Extracted from the Hikayat Munshi Abdullah bin Abdul Kadir, 1849
All manner of instruments for inflicting punishment were kept in the school, different kinds for different offences. There was also the sengkang, a punishment for children; who were always squabbling or absconding or thieving. The child was held with his right hand up to his left ear, and was told to stand up and sit down over and over again, as in the picture.
There was a punishment for pupils who were lazy in their studies. Smoke was generated in a heap of dry coconut fibre and the child made to stand astride it. Sometimes dry pepper was put in the fire. The reek of the smoke was most irritating and caused a copious discharge from eyes and and nose.
There was the cane and the apit china. The apit china was made from four pieces of rattan, each about six inches long, fitting together at a point at one end and threaded with a long piece of twine at the other, as in the picture. It was used for squeezing the fingers together as a punishment for children who stole or hit their fellow-pupils.
Another was called the kayu palat. It was made out of a round piece of wood about the width of a man's chest. Three holes were pierced in it, those on the right and left carrying the knotted ends of two pieces of cord which passed through the centre hole. It was used to punish children who ran away from school, or who climbed trees, or who gazed at their friends. The child's feet were put one into each ot the two loops of the cord which was twisted upwards and used to beat his soles.
There was also the rantai besi, a chain six feet or more in length, nailed to the end of a beam. The free end was fitted with a lock-pin and it was used to punish children who regularly played truant or were always quarrelling, or who did not listen to their parents' instructions and were late for school. The chain was locked round the offender's waist and he was made to carry the wooden beam on his shoulder round the school. Sometimes he was left wearing the chain and was not allowed home, his rice being sent to him.
There was a punishment for children who made mistakes in class. A twisted cord was fastened round the child's waist and tied to a post. The child was then told to go on with his writing until it was done. Not until it was finished was he released, his rice being sent to him by his parents. A punishment for children who were verv badly behaved, ones who fought, ran away or stole things was to gantung - hang them up by their two hands with their feet off the ground. Another punishment for those who misbehaved and stole was to place them face downwards on the floor and beat them. Another for children who told lies or used bad language or insulted people consisted in putting, pepper into their mouths.
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