They say honesty is the best policy, but for this Form Three student, refusing to let a friend copy her answers only brought her humiliation and isolation.
Her father, Mohd Anas Sudin, said the harassment began shortly after the incident during an exam.
What started as a firm stand against cheating soon escalated into a daily ordeal, with his daughter mocked and repeatedly called “kacip” by her classmates, a cruel nickname that slowly eroded her desire to attend school.
Lost interest in school
At first, Mohd Anas could not understand why his daughter kept insisting she did not want to go to school and asked to be transferred elsewhere.
It was only after several attempts to get her to open up that she finally revealed the truth. Her classmates had been harassing her non-stop since the exam.
Hoping the matter could be resolved internally, the teenager lodged a complaint with the school’s disciplinary teacher.
However, Mohd Anas claimed that no action was taken, allowing the bullying to persist. He suspected that the teacher may have brushed it off as “just kids being kids”, not realising how deeply it was affecting his daughter’s emotional state, reported Sinar Harian.
Transfer process met with challenges
As the situation continued, the emotional toll became impossible to ignore.
Mohd Anas noticed a drastic drop in his daughter’s motivation to study, prompting him and his wife to discuss transferring her to a new school for a fresh start.
But even this solution was not straightforward. The process stalled due to what he described as a lack of cooperation from the school, which claimed the headmaster was unavailable.
Faced with the delay, Mohd Anas decided to take additional measures to protect his daughter.
Seeking safety and closure
For her safety and to speed up the transfer, he encouraged her to file a police report. This step proved to be the turning point, as the transfer request was soon approved.
Not long after starting at her new school, Mohd Anas saw a significant change in his daughter’s mood.
She was happier, more confident, and most importantly, eager to study again.
A reminder of what could have happened
Reflecting on the case of the late Zara Qairina Mahathir, Mohd Anas admitted the tragedy brought back painful memories of his daughter’s ordeal.
“Although my child only experienced emotional bullying, if I had not acted early, it could have led to something much worse,” he said, adding that he hopes schools will take such complaints more seriously in the future.
