KUALA LUMPUR: The Minister of Youth and Sports, Hannah Yeoh urged Malaysians to stop normalising physical abuse as a way to ensure obedience and compliance.
Referring to the case of the volleyball coach slapping two female teenage players that had been on video and had gone viral, Hanna said, slapping anyone is wrong and as such Malaysians must stop normalising physical abuse as a means of behavioural compliance.
She said such action is wrong whether it is done on athletes, a spouse or maids.
“We must learn from this incident, improve and to ensure there is no repeat (of such incidents),” she said in a posting on Twitter.
In a separate posting in Twitter Hannah also mentioned that the Ministry of Youth and Sports with the Ministry of Education will carry out an independent investigation on the incident.
“We want to identify whether the same coaching method which uses force as depicted in the clip was used on other occasions against the volleyball team,” she said.
Meanwhile in another development, Wanita PKR condemns the incident of the two students allegedly slapped by their volleyball coach and urged an investigation to be conducted by the related parties.
The division in a statement said its legal bureau regards the incident as serious and deemed the matter as unscrupulous towards minors.
“Wanita PKR is looking into this matter seriously as it is a criminal offence under Section 323 of the Penal Code.
“An independent and thorough investigation must be conducted by the police, including the Sports and Youth Minister, the Education Minister as well as related sports organisations.
“This is to ensure the victims get justice, and for other coaches to learn from the incident,” the statement said.
“Violence and physical abuse is an inappropriate practice that should not be done by any party, especially towards under-aged children who should be getting support and protection.
“Wanita PKR urges players who have been in the same situation to come forward and seek help from relevant authorities,” it said.
“Guaranteed protection should be provided to the victims, so similar issues won’t be covered up by any party,” it said.
The clip, which has gone viral on social media, showed a coach of the Melaka under-14 girls’ volleyball team slapping two of his teenage players during the Under-14 Junior Volleyball Championship in Kota Tinggi. The competition took place between Dec 14 and 16, 2022. –Malaysia World News
