In Malaysia, two 18-year-old male teenagers have been arrested by the police in connection to a viral video where high school students were seen criticizing the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) history exam paper using abusive language.
The arrest was made after a female teacher filed a report to the police regarding the video, according to media report.
WHAT HAPPENED?
A secondary school student was seen ranting about the SPM History exam in a now-deleted TikTok video, where he first vented his anger at the individual who created the questions.
In the video, one of the teens is heard cursing and making an inappropriate gesture while mocking questions about Singapore’s history and saying that Malaysians weren’t interested in them. Considering that few people read about Singapore, he also questions the value of knowing about it.
“To whoever that prepared the SPM History paper, f*** you!” the teen heard saying in video.
“Singapore’s nothing but a kampung. They’re so poor even their water comes from Malaysia! Why should it be included into the exam”?
The student expressed dissatisfaction that certain topics that he studied, such as nationalism and the Constitution, did not appear in the exam, making him feel that it was a waste of his time.
The Malaysian Certificate of Education, also known as SPM, is a compulsory national examination that all Form 5 students in Malaysia are required to take. This exam is similar to the GCE O-level examinations in Singapore.
The two teens apologised in a video later.
According to a report by FMT, the two students who appeared in the video were arrested after a teacher filed a police report against them. The Hulu Selangor district police chief, Suffian Abdullah, stated that the Criminal Investigation Department of the Hulu Selangor district police headquarters detained the teenagers at their respective homes and seized their mobile phones for further investigation.
Upon conducting a screening test on both suspects, it was found that they were negative for drug use, and had no prior criminal records. However, they are being investigated under Section 14 of the Minor Offences Act 1995 and Section 233 of the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission Act 1998.
LAWYERS GROUPS IN MALAYSIA SLAMS ARREST
According to Malaysia Now, a human rights lawyers’ group, Lawyers for Liberty (LFL), has criticized the recent arrest of two students who were filmed criticizing the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) history paper they had just taken.
The group deemed the manner in which the arrests were conducted as shocking and has called on the Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil, and Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek to provide an explanation for the actions taken by the police.
LFL expressed deep concerns that such actions would cause fear among parents nationwide if not addressed and condemned.
The group also expressed shock over the fact that the two boys were subjected to a police raid at their homes and had to undergo a drug test.
“This would have caused extreme trauma to them and their family. And all this over a video where they vented their frustrations on their SPM history paper.”
According to LFL, the issue should have been handled by the school and parents, and not become a police case. The group stated that even if there were inappropriate comments made in the video, it did not warrant police intervention.
LFL noted that the two boys were just teenagers who acted immaturely, and had already apologized for their actions. Despite this, the boys were subjected to treatment that was unwarranted and harsh, as if they were serious criminals.
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