By Dr. Chua Sook Ning In the past week, there has been a great deal of attention on the incarceration of certain prominent activists, leading many Malaysians to protest against SOSMA and its application. Since 2000, the prison population in Malaysia has doubled and many of these offenders do not have anyone to speak up on their […]
November 2016
Placing suicide in context
By Dr. Chua Sook Ning In 2005, the Ministry of Health (MOH) conceded that the rate of suicide is severely underestimated and that the true rate of suicide ranges from 10. 5 – 13.5 people per 100000 (Malaysia Health 2005, p. 162). Below is a screenshot of the summary posted in the report. How does the rate […]
The official record vs. The hidden reality of suicide
By Dr. Chua Sook Ning Dr. Ong Kian Ming, MP of Serdang recently asked the government for the annual rate of suicides in Malaysia. This week in parliament, the government reported that 1513 suicides were recorded from 2010 to September 2016, or on average 227 people a year. This means one person every 2 days commits […]
Mental health status in Malaysia
By Dr. Chua Sook Ning Did you know that 1 in 3 Malaysians are suffering from mental health issues? RELATE is going to take you through the report released by the Institute for Public Health, Ministry of Health, Malaysia. The measure: General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) It has been used by the National Health and Morbidity Survey since 1996. […]
Stigma of mental illness in Malaysia
By Dr. Chua Sook Ning In ancient Greece, the word stigma referred to a mark that was cut or burned into the skin of a slave or criminal. This brand served to visibly identify this individual to society as unworthy or a risk to society. It was to warn the people this individual was to be […]
