KUALA LUMPUR: The separate murder and abuse cases involving a 7-year-old tahfiz pupil and a 23-month-old toddler have highlighted a time bomb scenario of untreated mental conditions likely suffered by the perpetrators.
Experts said both cases were about extreme maladies of the mind and they should not be viewed through religious lenses.
Social psychologist and a well-known authority in child development and early childhood education, Professor Datuk Dr Chiam Heng Keng, said the tahfiz pupil’s case exemplified a situation where older students exerted their power over their juniors in a very dangerous way.
She said it was important not to place very young children with older children in the same dormitory without a supervisor.
“There is danger in putting the younger child at the mercy of the older children. Young teenage boys are going through hormonal and emotional changes and sometimes, in an environment that is very disciplined, they will hold frustrations and stress that need to be released.
“Unfortunately, the targets could be young students or even timid students of the same age as the bullies.”
In the Nov 7 incident, the 7-year-old pupil was pronounced dead at the Lanchang health clinic at 1.30pm after being taken there by a tahfiz warden, who found the child listless.
On the 23-month-old toddler’s case, Chiam said it could be an instance where two stressed out women with low tolerance levels were pushed over the edge.
“People in their right minds would not torture a helpless child. Troubled persons are not able to think rationally or control their emotions. This could be because of a lack of support for their emotional problems in their childhood environments from parents, schools and teachers.”
Chiam, who is president of the Early Childhood Care and Education Council Malaysia, said children as young as 2 had shown stress and mental instability due to a lack of interaction with their parents who have busy schedules.
“Smartphones and technology have replaced good parenting. Humans are emotional people. Likewise, a child needs to be reassured with love from their parents.
“Babies need to be carried and comforted. Children need parents to talk to them, to listen to their problems and to help them de-stress because school can be a very competitive environment.”
Universiti Malaya Arts and Social Sciences Faculty lecturer Associate Professor Dr Mohd Awang Idris said the public might have focused too much on the religious institutions linked to the accused in these cases.
The focus, he said, should be on treatment for mental conditions.
“The tahfiz case and the Jakim officer are two different stories. However, we grouped them together under the religious category, which is wrong.
“We should see them in a different light: one involves a school or bullying issue, while the other involved child abuse. These are criminal cases.”
