Suicide victims are not criminals – Agong’s daughter
Published on: Saturday, September 12, 2020
By: NST
.jpg "Suicide victims are not criminals – Agong’s daughter")
Tengku Iman
PETALING JAYA: Tengku Puteri Raja Tengku Iman Afzan Al-Sultan Abdullah, in conjunction with World Suicide Prevention Day, has called for suicide to be decriminalised.Tengku Iman, a staunch mental health advocate and royal patron of Mental Illness Awareness and Support Association (Miasa), said Malaysia is among the few countries in the world that still classifies attempted suicide as a crime despite significant efforts by various stakeholders to fight for the decriminalisation of suicide.
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She said the country should continue setting a good example as it has shown great effort in containing and managing the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Malaysia has gone through great lengths to manage the Covid-19 pandemic and our efforts have received praise. I am certain that we have set standards on what good public health management should be.
“We should keep the momentum going by also setting standards on what good mental healthcare should be, and it must be part of our recovery in the ‘new normal’ phase,” she said during the launch of the Mental Illness Awareness and Support Association (Miasa)’s activity and crisis management centre at the Orchid Clubhouse, here.
Tengku Iman said stigma remains one of the mental health’s biggest challenges. She noted that she had also faced anxiety at a young age. “Throughout my mental health journey, I have always felt that stigma is the biggest hurdle that we face and that more must be done. If we continue to penalise those who attempt suicide, it will only continue to perpetuate the stigmatisation of mental health.
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“Criminalising suicide does not address the underlying factors that cause such attempts in the first place, rather, it has the opposite effect as the criminal element discourages those suffering from seeking help and treatment.
“We must start somewhere and win battles first to win the war against stigmatisation. Decriminalising suicide is one of these battles,” she said.
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Tengku Iman stressed that there must be sustainable and viable mechanisms for people to access mental healthcare before the law is amended to decriminalise suicide, and efforts made to ensure that individuals can seek help for their mental health challenges without fear or hesitation.
She added that connectedness must prevail to show support for mental health victims. It must also extend to the wider community and normalise the discussion surrounding mental health and suicide.
“Connectedness is crucial to those vulnerable to suicide and reaching out to them and providing them with the support and companionship they need would be life-saving,” she said.
Earlier at the same event, Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba said based on data collected by the ministry showed that this year’s attempted suicide cases were 210 cases less than in 2019.
“A total of 465 attempted suicide cases were recorded between January and June this year, compared to the same period in 2019, where there were 675 cases,” he said.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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