LIFE is a fickle thing, as can be seen in the recent case where a year four student from SK Sungai Dua, Butterworth died after choking from a bubble gum he bought outside of school.
To recap, Fahmi Hafiz Fakhruddin who was experienced breathing difficulties managed to walk towards his teacher before collapsing.
According to his aunt, Fahmi’s face turned blue from the lack of oxygen after the candy got stuck in his throat.
“Apabila sampai (ke sekolah), saya lihat bibir dia dah hitam, bola mata hitam dah naik ke atas. Saya tengok dia muntah dan air keluar ikut hidung.”#AWANInews #AWANI745 https://t.co/Sn4QZfc6T0
— Astro AWANI (@501Awani) February 20, 2025
The incident has since raised widespread concerns in the cyberspace about the safety in schools.
Netizen Eiyra Yahya | AIA Takaful claimed that such sweets that were sold at the grocery shop or in front of school were supposedly banned. “Why are they still being sold,” she inquired.
Bella further suggested that a nurse and doctor be placed in school so that if anything were to happen, they have the authority to act instead of having the parents blame the teacher.
“But the Malaysian government will never do this,” said Bella.
According to Afif, teachers from the Chinese Vernacular Schools were very angry when students bought food from the sellers outside.
“If you get caught, tomorrow it is mandatory for you to be canned,” he said.
FeisiTang said the teachers were slow at reacting to the situation. “Why wait for the parents to come first? Why not bring him straight to emergency?” he asked, wondering if the teacher is not trained to perform emergency treatment like a heimlich maneuver.
To address his question, some netizens said that teachers nowadays cannot take action as they are liable to be blamed for anything that happened.
“Unfortunately, we are not properly trained for this. We have asked many times, but the higher-ups feel like there might not be a need for it,” said Ira (SN).
Syakiroro further pointed out that the ambulance had already arrived when the father came to the school, hence it was a moot point. —Feb 21, 2025
Main image: Astro Awani
