Trainer denies abusing deceased UiTM cadet, shares his version of events

 

A trainer from the Reserve Officer Training Unit (Rotu) at UiTM Shah Alam has denied the allegations made against him by the family of cadet Muhammad Amir Rusyaidi Muhammad Zaidi, who passed away on Nov 13.

He was responding to claims made by the victim’s father, Muhammad Zaidi Abdul Rahman, as reported to the police and subsequently covered by Malaysiakini on Nov 27.

In the police report, Zaidi alleged that his son endured various forms of abuse, including having his chest stepped on and being ridden like a horse by his trainer.

Zaidi also claimed that Amir (above) was made to jump like a kangaroo.

The father further alleged that the incident occurred on Nov 10, was recorded by the trainer, and that Amir, 25, was left unconscious in an open field under the sun for approximately 30 minutes.

In an interview with Malaysiakini, the trainer - a corporal - denied these allegations and presented his version of the events.

Malaysiakini: You were accused of leaving Amir unconscious in the field under the scorching sun for about 30 minutes.

Trainer: Why did it take 15 to 20 minutes before Amir was taken to the hospital? I don’t know who told the family I left him under the sun for over 30 minutes.

When the deceased collapsed, I immediately instructed his squad to lift him and move him to a shaded area. It was impossible for me to carry him alone.

Yes, we moved him to the shade. But the (family’s) statement claims I left him in the heat for 30 minutes. (If that were true), his heart would have been severely affected.

Yes, there was no immediate treatment, but we stretched his legs, seated him, removed his shoes and socks, dampened him with water, and massaged his legs and head.

We called his name and waited for about 15 minutes, but there was no response. I couldn’t wait any longer because fainting episodes aren’t like this. I then instructed the squad to carry him into the car and rushed him to Shah Alam Hospital.

That’s the real timing. If you refer to the red zone emergency records, the nurses received him at 5.15pm. If I left him for 30 minutes to an hour, there’s no way the hospital would have received him at 5.15pm.

Malaysiakini: There are questions about why the deceased wasn’t taken to the UiTM Health Centre, which is closer than Shah Alam Hospital.

Trainer: The UiTM Health Centre is a small clinic and is rarely open on weekends, and there are no adequate facilities and specialists.

The hospital itself is located right in front of UiTM, it’s not far. It’s not in Klang or Kuala Lumpur.

So for urgent action, given that facilities at the health centre were insufficient, I decided to bring the deceased in my car straight to the hospital.

The hospital has full facilities and experts. If I had brought him to the UiTM Health Centre, there would have been delays, waiting for specialists to check, and insufficient facilities. That is why I brought him to the hospital to get immediate treatment.

Malaysiakini: There are allegations that you approved Amir’s entry into Rotu, even though he and 10 others did not meet the BMI (Body Mass Index) requirements.

Trainer: The BMI issue is beyond my authority. My role is only to assist at the later stages. The BMI issue, I detected after he passed the medical examination at the Jugra Air Base’s Armed Forces Hospital.

After passing there, the appointed committee members among the intermediate and senior cadet officers reviewed his documents.

While they were updating the documentation, I noticed that one of the cadets informed me that one person here had a BMI of 28, indicating excess weight.

So I wanted to know who it was, and they pointed to Amir. If it was up to me, I would have wanted to remove him. But I referred this matter to my sergeant. I am just a corporal; I don’t have the authority to make such decisions. Above the sergeant are officers.

When I asked my sergeant about this, he said it wasn’t possible to remove Amir due to concerns about repeating previous issues.

I asked what the previous issue was because I wasn’t there at the time. I wanted to know as well. He said if we removed him (Amir), it would become a dispute.

Why would it become a dispute? He said the doctor had already certified him fit and confirmed his optimum health status. Suddenly, we would be removing him from the lineup.

The concern was that someone might have connections, cables, within the service, or use influence to interfere with the cadet intake process. And what authority do I have if the sergeant said so?

I was new here, and my sergeant had been here for four years, so I felt he had more experience.

Malaysiakini: There was an allegation that a witness said Amir couldn’t finish the 2.4km run or took too long. Then, he was told to do push-ups, but he couldn’t and was in a crawling position. It was also alleged that you climbed onto his back like riding a horse.

Trainer: At that time, there was no one around except me, Amir, and a female cadet. The deceased, if you look at the early screening before he even joined Rotu, when the physical fitness trainer tested him, he couldn’t do anything - he couldn’t jump, couldn’t do sit-ups, push-ups, or run.

At that time, I wasn’t involved with the cadets. I only learned about it after the documentation process. When I brought this up to the higher-ups, they said it wasn’t within my power to reject him, so I just accepted his entry.

I never failed him during training sessions. For Rotu cadets, I never fail them in running sessions. It’s not my job to fail him because I’m not a physical fitness trainer. During the run, he clocked 14 minutes, which was within the passing time.

When we crossed the finish line, the whole squad welcomed him with cheers to show moral support. He didn’t proceed with the next activity immediately after; he was given a rest period and did stretching after running.

When he joined the lineup, I saw him in normal condition. I monitored from the left side while the intermediate trainers conducted their session.

Then, they did push-ups. Amir was positioned at the far right, and I observed from the left.

I saw that everyone could do it, but when it came to Amir, he seemed to be slamming his knees on the tarmac (of the procession field); he couldn’t do the push-ups.

So, I called him forward to monitor him closely, and the female cadet assisted. I told the others to proceed with their activities because they could do it, but Amir couldn’t.

