Thank You Sir May I Have Another

Today, the practice of canning or rotan is a form of physical abuse. When I was younger, I was a frequent liar so I was caned whenever I got caught lying. As a policeman who never entertain the normal practice of bribery in the police force, my father dread the very idea of lying and will go to great length to 'straighten' me up. But after the caning, he will visit my room at night and explain to me why he had to resort to caning. If my father is not around, my mother will take over and beat me with cloth hangers or she would save her energy and emotionally blackmail me instead.

Strangely enough, my little brother Hadi picked up this habit but he was so good at it that everyone never notice it until it became evidently obvious. Now lying is like second nature to him. The only person who can scan his lies is me (being a old-time expert and all) What puzzled me is that he was never caned for his lying habits. To be honest, a part of me is angry because of the notion of "Afiq tipu kena rotan, Hadi buat tak kena pun."

But really, I don't see any other ways to 'straighten' Hadi up. We tried reason and sometimes even resort to heavenly threats. Orang yang suka tipu disengat ular kepala tujuh and all that jazz but it goes through him like a car going through Smart Tunnel just after the fuel price hike.

Caning is no more an option because he's already sixteen and it can even be misconstrued as ehem, abuse.

Caning is abuse? Puh-leez... Since when? Since Oprah issit? For me, caning can only be considered as a form of abuse when parents beat up their children to channel their anger. I can clearly distinct the difference between emotional caning and lesson caning because I experienced both before. Emotional caning is usually accompanied by angry grunts and is usually done without warning. Once, I exited the toilet and suddenly, Gedeboosh! My head kissed the tiled floor, leaving me stuttering "Afiq buat apa?"

Under normal circumstances, caning is the most effective method to educate headstrong children. But today, caning is considered abuse. Once, Hadi was caught hiding his homework under the sink so he was punished; he was prohibited to watch TV for a week. I was like "Whaaaa aaa aaa aaa aaaaaa... .....aaat?"

"Mana aci!"