A way of seeing....

Ruth had been real busy these two days. But not with homework or revision. She's attending her junior prefect orientation program organized by her school. She came back home at the end of the day exhausted and complaining of aches here and there. For one who seldom exercise, it's definitely a trying time for her. Well, from now onwards, it takes alot of self-discipline and effort to balance the time between her studies and her prefectorial responsibilities.

Speaking of discipline, this brings to mind the warden of a boarding school caught in the middle of the "soaking in the pond" controversy recently. She ordered 200 girls into a pond as a collective punishment because no one owned up for flushing a sanitary pad into the toilet. She claimed that the girls had been repeatly advised to disposed off their soiled pads with the old newspapers and dustbins provided by the school but they just would not listen. So, she sent them for an hour's soak in the pond.

The incident sparked a furore and with all the media attention, various parties condemned her actions and even called for her suspension and dismissal. It was only after her repeated apologies to the parents of the affected students that she managed to get off the hook.

Looking back, I would not be so quick to condemn her actions. Thirty-three years ago, I was a boarding student in one of the colleges in Miri. I studied in the college for four years and stayed in the girl's dormitory during that period. The dormitory, built in a longhouse style comprises of ten rooms each on the ground and first floor. One can say that thirty years ago, students are less irresponsible, more obedient and easier to discipline. But the problem on the disposal of sanitary pads is an old age one. We had about 200 students in our dormitory and one can imagine the number of pads used by the girls. Our warden also faced the same problem, soiled pads were indiscrimnately thrown in the toilets and bathrooms. She repeatly reminded the girls to dispose off the pads in the dustbins provided, but often the advice would often fall on deaf ears. At one time, the problem was so bad that she ordered the girls from each room to go round all the toilets and bathrooms and collect all the pads and disposed them off at the end of the day. So, a duty roster was drawn up and all the girls had a hand in collecting the soiled pads and disposing them off. It was a really..... dirty and disgusting job. I am quite sure if there's a pond nearby, she just might herald us there for a soak, too! Understandbly, it's never easy being a warden. Besides talking care of the welfare of the students, enforcing discipline is often a problem. I can say, it is often a thankless task.