Still a crime to take your life

MALAYSIA 

M. Veera Pandiyan

The Star

When will Malaysia stop persecuting those who attempt suicide? asked M. Veera Pandiyan. Indonesia and the Philippines don’t lock up survivors of suicide attempts, and authoritarian Singapore this month decriminalized suicide. But while our Asian neighbors are busy treating their mentally ill citizens, Malaysia keeps incarcerating them. In 2017, just two weeks after trying to end her life, a 24-year-old woman had to appear in court, where a judge told her sternly that she must pay a $500 fine or go to jail for three months. The government says it is looking at changing the law, but the process is painfully slow. In the meantime, people are suffering. Ten percent of teens contemplated suicide in 2017, up from 8 percent in 2012. That might be because Malaysia currently has only 7,000 psychiatrists for a population of 32 million, and we’d need 20 times as many to reach the ratio that doctors say is necessary. Those Malaysians who can find a shrink often can’t afford one, because mental-health treatment isn’t covered by most health-insurance plans. But most Malaysians won’t even try to seek help, because of “stigma, discrimination, and neglect.” Depression is seen here as shameful. To help the mentally ill, the government needs to start at the top—first, by repealing our “archaic laws.”

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