OPINION | To Asyraf Wajdi, with 'love

NEGERI SEMBILAN, 27 SEPTEMBER 2026 —

Muhammad Idlan Fareeq Shahril, the eldest son of a Gemencheh family, was found unconscious in the dormitory area of his school on Friday and later pronounced dead at Hospital Tuanku Ampuan Najihah in Seremban, Malaysiakini reported on 27 September.

The case has drawn immediate attention from education officials and the public alike.

The president of the Parent‑Teacher Association at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Za’ba in Kuala Pilah, Negeri Sembilan, urged the community not to speculate and to allow the authorities to determine the cause of death, saying “orang ramai jangan membuat spekulasi dan memberi ruang kepada pihak berkuasa menyiasat punca sebenar.” The police have not yet released a forensic report, and the investigation of the 14‑year‑old student who was later examined remains ongoing.

In a separate development, Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki, chairman of the Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA), posted on the social‑media platform Threads that “drama atau filem yang mempromosikan buli atas nama ‘pengajaran’ akhirnya membawa kepada perlakuan ‘copycat’ anak muda berlagak kapla, taiko dan otai.” He identified drama and film as the primary suspect in the chain of events that led to the tragedy, suggesting that media content could inspire imitation among youths.

Wajdi’s earlier comments on the same platform indicated that he had been “terjebak” with the drama Teach You A Lesson for two consecutive nights, noting that “pengajaran utama drama tu jelas bahawa isu buli adalah serius.” The chairman asserted that the programme’s central message was the seriousness of bullying, yet he linked the narrative to a “copycat” effect that he believes contributed to the fatal incident.

The MARA chief also recalled a prior disclosure in which he said that most bullying cases in the Malaysian Residential Schools (MRSM) stem from “latar belakang keluarga yang berantakan.” That statement, made in a previous interview, highlighted the chairman’s view that family disruption is a significant factor behind school‑based bullying, a perspective he appears to extend to the present case.

Academic research cited in the commentary provides a broader context for the debate over media influence on youth behaviour. Between 1929 and 1933, the Payne Fund Studies in the United States conducted a series of thirteen investigations into the social effects of mass media on adolescents, marking one of the earliest systematic inquiries into the issue.

Sociologist Herbert Blumer later surveyed more than 1,500 college and higher‑education students about their cinema‑watching experiences, concluding that the findings were “kompleks, bercampur, tak ada yang definitif.” More recent work by Christopher Ferguson of Stetson University found no clear link between violent video games and societal violence, noting an inverse correlation between the prevalence of “gana” games and youth crime rates from 1996 to 2011, while cautioning that “correlation is not causation.”

A meta‑analysis conducted by Ttofi and Farrington of the University of Cambridge examined 44 evaluations of anti‑bullying programmes and reported reductions in bullying incidents of 20 percent to 23 percent and decreases in victimisation of 17 percent to 20 percent. The study identified the most effective interventions as those that were intensive, incorporated parental involvement, applied firm disciplinary measures, and increased supervision, including “hot‑spot supervision” that targets locations where bullying frequently occurs.

The analysis also emphasized the benefit of greater teacher presence in problem areas.

These findings suggest that comprehensive, school‑based strategies—rather than singular focus on media content—may be more effective in curbing bullying. Experts referenced in the article argue that measures such as heightened dormitory supervision, regular monitoring of senior‑junior interactions, and prompt response to reported incidents are essential components of a anti‑bullying framework. The commentary notes that the absence of such safeguards in the dormitory where Idlan was found could have contributed to the tragedy.

Police have confirmed that the investigation remains active, with the detained 16‑year‑old student still in custody and forensic examinations pending. Authorities have not yet disclosed any motive or definitive link to the media content highlighted by the MARA chairman. The ongoing inquiry is expected to examine dormitory supervision protocols, prior complaints, and any possible involvement of senior students, as part of a broader effort to establish the factual circumstances surrounding Idlan’s death.

The case has reignited public discourse on the roots of school bullying and the appropriate channels for accountability. While some officials have pointed to media influence, the prevailing evidence cited by researchers underscores the importance of systemic interventions within educational institutions.

Related: MARA