Insights into Student Suicide in Malaysia and Recent Cases

ELAINE NISHA DCRUZ J17024950 TOOLS & SYSTEM STUDENT SUICIDE IN MALAYSIA

LOOK INTO AREA OF STUDY Student Suicide in Malaysia Top five countries with highest suicide rates Guyana, Lithuania, Kazakhstan, Swaziland and Russia with rates ranging from 32.5 to 25.3 people per 100,000 of the population Malaysia's rate is recorded as 0.6 people per 100,000 of the population The low figure posted for Malaysia because lack of data available as a developing nation, the government focuses more on economic and technological development rather than mental and social welfare, which are areas that directly influence the percentage of suicide cases locally May 28, 2017 @ 1:24pm KUALA LUMPUR: ON average, 20 of the 68 people who call Befrienders Kuala Lumpur daily for help have suicidal thoughts The number of people crying out for help has increased by 16 per cent, from 21,256 in 2015 to 24,821 last year (2016) Befriender s KL publicity director Ardy Ayadali said 7,446 who called in 2016 had suicidal intentions, compared with 5,739 in 2015 Although suicide is more common among older people in most parts of the world, research shows that suicide is the second leading cause of death for youth between the ages of 15 and 29 in Malaysia, he said Ardy said 21 per cent of callers were aged 21 to 30; 15 per cent were below 20; 13 per cent were between 31 and 40; and 36 per cent were of unknown ages. By SUZANNA PILLAY(News Straits Times)

TIMELINE OF SUICIDE STORIES 10th March, 2017 In another case reported in the northern part of the country, depression drove a 21-year-old college student to hang himself. According to a press report dated Feb 21, it was his room-mate who found him hanged. Then, there was the case of a Form Five student who, it was believed, hanged himself whilst the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) was going on because he was dissatisfied with the way he had answered his Additional Mathematics paper. 3rd May, 2017 @ 5:16pm GEORGE TOWN: A 20-year-old engineering college student jumped to his death from a flat at Tanjung Bungah here, yesterday. Teh Wen Chun, who is said to have been experiencing stress related to his studies, jumped from one of the upper floors of the apartment building at 5.41am. (NST-By BALVIN KAUR-) 2nd June, 2017 20-Year-Old TARUC Student Commits Suicide Due to Stress From Work and Studies Just today, a female student, Wong Wanyi from Tunku Abdul Rahman University College (TARUC) KL, committed suicide earlier this morning. After leaving the note for her mother, she jumped off her condominium in Setapak at 4am. (worldofbuzz.com)

21st June 2017 A 28-year-old student of a private university was found dead on the first floor of a condominium here, believed to have fallen from the 10th floor of the building. "Upon arriving at his sister's rented house at Vista Alam Condominium, Section 14 (in Shah Alam), the victim's brother found his sister's house was unlocked and he checked the house, then he went to the balcony before he found the victim laying on the first floor of the building. (https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/386386) 11th August 2017 A Dude JUMPED off from 7th Floor at Taylor Lakeside. With no solid reason, there has no authorities to confirm just yet on what was actually happening. And here is the statement from the university itself on their Facebook page (https://forum.easyuni.my/t/discussion-suicide-in-taylor-lakeside/1380)

9th Apr 2016, Saturday KUALA LUMPUR: A mourning friend of Malaysian postgraduate student Law Jia Yi, who was said by her friends and the press to have committed suicide in Taiwan, believes everything would have been different if she had not gone there. Her parents supported her studies. But she s an independent girl. She knew that her parents were old. She always tried her best to save money for the family. (http://www.thestar.com.my) 12th April 2016 Sunway College confirmed the death of the student. Sunway College April 12 at 4pm: Condolences: Thong Wei Yuan. As a family of the Sunway Education Group we are indeed pained by the recent loss of our alumnus, Thong Wei Yuan. We wish to extend our deepest condolences to the family & friends of our former student. -Dr Elizabeth Lee, Senior Executive Director, Sunway Education Group A website reported that a Sunway student committed suicide in November2016. This means that in less than half a year there are two incidents of students committing suicide at Sunway.

22ND Sep 2016 The Health Ministry also recently revealed statistics that showed worsening state of mental health problems among students in Malaysia, from one in ten individuals in 2011 to one in five in 2016. 2nd July 2015, Thursday GEORGE TOWN, July 2 A student who is sitting for his STPM examination this year was found dead after falling to his death from the 19th floor of a flat in Air Itam. Tew Zhe Ming, 19, from Chung Ling High School was said to be a bright student in school but was under pressure due to a drop in this academic performance. (www.themalaymailonline.com) 25th November 2015, Kuala Lumpur On Tuesday, NST Online reported the death of a 17-year-old SPM candidate believed to have committed suicide in his family home in Jinjang here. The student was found motionless in his room hanging from the tie worn with his school uniform. The incident was confirmed by the Sentul district deputy police chief Superintendent Mohd Sukri Kaman. It is understood that the victim, who was described as an excellent student, was disappointed with being unable to answer the questions in one of the examination papers. (http://www.therakyatpost.com)

12TH May 2014 21-year-old Tieu Hooi Theng left a message for her family members before leaping from the 18th floor of the Menara UMNO building in Georgetown, Penang. A college student in her 20s fell to her death from a 21-storey building at Jalan Macalister here today. Scheduled to sit for an examination today. Tieu Did Not Want To Sit For The Exam, But Her Father Insisted That She Did A study in 2014 found that out of 358students at International Medical University in Malaysia, 44% were anxious while 35% were depressed. Furthermore, female students were found to be more impacted by depression and anxiety than male students.

Nov 10 2013 A medical student from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), identified as 21-year-old Alvern Loo, committed suicide after failing to get consent from his parents to switch to another course. He wrapped his head with a white plastic bag and hanged himself with a belt at his parents' bedroom. It was believed that he took the opportunity to kill himself when his parents were not at home. Oriental Daily understands that Alvern's father is the assistant principal of SMK Chung Hwa, Kuala Pilah while his mother is a teacher attached to SMK Tuanku Muhammad. 4th June 2012, Monday "These are just figures we collected from post-mortems. We think the suicide rates are under- reported," he said at a press conference here Monday. (the Star Online) December, 2012 PENANG: In May 2012 alone, a 17-year-old student who had scored 9As in the SPM, an 11- year-old home alone on Mother s Day and a 12-year-old on a school holiday break, all committed suicide in unrelated cases. They are recent suicides highlighted in the media, and they are putting the spotlight on the distress faced by Malaysian youth. Malaysians should realise that 12% of Malaysians, aged between 18 and 60, are facing mental health issues, says Malaysian Mental Health Advisory Council member Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye.

Thursday, 3 Apr 2008 BAHAU: Four Year Six pupils of a school here attempted suicide yesterday, purportedly after their teacher had threatened them with disciplinary action for doing badly in their Bahasa Malaysia examination. When the girls were asked why they were feeling sick, one admitted that they had taken the medicine. The teacher then rushed the four to the Jempol hospital. The pupils families were immediately notified.

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