Straits Times, Singapore, 9 December 1996

ASIAN CURRENTS: A weekly selection of editorials, commentaries and letters from Asian newspapers and magazines

(extract)

Violent act disguised

There was a report recently about senior school students meting out "corporal punishment" to younger students. Corporal punishment refers to inflicting bodily pain on a wrong-doer to achieve the objective of educating him. Following the incident, the school banned its students from carrying out such acts.

This is shocking and misleading as the school had disguised the terrible violent act under the term "corporal punishment". The teachers' right to punish and educate has been handed over to the senior students.