State executive councillor Jagdeep Singh Deo said some people had claimed he was trying to score political brownie points, which he felt was “deeply offensive”.
“I take very serious offence to any insinuation that I am trying to win political brownie points over Nhaveen’s death.
“As a parent myself, I cannot imagine what pain Nhaveen’s parents and family are going through.
“How dare you accuse me of capitalising on this when I said the government has failed Nhaveen? The government has failed Nhaveen and all those who were bullied,” he said.
Last week, Jagdeep said the federal government had failed Nhaveen’s family by not preventing the incident which led to his death.
This is what Jagdeep said in full in his Facebook post on June 16, “Rest In Peace Dear Nhaveen”.
“For every second of pain that he suffered so should his assailants.
“The crux of the matter is that the federal government has failed his family by not preventing this incident.
“Do not fail the country where this is concerned. Where BN has failed, we will succeed given a chance.
“I pray for you and your family and I would appreciate if his family is given privacy during these trying times.”
Nhaveen, 18, was assaulted by five teenagers at Kampung Buah Pala, Gelugor, on June 9. He was admitted for brain injuries and never regained consciousness. He died on June 15.
It was learnt that the assailants had also bullied Nhaveen during his school days.
Jagdeep said his Facebook post was merely to point out the weaknesses in the current education system, which had no way to counter the bullying problem.
“… our education system has failed. And that system is under the purview of the BN-led federal government.
“Since Nhaveen and Zulfarhan’s incident, there has been much discussion in the public domain on how there has been a failure in the system.
“That is what I was referring to,” Jagdeep said.
Navy cadet Zulfarhan Osman Zulkarnain, 21, died at the Serdang Hospital on June 1 after allegedly being tortured by fellow students at the National Defence University of Malaysia (UPNM), reportedly over the theft of a laptop. Police later detained 13 students over his death.
Jagdeep quoted a former academic from Universiti Teknologi Mara who said the country’s education system had failed in shaping schoolchildren into good and responsible adults.
Jagdeep was quoting an opinion piece in the New Straits Times by Wan Norliza Wan Mustapha, who is a former associate professor at the Academy of Language Studies.
Jagdeep then read several paragraphs of what Norliza had said:
“I feel our very own education system has failed in shaping our children into good and responsible adults. We lack subjects that teach students to be responsible, to have respect and to be kind to one another as human beings.
“There should be more subjects that teach moral values in the school curriculum, starting from primary, secondary and right through the tertiary level.
“Such moral values must be imbued in children and repeated so that the values are deeply ingrained and they will remember them for the rest of their lives.”
Jagdeep concurred with Norliza’s point and said that was what he had meant in his Facebook posting.
“When I said the federal government is at fault, it is just that. We must have a mechanism to address bullying.
“Ask the federal government. What do they have in the education system today to address bullying?”
Jagdeep said the Penang government would launch a “Stop the Bullying” campaign to create awareness on the causes of bullying among children and students.
The state government would also form a task force and legal support group to help victims in need.
Jagdeep said some victims of bullying had killed themselves, adding that the state hoped to set up a helpline soon for people to convey information.
The palpable fear of bullying in our schools and universities