In recent months, Malaysia has been shaken by a disturbing wave of bullying cases; students beaten in dorms, humiliated on camera, and in some cases, losing their lives. Each viral video brings public outrage, yet after the noise fades, the cycle of silence returns. The truth is, bullying in Malaysian schools is not new, it’s just finally being seen.
This November, a theatre production titled Tewas: No Light at the End of the Tunnel will force us to face what many prefer to look away from. Premiering at Kongsi KL from 6 to 9 November 2025, Tewas takes the real stories of Malaysian students; victims, perpetrators, and the families caught between, and transforms them into raw, visceral performance.
Produced by independent theatre company JDEV Studios in collaboration with Universiti Sains Malaysia’s School of the Arts, Tewas is more than a play. It is a mirror held up to a society that has normalised cruelty as discipline and silence as survival.
Drawing from four to five actual bullying cases, the production explores the pain and trauma that linger long after the bruises fade. The title itself, Tewas, meaning “defeated” in Malay, captures the emotional truth behind every act of bullying, that in every confrontation, someone loses more than dignity.
In the words of producer Sidhart Joe Dev, “The truth is the issue has always been there, quiet, painful, and often overlooked.” He adds that staging this play is not about capitalising on headlines but confronting a reality that’s existed long before the public outrage.
In recent years, Malaysia has seen a disturbing uptick in school bullying, both in numbers and in severity. According to official education-ministry data, reported bullying cases rose from 3,887 in 2022 to 6,528 in 2023, and then to 7,681 in 2024. The bulk of these involve secondary-school students, though primary-school incidents are also mounting.
Even more alarming are the cases that escalate into trauma or death. Take the case of 13-year-old Zara Qairina Mahathir, found dead outside her boarding-school dormitory in Sabah in July 2025. Her death sparked national outcry and a serious re-examination of how bullying is handled in schools.
In another case, 13 perpetrators were found guilty of murdering a 17-year-old student in a dorm in Sabah.
Then, there are the more recent incidents: in October 2025, two male secondary-school students in Kuching threatened a classmate with rape and stabbing “300 times”. These cases shake the assumption that bullying is minor or simply “kids being kids”.
So, where does Tewas come in? The production opens at Kongsi KL from 6 to 9 November 2025 and uses real–inspired cases of school bullying in Malaysia to stage a visceral encounter with this crisis. The title, “Tewas”, signals that bullying isn’t a one-off event; it is a cycle of loss, silenced voices and long-term harm. The production also broadens the narrative to include victims, their families, and even perpetrators, showing the ripple effects beyond the classroom.
The timing could not be more relevant. With the public anger over cases like Zara’s still resonant and calls for stronger anti-bullying laws growing louder, Tewas enters this moment not merely as theatre but as social commentary. Critics pointed out the policy gaps: Malaysia has no specific anti-bullying Act, meaning many incidents fall through cracks in the legal system. Tewas seems to respond to this structural deficit, articulating what statistics and headlines alone cannot: the lived, embodied trauma.
When audiences sit in that theatre space, the immersive design promises to blur the boundary between performance and lived experience. For a society often comfortable with distance, “that happens elsewhere”, “kids will sort it out themselves”, the show seeks to close that gap. It invites empathy, discomfort, and reflection. The exhibition of real cases, the post-show discussions with educators, NGOs and mental-health organisations, and the workshops for younger audiences turn this from drama into potential catalyst.
One of the biggest question is: what happens after the performance? Theatre can provoke, but lasting change requires follow-through. Schools must move from reaction to prevention; legal reforms must be paired with culture-change; parents and bystanders must take roles beyond spectatorship. Tewas opens up that conversation, but the challenge is turning the spotlight into sustained action.
Theatre, at its best, doesn’t offer solutions, it offers confrontation. Tewas does exactly that. It does not try to tidy up the horror of bullying or turn pain into something palatable. Instead, it invites us to sit with the discomfort, to listen to the silence between the screams, to see ourselves; as bystanders, teachers, friends, parents, within the story.
Because in a way, Tewas is not just about those who were defeated. It is about those who still can choose not to be. It reminds us that empathy is a muscle, one that needs to be exercised in classrooms, in homes, and in every corner where cruelty hides behind laughter or power.
Art cannot legislate change, but it can make us feel the urgency for it. And sometimes, feeling is the first act of resistance.
So, when the lights go down at Kongsi KL this November, and the stage fills with the echoes of stories too real to dismiss, maybe the question is not whether we can end bullying, but whether we’re finally ready to stop pretending we don’t see it.
Get your tickets at cloudjoi.com, and follow @jdevstudios for info.
Muthiah & Sabrina are simply two lawyers with plenty of thoughts to share. Nothing here is meant to offend. Only to invite reflection and conversation.
Law & Disorder (lawanddisorder2025@gmail.com) is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
The User Content (as defined on Newswav Terms of Use) above including the views expressed and media (pictures, videos, citations etc) were submitted & posted by the author. Newswav is solely an aggregation platform that hosts the User Content. If you have any questions about the content, copyright or other issues of the work, please contact creator@newswav.com.