A Singapore principal has been accused of beating an eight-year-old student with a wooden ruler.
The issue came to light after the student’s mother filed a police report against the principal, who heads a student care centre called Star Kidz Powerclub.
The mother, Ms Llva Chin, told The Straits Times on Monday that the punishment took place after her son had accidentally opened the door of a toilet while a girl was using it.
Ms Chin was told that her son was punished to placate the parents of the girl, who cried and called out for her parents when the door was opened.
However, Ms Chin said her son was playing hide-and-seek with his friends and had opened the door, thinking one of his friends was hiding in the toilet.
According to online portal Stomp, the bruises on Ms Chin’s son were not noticed until the father spotted them after a swim on February 3.
Recounting the events on Tuesday, Ms Chin said her husband noticed “red marks” when their son was getting dressed after a shower. When she questioned the boy, he said he had been punished by a teacher for talking in class.
She contacted the school and on February 5, met the principal, Ryan Choo, at the centre. He told her that he had used a wooden ruler to smack the boy on his bottom and that he did it to placate the girl's irate parents.
“As parents, we should be informed and not have to find the bruises on our child's body ourselves,” Ms Chin told The Straits Times.
Ms Chin has since moved her son to another student care centre in Bedok.
When contacted, Mr Choo confirmed he was the principal of the centre, which he had been running for more than 10 years, but declined to discuss the incident, saying “it is not appropriate to make any comments as the police are investigating”.
The police confirmed that a report on the incident was made on February 6 and investigations are ongoing.
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