Uproar Over Sengkang Green Primary Bullying Reveals an Unrealistic Singapore

Repair, not just punishment, must be the goal of efforts to stem bullying.

- Jason Tan

Managing bullying in schools is rarely a black-and-white issue, yet public reactions often assume it is. The recent Sengkang Green Primary case illustrates how public outrage, fueled by viral posts, often collides with the far more complex realities of handling such incidents.

Sengkang Green Primary School made the news recently when the mother of a pupil alleged on Facebook in mid-August that her daughter had been bullied by three male classmates, that she had also received prank calls and death threats against her, her daughter and her husband, and that a written reply from the school was not forthcoming.

Within days, the Ministry of Education (MOE) released its findings: the boys were suspended, with one caned. A timeline detailed painstaking efforts by the school to manage the situation and keep parents updated. Yet by then, public anger had already boiled over.

The incident came just months after a viral video of Montfort Secondary School students fighting. Online comments on the Sengkang Green case demanded swift punishment of the boys, and accused teachers, school leaders and MOE of negligence. Some argued that parents had no choice but to go public to prod schools into action.

THE PROBLEM WITH A ZERO-BULLYING GOAL

The reactions reveal three inherent tensions.

First, bullying touches a nerve because it violates our most basic expectation that children should learn in a safe and inclusive environment. Yet, the expectation that schools and MOE can deliver instant justice and eliminate bullying altogether is unrealistic.

For one thing, research underscores that bullying is not rare. About one in four upper primary pupils in a local study from 2018 to 2019 reported being bullied, with a smaller number indicating that they have been bullies, while a CNA survey earlier in 2025 found nearly 30 per cent of secondary school students had similar experiences.