A Fuhua Secondary School student is very unhappy about her school grooming exercise, and how students are affected by what they see is an act of humiliation.

"I am upset that recently during morning assembly the school checked the girls, and I thought offenders would be giving a warning, and get a chance to get their hair cut after school. However it was not so.

The offenders were sent to the principal's office and their fringes were cut short. These students came out crying as they looked ugly.

I think this was a public act of humiliation. Everyone wants to look good but with this hairstyle, if you were them you won’t step out of the house to face other people. And these students will care more about how their hair looks now and not concentrate on their studies. I think the principal just made things worse.

My friend's two friends cried for almost two hours and couldn't even concentrate in class and in their CCA.

What's the point of making us feel so humiliated we can't concentrate on our studies? I thought education should come first. Furthermore, the principal should at least give the offenders a chance before doing this; the students can pin up or cut their hair themselves. I feel that the principal is in the wrong to just cut away the students' hair like that without caring about how they feel and never even give them chances to go cut their hair after school or to pin them up.

Also, the principal scolds students who wear jackets in school when it's cold. They feel we wear the jacket as a fashion statement and said that it's not part of the school's attire and we shouldn't be wearing them even if it's cold or windy. We're told to report to the office if we are really sick and they will call our parents, and then allow us to wear our jackets. But there isn't a jacket designed for us to wear. Should we all go sew the school logo on our jackets before we are allowed to wear them?

The principal actually wants students who wear coloured bras to remove them and get their parents to bring white bras for them to change into, but what happens if both parents are working? Should the girl go walking around the school without a bra? Worse, this is a co-ed school and it’s humiliation to the girls. The principal doesn't care about how we really feel.

Toilet lights are also switched off to save electricity bills and we can hardly see in the afternoons. It is almost pitch-black on rainy days. The only time when the toilet lights are switched on again is when important guests visit, which I think is really unfair to us students. The school would rather spend money building a statue and it look nothing more that a man with two thumbs up and place it among some bushes. I think it’s a waste of money and the school actually saves money from electricity bills to build that statue which is of no use at all. They should rather go spend the money helping poor and needy students.

I really hope the school will concentrate more on our education than on grooming and making us feel so humiliated."

"Grace period and extensions are always given," responded Mr Phor Hoay Guan, Vice Principal, Fuhua Secondary School after STOMP contacted the school following a student's email to us.

Mr Phor explained that students who "fall short of expectations" are monitored by teachers to ensure they do comply with rules.

This is the email Fuhua Secondary sent to STOMP.

"In Fuhua Secondary, discipline and pastoral care form the foundation for our approach towards a holistic education for our pupils. The school nurtures and encourages each pupil to develop a sense of discipline. One component of discipline is the observance of school rules."

The students who "fall short of expectations", are monitored and advised by teachers.

Should they fail to comply with rules they are warned, and sterner disciplinary action taken against the offenders.

The school also explains the reason for switching off toilet lights, that these "are efforts towards energy-saving", and that this message was conveyed to staff and students when the practice was implemented in 2005.

The lights, the school clarifies, are switched on during rainy days or when the sky is dark.