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Singapore’s answer to school bullying? The cane … and counselling

For six months, Adriana Lim Escano’s teenage son went to school and said nothing. He had tried to do the right thing – stepping in…

By Samantha Johnson / April 26, 2026

For six months, Adriana Lim Escano’s teenage son went to school and said nothing. He had tried to do the right thing – stepping in when a group of boys bullied a classmate – and paid for it with half a year of misery, name-calling and social isolation.

His mother only found out when another parent called to say her son had voiced suicidal thoughts to a friend.

The school’s response, when it finally came, was a talking-to from the discipline committee. No suspensions. No meaningful consequences.

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“He questioned whether there was justice in this world and whether there were safe adults in school who cared,” said Escano, 47, the founder of a distribution and retail concepts company.

He questioned whether there was justice in this world

Adriana Lim Escano, mother to a bullied son
That was in 2024. This month, Singapore’s Ministry of Education unveiled a new standardised package of disciplinary measures to tackle school bullying.

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The measures, announced after a government review following two high-profile school bullying incidents, aim to introduce a clearer punishment framework – rather than a case-by-case approach – under which repeat offenders of serious offences can be suspended for five to 14 days.

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