The name of "Ma Jiajue" has become the latest buzz and search target on the Internet recently. The ruthless university senior, who killed four of his classmates, has finally been arrested after a month-long nationwide search. People were relieved at the news but can we just forget the sad story and rest assured? I doubt the answer is "Yes". History always repeats itself if we do not take action to prevent it.

Ma is not a born killer. His confession reveals that the evil seed was planted and cultivated over years. When he was a child, he demonstrated the psychological problem of being too self-centered. But neither his parents nor his teachers offered effective help. Adding to his isolation at home, he had few friends to talk to.

The boy grew up aloof and proud, a good student with seemingly high self-esteem for a while. However, this advantage faded soon after he entered his university in southwest China's Yunnan Province. He found himself a "nobody" in a place where all the top students from across the country had gathered.

His unbalanced self-esteem gradually turned into self-contempt. He could not stand any word being made against him by his classmates, not even jokes. To make things worse, he often thought that people around him were making fun of him and humiliating him. Although the young man looked healthy physically, he was ill inside his heart.

But again, nobody was there to rescue him from his inner tortures.

Ma is not solely responsible for his terrible crime. He could have been raised in a more caring environment, in which his parents could talked with him about how to deal with other people. Also, in school, he could have taken classes on psychological health with counselling from teachers. With caring parent and teachers, he could have made more friends and understood more about the psychology of others.

The Chinese educational system failed Ma and others like him. Some would argue that psychology courses should be made compulsory in colleges. Perhaps the higher educational system should not be blamed, however: how much could such a course change an undergraduate, someone who has already become an adult? Such orientation courses should be offered much earlier on, in primary schools and middle schools, when students are still shaping their views of the world.

I remember in my university there was a psychological-counselling centre. I have no data at hand about how many students ever sought help there, but from my personal point of view, I would probably never have gone there for help. Rather, I would have hoped the counsellors would have taken the initiative and come to talk to me should I have had some psychological problems.

Some bulletin boards on popular portals have carried discussions on this topic. One writer said he was luckier than Ma since he had not done anything outrageous, but inside there was another Ma. Obviously, the tragedy is not unique. If no measures are taken by the national educational system, more cases like Ma will take place before long.

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