Suicide and its Impact on Society: A Malaysian Blueprint for Prevention

YB Lee Kah Choon, Parliamentary Secretary for Health Ministry and H.E. Ambassador Thierry Rommel, Head of the European Commission Delegation to Malaysia officiated the opening of the Seminar Suicide and its Impact on Society: A Malaysian Blueprint for Prevention on the 31st of March 2005 in Kuala Lumpur.

ERA Consumer Malaysia together with the Friedrich Naumann Foundation organised the seminar in response to the alarming increase of people with cases of psychological distress with suicidal thoughts being handled by our Community Centres across Malaysia.

The main objective of organizing this seminar is to obtain an overview of the situation and the causes and pressures that drive people to propensity of self-harm and suicidal thoughts, to discuss the impact of suicide on the society in the Malaysian context, and most importantly to raise public awareness on suicidal behavior and its prevention, as well as the existence of support systems by NGOs and the Government to potential victims and their family. The findings from this seminar will be compiled, published and presented to the government as policy recommendations.

The seminar was actively attended by more than 120 people consisting of health care professionals, volunteers and NGOs that administer hotlines and other support systems.
Experiences of the health care professionals from both the government and civil service sector were shared. The religious perspectives of the major religions represented in Malaysia were also looked into.

This is part of a series of efforts aimed at providing input and recommendations to the Malaysian Government on various issues that affect the Indian Malaysian minority, particularly the women. It falls under the broader objective of empowerment and confidence building of Indian Malaysian women under the project Community Centres for the Empowerment of Indian Women in Malaysia, co-funded by the European Union and the Friedrich Naumann Foundation.

It is intended that recommendations will be derived from the findings and discussions of this seminar and can then be submitted to the Government as input into the creation of a more comprehensive national suicide prevention strategy that is collaborative and a coordinated effort between the government agencies, civil service society, the media and the general public. The approach will be one of raising awareness to broaden the public's awareness of suicide and its risk factors, as well as intervention through enhanced services to prevent suicide.

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