The teen journalists from the BRATs programme speak up on the reality of bullying among young people in Malaysia today.
““The most treacherous form of bullying is the kind you can’t see. It’s not violent, but it has the ability to shatter a person just as powerfully. It is the silent yet loud social disapproval of ‘imperfection’. The psychological impact of having our looks critiqued and our bodies scrutinised has left many of us, myself included, devoid of self-esteem. But don’t worry, because for every person that puts you down, remember that there will always be someone there to pick you up. No one else can define your beauty but you.”
– Chia Chien Teng

Think bullying doesn’t concern you? Think again. When I was in primary school, I still remember being threatened by two (very large) people – a classmate’s mother and aunt, who would come to school and tell us off for not listening to said classmate. Threats of physical abuse, on top of hurtful words, would be thrown our way if we ignored her or excluded her from any of our little games. I wasn’t alone in experiencing this, and yet, none of us dared to stand up to them. Only as I hit secondary school did I realise that these women had been bullies! Seriously, bullying is a very real threat in schools and society in general, but unlike other ‘crimes’, it’s pretty hard to track. Unless there’s physical violence involved, it pretty much flies under the radar.” – Ann-Marie Khor

“Generally, people see bullying as being abused physically. Personally, I’ve been observing different kinds of bullying and it is not physical or verbal. In university, people tend to be very judgemental of others’ personalities. The victims are often ignored or ostracised. We Malaysians should learn to include everyone, no matter what their personality or
background.” – Marcus Heng

“The classmate I sat with in Standard One was often bullied because he was timid and slightly on the chubby side, but I never kept quiet about it. I would sternly warn the bullies to leave him alone. I have always believed in standing up for bullying victims because no one should ever be looked down on or made to feel useless and powerless.” – Tan Ee Laine

“Bullying is so common now that people tend to overlook it, and they shouldn’t. It scars and traumatises victims. However, no matter how much we think bullies should be punished, I believe they should be listened to just as much as the victims. Most of the time these bullies used to be victims themselves. We need to have more programmes helping students’ self-confidence and raising awareness about bullying. That’s what we, the citizens of Malaysia, can do to help.” – Siti Diana Kamila

“I’ve witnessed more than one cyberbullying case in my boarding school – once where a 15 year-old victim was bullied by someone thrice her age! It made me stop to think about how important it is for us to know our limits on the Internet. When in doubt, always ask for an older person’s advice. And if you’ve ever been a bully yourself, remember – it isn’t big to make others feel small.” – Aileen Loo

“Bullying is a tragedy. It leaves victims with a permanent scar, etched into his or her psyche. Every victim has a story, and so too the bully. While I think bullies should be dealt with appropriately, they shouldn’t be demonised. We need more to be more understanding in order to break the cycle.” – Jonathan Dason

“You might feel good and satisfied when you bully someone, but try putting yourself in their shoes for a change. Did they deserve it? I know quite a number of people who have been bullied, mostly verbally, and I can tell you they suffer a great amount of trauma. It’s even worse when the trauma is silent – and it kills. To overcome bullying, we have to first put ourselves in the victim’s shoes. Remember – bullying solves absolutely NOTHING.” – Carlos Dourado

“I was bullied back when I was in primary school, where I was a prefect. I was threatened and held by the neck for telling a schoolmate (a big bully of my year) to tuck his shirt in. After feeling helpless and afraid, I was angry for not being able to do anything to defend myself. Ever since that incident, despite the fear of feeling helpless and afraid again, I would always try to display my tough side and stand up for myself as well as the people I care about. My advice is to be confident. Show the bullies that you’re not afraid.” – Roxanne Low

“Bullying comes in many forms, though we usually only talk about physical bullying. But there’s also verbal bullying, where a victim is hurled with words that hurt emotionally, leaving no physical marks – only a scar deep inside. A situation like that happened to someone I knew. Her friends were gossiping about her because she had a petty spat with one of them. Eventually, all the people around her had a negative perception of her, and she didn’t even know why she was being treated badly by her peers. What I learnt from the incident is that understanding and acceptance is the most important value we should have. We need to stop bullying now.” – Andrian Tam

“Who would expect that a
Facebook post of tweet could be a form of bullying? I’ll admit that I’ve done it before – but will you do the same? In the end, I confronted the person I was ranting about. Trust me, opening up to someone face-to-face with an intention to forgive can actually help, rather than trying to humiliate the person with vague shout-outs on social media.”
– Sarenraj Rajendran