The female cadet instructed him to do 10 push-ups, but he couldn’t. Then she asked for five, three, and one push-up, but he still couldn’t do it - all under her instructions, not mine. But I read the family’s statement (in the article), and it claimed it was all my instructions.

Seeing that Amir was struggling and in pain, slamming his knees on the tarmac, I told him to switch from push-ups to side rolls.

Before that, I joked that if he wanted to do it like a horse, we could do it that way. I only mimicked the motion of riding a horse, but my hips never touched his body.

I didn’t sit, and (the motion) lasted less than a second. I have no idea where the story came from claiming I rode on him or how far they said I rode him.

That’s not a fitness test anymore; that’s abuse, that’s bullying. When articles are written like that, people assume I was abusing and bullying him.

I didn’t do such things, and after I moved to the back, I told him to switch to doing side rolls to the right and left for just one and a half meters. The female cadet also instructed him to get up and jump. She was the one who told him to jump and then run to monitor his long jump, leaving him with me.

After that, the deceased told me he wanted to try doing push-ups again. I thought that since he had successfully completed the side rolls, I would let him proceed to the next activity. But since the deceased himself requested to do push-ups, I assumed he wanted to demonstrate his confidence.

However, he didn’t get the chance to do it, as he suddenly started hopping and then cramped up (in his legs). I was the one who used the term “kangaroo” because of the position of his hands on his chest while hopping before he collapsed.

Malaysiakini: The family of the deceased also alleged that you recorded Amir hopping like a kangaroo. Do you still have the video recording?

Trainer: I recorded it not with the intention of making it a joke, but to show it as evidence to my superior because I knew the officer would ask. That was the purpose of the video recording.

At the time, I didn’t know there would be a police and military investigation. After Amir was buried and I visited his family at their home, I decided to delete the video because I was afraid it would spread widely and become a joke for the public.

That’s why I admitted to the police that I had recorded it, and I asked if they could retrieve the video as evidence. So, the police took my phone and sent it to the forensic department to retrieve the video.

Malaysiakini: The victim’s father also claimed that UiTM was not informed about what happened to Amir and that he was asked to attend class or be marked as absent.

Trainer: The story didn’t happen that way. On Sunday, I took Amir to the hospital, and his family arrived around 10pm.

After discussing the situation with Amir’s family about why he was hospitalised, they told me to return home. But I didn’t go straight home; I went to my unit (at UiTM) to handle the documentation.

At the same time, Amir’s family also contacted me, asking for a letter to reduce hospital fees for students. They also requested assistance in contacting his academic adviser or student affairs to inform them that Amir was in the hospital.

The next day, I informed student affairs because I didn’t have Amir’s academic adviser’s phone number. I conveyed that Amir was hospitalised and under medical care, so he should be exempted from attending lectures. That’s the true story.

I carried out my responsibilities as a trainer, I carried out my responsibilities as a supervisor, and I know what my responsibilities are. I have a superior officer, and my superior officer doesn’t take an interest in me or his cadet officers, so I carried out my responsibilities as a trainer.

Malaysiakini: How about the allegations that the incident had elements of ragging?

Trainer: It’s like this -  these kids will use the term ragging, but the term refers to corrective action. For example, if we’ve spoken to them multiple times and they don’t follow instructions, we’ll repeat the advice. If they still don’t listen, we’ll resort to corrective measures.

Corrective measures, however, cannot be excessive, torturous, or cause injury or death. It must be done within reason.

For example, we may ask them to do full rolls or side rolls as part of introducing physical tests. I feel that doesn’t constitute ragging. If you want to call it ragging, don’t just point the finger at me alone.

Because when I first joined UiTM, I witnessed things that were far more punishing. My supervisor (the adjutant) even ordered cadets to drag their chests from one end of the parade ground to the other and back again, if you want to talk about ragging.

So when this incident happened, why was everything focused on me alone?

Everyone does similar things, as long as there’s no use of violence, that’s all. I was instructed to enter UiTM only to give orders and direct them (cadets).

Malaysiakini: Returning to the day of the incident, the family or witnesses previously stated that there was no scheduled training that day.

They also questioned why no ambulance was available, saying ambulances should be present at every training session. Why wasn’t there an ambulance on the day of the incident?

Trainer: During the initial intake process, the unit conducted the 2.4km physical fitness test, similar to the day of the incident. As far as I and the other trainers know, we raised concerns about the administrative order regarding the intake process.

Because for everything related to training and intake, whether in the military or police, I feel there must be an administrative order. I believe even in private workplaces, specific requests (orders) require proper instructions.

There must be an administrative order, but for this new junior intake series, there was none. I don’t know how this intake suddenly happened with various activities without proper instructions. During the intake for the 2.4km run and so on, there was no ambulance because there was no administrative order.

If you’re asking about every training session, throughout my time at UiTM, I’ve only seen an ambulance once, and that was during self-development training. For physical tests or any other activity, there was no ambulance.

Self-development training and shooting exercises were the only two sessions where I saw ambulances. Ideally, for every training involving fitness and shooting, there should always be an ambulance.

On the day of the incident, there wasn’t one. Throughout my time with Rotu at UiTM, there was no ambulance except during self-development training and shooting exercises.

For shooting exercises, we used a military ambulance. For self-development training, we used the UiTM Health Centre ambulance. Those were the only occasions I saw an ambulance.

Malaysiakini is seeking a response from Defence Minister Mohamed Khaled Nordin, his deputy Adly Zahari, and the Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF) over the absence of an ambulance during training as well as how trainees could pass the intake despite having high BMI. - Mkini