Today, 09:24 am

© Sky News 2009

A Malaysian schoolboy was forced to smoke 42 cigarettes in two hours by his English teacher after she found a cigarette in his locker, a newspaper has reported.

The punishment dished out to 16-year-old Mohd Alif Arifin left him unable to eat for nearly a week because he kept coughing and had swollen lips, the boy's aunt told the New Straits Times.

Fourth form student Alif, who claimed he knew nothing of the cigarette in his locker, told the paper: "It went on for more than two hours.

"I was forced to smoke four cigarettes at a time until I finished 42 cigarettes."

After his punishment, which was witnessed by other students and teachers, Alif was sent home from his school in the northern Malaysian island of Langkawi.

His aunt Faridah Mat Zain, who has cared for her nephew since the death of his parents, told the New Straits Times: "The school told me he wasn't feeling well.

"He was coughing continuously and he was very quiet. But two days later, I noticed his lips were swollen and got him to tell me what happened. He couldn't eat for five days."

Alif was taken to a clinic which referred him to Langkawi Hospital, she said.

A school official said the institute had apologised to the boy's uncle, who lodged a police report when he found out about the punishment.

"This is not normal. We don't do that often," the official said.

He added it was up to the state's education department to take action against the teacher.

In 2007, another Malaysian teacher was reprimanded after she made almost 140 teenage girls squat in a pond at a boarding school as punishment for clogging the toilets.

The punishment caused an outcry, leading to Malaysia's Education Ministry to announce it would issue specific guidelines on how teachers should discipline students.

The government permits boys to be whipped with a rattan cane in schools for such offenses as smoking, vandalism and harming others.

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/5/20090806/tod-school-forces-boy-to-chain-smoke-42-870a197.html

that is possibly the most outrageous thing i've heard all year.

nice logic too. i wonder what their punishment for raping someone is?

nice logic too. i wonder what their punishment for raping someone is?

Get ready for Big Bubba the principal to pick his "#1 Student".


You're right this is crazy. I understand that there is a different culture and set of rules over in other parts of the world but even this I can't believe.

Good grief. :eek:

Is it just me, or did anyone think of that episode of Cheers where Becky goes to a therapist to quit smoking after she set fire to the bar with her cigarette? :lol: She smoked WAY more than 42 cigarettes at the therapist's office, that's for sure.

Sorry. Back on topic.

Holy ****, I can't imagine WANTING to smoke 42 cigs in two hours, let alone be forced to do so. It BURNS when you get to the butt of the cigarette, so that does not surprise me that his lips were that swollen.

The Malaysian educational system needs to get their **** together. Pronto. That's sure as hell not the proper way to punish someone.

Whatever happened to suspending a kid for this?

Whatever happened to suspending a kid for this?
See, you put more thought into that than the school did!

See, you put more thought into that than the school did!



Well I was a teenager once. :D

i think that in most non-western countries, it's sad that these incidents warrant heavy punishment, which can be so severe and extreme, not to mention ridiculous. i've read somewhere that malaysia has one of the worst human rights abuses in the world.

as for the kid, the school went about punishing him the wrong way. why couldn't they just suspend him for a few weeks?

Is it just me, or did anyone think of that episode of Cheers where Becky goes to a therapist to quit smoking after she set fire to the bar with her cigarette? :lol: She smoked WAY more than 42 cigarettes at the therapist's office, that's for sure.
I remember that episode Allison. That was funny as heck! I think the therapist even started smoking with her at the end of the episode.

Remember the caning of the young man who painted graffitti on cars about 15
years ago? The same logic applies. Their whole mindset is, treat kids severely in Malaysia.

Honestly...people in our gov't get in such an uproar when prisoners are abused, but they certainly don't seem to mind it when crap like this happens in the world to kids. Children are supposed to be our future and yet the world and even our country doesn't seem to care when they are abused by their own parents, much less other people and schools. It makes no sense that our youth would be at the bottom of society's totem pole in terms of priorities but yet they clearly are. :rolleyes: I think it's like somebody said in the thread talking about depression in kids as young as 3...parents nowadays are so wrapped up in themselves and making themselves richer and outdoing their neighbors in the workplace, etc. that they don't really do their jobs anymore. They don't teach their kids to interact...they don't even bother to interact with them, just keep them tethered to their iPods and Xboxes so they don't have to bother with them. Children back in Biblical days were seen as being a blessing from God and couples felt cursed by Him if they were childless...today, they're seen as a nuissance and a burden by society. :rolleyes: So I guess it's no wonder they're treated like this all over the world.

That's horrible! Having lost three people I care about to lung cancer within two years this is very disturbing news. Sadly, I can see the teacher making the kid smoke one or two, but 42 is just horrible! The reason I mention one or two is because I've seen this done in a movie (or TV show) where an adult caught a kid smoking and by the time the kid was forced into it, smoking no longer appealed to him.
If this kid develops any kind of cancer or serious illness, the teacher and the school should be held responsible. I would even go so far to say that this could be considered attempted murder.

LoveMrsG, you brought up an excellent point!

Is it just me, or did anyone think of that episode of Cheers where Becky goes to a therapist to quit smoking after she set fire to the bar with her cigarette? :lol: She smoked WAY more than 42 cigarettes at the therapist's office, that's for sure.

Actually it reminded me of an old Porky Pig cartoon where he gets tortured in a tobacco shop for smoking.

Honestly...people in our gov't get in such an uproar when prisoners are abused, but they certainly don't seem to mind it when crap like this happens in the world to kids. Children are supposed to be our future and yet the world and even our country doesn't seem to care when they are abused by their own parents, much less other people and schools. It makes no sense that our youth would be at the bottom of society's totem pole in terms of priorities but yet they clearly are. :rolleyes: I think it's like somebody said in the thread talking about depression in kids as young as 3...parents nowadays are so wrapped up in themselves and making themselves richer and outdoing their neighbors in the workplace, etc. that they don't really do their jobs anymore. They don't teach their kids to interact...they don't even bother to interact with them, just keep them tethered to their iPods and Xboxes so they don't have to bother with them. Children back in Biblical days were seen as being a blessing from God and couples felt cursed by Him if they were childless...today, they're seen as a nuissance and a burden by society. :rolleyes: So I guess it's no wonder they're treated like this all over the world.


AMEN sister! :clap: :hug:

Remember the caning of the young man who painted graffitti on cars about 15 years ago? The same logic applies. Their whole mindset is, treat kids severely in Malaysia.

Singapore was actually where the caning of that particular young man
took place.

Singapore was actually where the caning of that particular young man
took place.
Isn't Singapore part of Malaysia? Actually, I'm reading that it's a city-state located at the southern tip of Malaysia. Its own entity, and still a part of the larger country.

Singapore was actually where the caning of that particular young man
took place.
Gosh, I remember when that happened. That was in 1994, wasn't it? We talked about it in social studies in school.