NUMBER OF SUICIDES

Mdm Claire Chiang See Ngoh asked the Minister for Home Affairs what is the number of suicides or attempted suicides recorded by the Police during the period August 1997 and April 1998 and to what extent these suicides were related to the recent economic crisis by specifying some of the salient characteristics of the victims and causes of their deaths.

Mr Wong Kan Seng: There were 253 suicides and 436 attempted suicides recorded by the Police from August 1997 to April 1998.

It is difficult to ascertain whether the persons who committed suicide did so because of the regional economic crisis. Police investigations have shown that 4 suicides and 1 attempted suicide were probably caused by heavy losses in property, share or business investments.