Ragging...Whose Culture?

My heartfelt condolences to the family of arwah Mohamed Naim Mustaqim Bin Mohamed Sobri (23 June 2010)...Semoga Allah mencucuri rahmatNya ke atas roh beliau. Al-Fatihah.  

I'm very angry indeed with those who caused this loss of live. I'm extremely happy to note that Pak Menteri Pertahanan had made an announcement that the main culprit (still a mild term to use) was expelled from RMC with immediate effect and 4 others were suspended pending investigation. And he (the sadist) is likely to face a murder charge and the possibility of a civil suit. 

I really wonder what made a 17 year-old boy a sadist! I'm no psychoanalyst but as far as I'm concerned, it boils down to the upbringing. In other words, the main blame falls on the parents. Maybe the sadist wants to vent his frustration/angers and who has to bear the brunt if not the defenceless 'juniors'. 

I never had the experience of being 'ragged' during my school days because I was a 100% 'home-bred' student from the first day I enrolled in the primary school till Form 5. I was offered a place at Sekolah Dato' Abdul Razak (SDAR), then at Tanjung Malim, after passing the Lower Certificate of Education examinations (=PMR) but declined. Reasons? I love my mother's cooking, my 'Hercules' bicycle, the weekends' 'cheap matinee' at Carlton, Rex, Majestic theaters, 'Burmese' pool and of course, my friends. So, no hostel living for me and the word 'ragging' was never in my vocabulary. 

My first encounter with 'ragging' was when I first reported at RMC for cadets' training in April 1967. As junior cadets, we were shouted at, became 'alarm'clocks every morning, crooned popular songs, ran errants (to the canteen to buy sandwiches), ironed seniors' uniforms, etc, etc. Any mistake, press-ups but...NEVER EVER ANY MANHANDLING! The only songs that I knew the lyrics in full were 'Negaraku' and 'Yesterday'. With my Tom Jones' voice, I sang even the Negaraku out of tune, so, my seniors stopped me from singing every morning during the 'orientation' period. 

To avoid ironing a senior's uniforms (a rank holder), I would iron his uniforms when he went for his round checking on us, the juniors. I would spit on his uniform while ironing making sure that he noticed what I was doing to his uniforms. I could see the shock on his face before he yelled out at me '...What are you doing?' I told him matter-of-factly '...Ironing uniform, sir'. 'Whose uniforms?' My reply '...Yours, Sir'. That was the last time I saw his uniforms in my laundry basket.

What I did was nothing compared to what my classmate of KE VII days did to a senior. This classmate of mine was a SSC  Air Force cadet. One day, a senior asked him to clean his (senior) SLR rifle. What my friend did was he poured salt in the barrel and handed it to the armoury. That night, when the Duty Officer inspected the weapons, the barrel of the SLR in question had rusted. Well, the senior had to answer to the commandant...serve him right.

When I became a senior, admittedly I was a 'ragger' too. I did ask juniors to sing and wake me up in the morning...but it stopped there. My favourite singer was arwah Yahya Kosai who sang the Bee Gees "Massachusetts" beautifully. (He was drowned in a 'river-crossing' exercise during his senior year). Manhandling?...NEVER EVER.

That's why I simply couldn't understand why  these youngsters manhandled their juniors! It's not Islamic or a Malay culture...then whose culture is it? 

I received an e-mail from Lt Col Idris Hassan (R) regarding how the authority of Utter Pradesh, India,  handles ragging "...

1 2009, 01:58 hrs Lucknow: India Uttar Pradesh(UP) The UP Government passed a Government Order (GO) on March 26 imposing a complete ban on ragging in colleges and universities across the state. The order also mandates colleges and universities, including government-aided and private institutions, to include the information about the GO in their brochures or prospectus’.

Moreover, no interaction between freshers and seniors would be permitted after 9 pm for the first three months of an academic session.

Kamran Rizvi, Principal Secretary, Higher Education, said that there would be a state-wide awareness drive to put an end to ragging.

He said that students indulging in ragging would be barred from the college premises and would be expelled in the event of serious charges being proved.

The registration of the said institution would then be cancelled and all aid to it  immediately stopped."   
                                                                                                     
I fully support if the Malaysian Government were to take similar actions against any institutions that still discreetly practise ragging.

To all potential culprits...be accountable for your actions and never ever blame others for your 'misdeeds'. Sendiri buat...sendiri tanggung.
Lt Col Idris Hassan...Thank you.