FIRST, he was shocked when his 12-year-old hearing-impaired son came home with a swollen cheek.
Next, he was aghast when the boy told him about the slapping punishment that his teacher at the Singapore School for the Deaf (SSD) meted out to him and nine other boys.
Then, Mr Buang Kalil, 57, was outraged when the same teacher sent him a letter to explain why his son, Maswan, was punished.
The letter, he felt, insulted his son further by saying the boy was 'capable of unimaginable deviant behaviour', and has 'a strong potential for killing or being killed'.
Mr Buang, a security guard, has since gone to the National Council of Social Service (NCSS), the Singapore Association for the Deaf (SADeaf), his Member of Parliament and the police over his son's slapping.
As a result, all three staff members have left the school.
He said he was 'provoked' by the letter from teacher Ranjani Fernando, which accused Maswan of being a troublemaker since age 9.
Maswan is the second of three children. His older brother and younger sister are both normal.
A second parent, whose 15-year-old son was slapped, said he did not notice any marks on his son's face or even know about the slapping incident until he was told by another parent more than two weeks later.
But Mr Buang's wife, Madam Nursyuhadah Teresita Abdullah, 42, a housewife, said she saw her son's red and swollen left cheek when he came home at 6pm on the last day of camp.
The next morning, he told his parents everything after they continued to question him. She used her handphone camera to take a photo of her son's face.
Over the next two days, the couple sent an MMS to the boy's form teacher, called NCSS to lodge a complaint, and went to see his MP together with his son.
Mr Buang said: 'We just wanted an answer and something to be done. Because the social worker didn't call us, the teacher didn't call, the principal was on a course and didn't know what was happening.'
A week later, the couple received the letter from Ms Fernando.
That same day, Maswan showed his mum a sex education book which was given at the camp. In the jotter book were colour photocopies of graphic illustrations on sex education, including a cartoon of a naked man and woman having sex which showed part of the man's genitals.
She said: 'I was so angry, my hand started shaking. The pictures are so gross, so inappropriate.
'He's too young, it's not the right time for him to learn all these. If I had known they'll teach him this in the camp, I would never have let him go.'
TRAUMATISED
Social worker Jessica Cheah confirmed that the book was given to all 27 boys and girls who went to the camp, all of whom were age 12 and above.
But she and Ms Fernando defended the book's contents.
Since the incident, Mr Buang has decided not to let his son go to school for the past two weeks. Also, they said their son was traumatised and has been undergoing counselling once a week.
Said Mr Buang: 'We are doing this as a lesson to other parents. They shouldn't be afraid to report such things. We don't want other children to go through such incidents.'
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
'I wasn;t allowed to say goodbye to kids'
SOCIAL worker Jessica Cheah said her dismissal was a shock.
Ms Cheah, 28, was in charge of the school camp, where the slapping took place.
School principal Hanisnah Kasmuri, who was not at the camp as she was away on a course, was also asked to leave.
Ms Cheah said the Singapore Association for the Deaf told her last Tuesday to resign by the next day or be terminated.
'I was shocked. They told me I didn't carry out my professional duties and they have to terminate me with immediate effect.
'I was not allowed to say goodbye to the kids.'
She resigned the next day.
Ms Cheah said she found out that others had been fired only when Ms Fernando came to say goodbye.
An acting principal has been put in place at the school.
But some 40 signatures have been gathered in a petition to reinstate Madam Hanisnah, who has been with the school for 21 years, as principal.
Mr Buang, who signed it, said: 'The principal was away and didn't know anything about what happened at the camp.
'I support the principal because she made many improvements.'
There was also concern that the PSLE is just two weeks away.
