Reflecting On The Law
By Shad Saleem Faruqi

> Shad Faruqi is Emeritus Professor of Law at UiTM 

Why bullies bully ?

Taking a look at what drives bullies, and what can be done about it.

FIFTEEN-year-old Lee (not his real name) is familiar with school bullies – he was once a victim.

Lee, who was previously in charge of his school bookshop used to get harassed by several other students who would enter the bookshop and “mess things around”.

After several weeks, Lee reported the bullying to a teacher. The students were given penalty points, and they were not happy about it.

“They got angry, and started picking on me. Once I was with a friend, when we got surrounded by a group of them. They said they wanted me to pay.

“That day, when school was over, a big group of boys wanted to attack me while I was walking to my transport van. I was lucky the other students protected me,” says Lee, a student in Klang.

His parents lodged a police report.

The police went to the school to meet both parties and settled the issue.

While Lee has been fortunate to have his problem dealt with, many other students often suffer bullying in silence.

A bullying victim seen in a screen capture of a video whereby she was humiliated by her classmates, sparking an uproar on Facebook and drawing nationwide criticism.

 

Why do bullies bully?

According to clinical psychologist Dr Ng Wai Sheng, bullying is essentially using one’s power or ability to intimidate and control another by fear.

“The bullying behaviour is not a new phenomenon, whether in human society or in the animal kingdom.

“In fact, it’s a real temptation to not bully when we have the opportunity to do so to a seemingly ‘weaker’ party, without consequence,” says Dr Ng, in an email interview.

She adds that it is interesting to note that while bullying can be a pre-meditated behaviour with malicious intent for some, it is more often an opportunistic behaviour, where one finds an “easy target” and somehow thinks that he can get away with it.

“Once this behaviour is rewarded by him seeing the target’s hurt or fearful reactions, the bully is reinforced to repeat the same behaviour, expecting to see a similar response. Gradually, this can become one’s pattern of functioning, where he learns that he can get what he wants by intimidating and controlling others by fear,” she explains.

The inclination to bully, she says, can be seen among children as young as those in primary schools, and can happen among both boys and girls.

Bullying among boys is usually more physical, and it may often appear as though only boys engage in bullying behaviour, as cuts and bruises are more easily recognisable.

However, bullying among girls is in fact more vicious, but more covert.

“Girls tend to employ relational and emotional bullying, aimed at hurting someone’s feelings, reputation and social relationships. They can do this by spreading rumours, writing offensive remarks or socially embarrassing or isolating someone. With the ease of using social media like Facebook and YouTube, cyber bullying is also becoming more prevalent.

“This type of bullying is subtler but has greater adverse effects to the social-emotional development of a child or adolescent,” says Dr Ng, who has served in various settings including academic, social services, community health, and inpatient and outpatient psychiatric settings.

She adds that bullies are not born overnight, and to understand why a child bullies, there are two things to consider.

“We need to consider their two primary contexts - home and school. Who is the ‘bully’ at home? Very often, particularly in cases of severe bullying, we would find someone in the family who acts like a ‘bully’ at home (such as a grandparent, parent, or a sibling).

“As a result, the child learns to model after such behaviour to get his way. Or he channels his hurt and frustration on the weaker children in school,” she says.

As for schools, overemphasis on students who are academically stronger, while neglecting the weaker ones, could unknowingly promote bullying behaviour.

“School authorities who choose to tolerate, or even cover up, bullying and extortion practices in or just outside the school compound can lead to students feeling unsafe and unprotected when going to school.

“Some may resort to using bullying behaviours to fend for themselves against any perceived threats, while those who have been victimised in the past may also use violence to retaliate,” Dr Ng says.

According to Childline project director Michelle Wong, of the total 5,803 contacts (calls and e-mail) Childline received last year, she says, about 70% were made by those under 18 years. A total of 123 contacts were about bullying.

So what can be done about it?

Two things that can help determine whether bullying stops or continues, depends very much on what happens during and after bullying, Dr Ng says.

“Whenever a bystander takes some action to object to the bullying, at least 50% of the time the bullying stops. In other words, every bystander has the power to either promote (or allow) the bullying to continue, or to potentially stop the bullying, and even influence the other bystanders to object as well.

It is also important that children feel safe enough to disclose to their parents, guardians, or teachers, if they have been bullied in school. Those who are unable to do so, for whatever reason, are at a greater risk of being bullied.”

The response towards the bully is also critical.

“Ideally, parents are to remain calm and supportive to the victim, as well as treat the bully fairly.

“The teachers’ response can be potentially healing or hazardous towards the situation. Public shaming or physical punishment of the bully may stop the bullying temporarily, but often, these methods only serve to anger the bully and make him better at covering his track. On the other hand, when teachers are able to intervene appropriately, both to help the victim and the bully, the other students would also feel safer,” says Dr Ng.

Wong adds that in every bullying case, it’s not the just victim who needs help, but the bully as well.
“People forget that in these cases, the bully himself is also a child, and he likely has more issues to deal with the victim. He also needs help,” she says.

Crime Watch is an initiative by The Star in partnership with PDRM, supported by the Government Transformation Programme.

By LISA GOH  lisagoh@thestar.com.my