SEBERANG PERAI, Aug 28 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today urged schools and higher education institutions to show zero tolerance towards bullying as such behaviour could undermine the country’s future.

He said students who bully others because they are stronger, more capable or come from better circumstances must not be allowed to thrive in the education system.

“There must be no compromise. Once we start compromising, the country and its future will not be destroyed,” he said in his speech at IPG Tuanku Bainun campus here.

Anwar said academic achievement alone could not build a civilised nation without values, character and respect for others.

He said Malaysia must pursue new knowledge, including information technology and artificial intelligence, while preserving “adab” (good manners) and ethical conduct.

“We want knowledge and character. We do not want a country that reaches for the sky in technology while its human values are eroded,” he said.

The prime minister said students who bully, belittle or humiliate others could not be allowed to become future leaders.

“If a Form Five student is already bullying others, or a Form Six student is arrogant, imagine what sort of leader he will become tomorrow. The country will be ruined,” he said.

Anwar also urged teachers and lecturers to act firmly against such behaviour.

He said isolated cases should not define an entire school, but they should not be trivialised either.

“Sometimes a school has 1,000 students and only four are involved in serious bullying. The media reports on the four, not the hundreds doing well.

“But that does not mean we should take it lightly. We must build a new culture,” he said.

He added that the spirit of independence must include freedom of thought and the rejection of prejudice based on race, skin colour, culture or religion.