Gianluca Ho, Author at Goody Feed

Earlier this week, a video of a Qihua Primary School student being attacked by another boy, seemingly a teenager, surfaced on messaging apps like Telegram and WhatsApp, following which the police confirmed that a report had been lodged and investigations were ongoing. Well, we have new updates. On 25 September, the police said that five teenagers involved in the incident had been identified and arrested for their suspected involvement in a case of rioting, and that investigations are ongoing. They added: “The police take a serious view of such acts of violence and blatant disregard of the law. We will not hesitate to take action and deal with the offenders in accordance with the law.” Punched, kicked, and thrown to the floor The video showed the teenager in a black T-shirt and jeans hitting a younger boy wearing the Qihua Primary School uniform. In the video, the teen pushed the boy into a corner of a stairwell before punching and kicking him, and then hurling him to the floor. A voice could be heard in the background saying “again, again”. After the boy got back up on his feet, the teen started punching him in the head and torso continuously. Another boy in a grey hoodie also joined in to kick the boy later in the video. As the abuse went on for the whole duration of the video, multiple voices could be heard in the background, presumably from the five teens that were arrested. At one point in the video, the bully also ordered the boy to put his hands behind his back before punching him in the abdomen. The boy could be heard apologising multiple times in Malay, saying, “Sorry I won’t do it again”. While it is not yet clear what had caused the incident, the boy had reportedly mentioned something about someone’s mother. Shorter version posted a few days before Apparently, there was a 43-second clip of the video that was shared via Telegram on 20 September before the four-minute version was shared on 23 September. Not the kind of preview people want to see. According to The Straits Times, Qihua Primary School had said in a statement on 23 September that it was aware of the incident and had counselled the affected students. The parents of these students had also been notified as well. Bullying cases in Singapore This incident is just one of the few that have emerged in recent weeks. Earlier this month, a video from 2023 surfaced online showing a student from Bukit View Secondary School being taunted and kicked to the ground. Another similar incident happened in late August this year, where a secondary school student was allegedly assaulted by her schoolmates who had accused her of filming and sharing a video of one of them vaping in the school toilet. The Ministry of Education (MOE) takes a serious view of bullying and works with schools to send a clear message to all students that any form of bullying is not acceptable. A parliamentary reply published on the MOE website in January 2021 stated that schools “articulate the zero-tolerance stance for bullying through stating clear school rules and consequences for bullying, conducting regular briefings to staff and students to raise awareness of bullying, and investigating cases and taking action promptly”. Appropriate disciplinary action is taken to guide perpetrators and restore relationships with those whom they have hurt, and counselling support is also provided to victims. In a separate statement published in February 2021, MOE had also mentioned that the Character and Citizenship Education will teach students the importance of respect and empathy for others. Teachers are also trained to foster positive class culture, and trained school personnel will investigate bullying cases and decide on the appropriate actions to be taken. Don’t play play.