UPNM abuse: Khaled says SOP being improved, warns cadets of expulsion

The Defence Ministry is taking extra measures to prevent abuse and bullying incidents among its cadets at the Universiti Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia (UPNM), said minister Mohamed Khaled Nordin.

He said this included segregating the dormitory and roll call practice for first-year students from their seniors.

He said the ministry will also install more CCTV cameras at dormitory blocks for UPNM’s Military Training Academy.

Speaking to reporters at the Defence Ministry headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, he stressed that the ministry would not tolerate abusive behaviour among cadets and warned the students they could be expelled for committing such an offence and forced to repay their scholarship.

“We will definitely mete out punishment that commensurates their offences, and as maximum as we can, to serve as a deterrent. This is what we can do, the same way we deal with other offences, where very heavy punishments are given but they still happen.

“Perhaps we will also increase the awareness among the cadets against committing untoward actions, that by doing such acts they are jeopardising their own position.

“They will be expelled and they will have to repay their scholarship (to the Defence Ministry). If an incident involves the police and they are taken to court, the Universities and University Colleges Act 1971 provides that they must also be suspended from their study at the university,” he said, expressing hope this can be a deterrent to the cadets.

The minister was asked to comment on the recent bullying and abuse cases involving UPNM military cadets, which saw one sustain a scalding injury after a senior pressed a hot iron on his chest while another was hospitalised for cracks on his spine and ribs after he was stomped by a senior.

Probe concludes

Khaled said the academy has concluded its investigation into the hot iron case and a decision will be made today against the senior who allegedly abused the victim.

He hinted that the perpetrator, a 22-year-old cadet who has also been charged in court, will be expelled and ordered to repay his scholarship to the ministry.

Adding further, Khaled told reporters that the Defence Ministry under his leadership will be transparent and never condone any brutal act.

They are also open to having any cadet lodge a police report should they endure any abuse or brutality during training.

“I think that is something very uncommon in the training of cadets.

“If you ask any trained soldiers, they would tell you that they endured hardship during training but never such brutality to the extent of being scalded using hot iron or stomped until their bones crack.”

Asked whether the ministry has any plan to restructure the leadership of its training academy, Khaled said they will look into all angles after investigations are concluded.

No negative labels

The minister also urged the public not to put any negative labels on UPNM, saying that the abuse cases did not happen on the university campus but instead within the military academy’s premises.

He stressed that while the cadets are indeed studying at UPNM, they are staying at a separate compound from the university’s civilian students.

According to Khaled, military cadets who study at UPNM under the ministry’s scholarship only make up about a quarter of the university’s 4,200 students.

“It is unreasonable for UPNM to be given all sorts of labels (because of the abuse cases).”

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