An Open Letter to the Minister of Education, YB Fadhlina Sidek
An Open Letter to the Minister of Education, YB Fadhlina Sidek
YB Minister,
Somewhere in Malaysia right now, a young girl is trying to return to normal life after an unimaginable trauma. She is trying to feel safe in her own body again. She is trying to trust again. She is trying to heal.
And the boys who violated her are preparing for SPM.
I write not to question your compassion, but to ask: whose life are we protecting here?
When you announced that the boys involved in the Melaka school rape case will sit for their exams, you may have intended to show that our system believes in rehabilitation and second chances. I understand that intention.
But here is what that decision actually communicated:
⚠️It told every student in Malaysia that exam results matter more than character.
⚠️It told every victim that their trauma is secondary to their abusers' convenience.
⚠️It told every school that a "Sekolah Terbaik" certificate, earned through exam scores, is worth more than the basic promise to keep children safe.
Let me be absolutely clear: gang rape is a violent crime.
This is not about teenage mistakes or youthful indiscretion. This is about a group of boys who chose to inflict devastating harm on another human being. And rehabilitation, REAL rehabilitation, cannot begin until we name that truth and face its weight.
Allowing these boys to continue as normal is not rehabilitation. It is normalization.
The victim's life has been shattered. While she fights daily to reclaim her sense of safety and self-worth, her attackers are being told: your goals still matter, your future is still on track, your dreams are still valid.
What about hers?
Rehabilitation requires consequence.
It requires acknowledgment. It requires these boys to stop, to sit with the enormity of what they've done, and to truly reckon with the pain they caused before they earn the privilege of moving forward.
Right now, they don't need SPM. They need an education in empathy, remorse, accountability, and what it means to be human.
YB Minister, you have the power to send a different message. You can show our children that Malaysia values character as much as achievement. That justice and compassion can coexist. That victims matter more than statistics.
This is not about punishment for punishment's sake. It is about teaching our youth that actions have consequences, and that some things matter more than exam results.
Please reconsider. Our sons and daughters are watching.
Our sons are learning whether character matters, or only results do.
Our daughters are learning whether their safety and dignity truly count.
All of them are learning what kind of adults we expect them to become.
With hope,
Kamala Velautham
Educator | Parent | Mindset and Leadership Coach
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