SUICIDES AMONG FEMALES (Measures to help those at risk)

SUICIDES AMONG FEMALES:

(Measures to help those at risk): 1.

Mdm Halimah Yacob asked the Minister for Community Development and Sports arising from a recent media report that suicides among females aged 15 to 24 in Singapore is the fourth highest in the world (a) what measures are in place

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to help teenage girls and young women in distress; (b) is there multi-ministry co-operation on this problem; and (c) will his Ministry conduct a study to identify the causes so that more focused and targeted early intervention measures can be put in place to identify and assist the females at risk.

The Minister for Community Development and Sports (Assoc. Prof. Dr Yaacob Ibrahim): Mr Speaker, Sir, the loss of young lives to suicide, be they male or female, is heart-wrenching. Often, bereaved family and friends question if the tragedy could have been avoided.

Based on data we have, there were 20 suicides among female residents aged between 15 and 24 years in 2002. This is equivalent to 9.5 per 100,000 residents. Although this is four cases more than in 2001, we cannot yet conclude that there is a rising trend in suicide. From the World Health Organisation's 1999 and 2000 data on selected countries, our suicide rate for female residents aged 15 to 24 years was about the same as that in Asian countries, such as South Korea, Japan and Hong Kong.

Sir, we believe that the prevention of suicide requires the vigilance and cooperation of everyone - family, friends, colleagues, teachers and others. Where appropriate, offer a listening ear and be understanding. Encourage him or her to get help, or help to arrange for a counsellor who can provide professional help.

Sir, let me give some examples of preventive programmes by the community and by the Government. In the community, services are available to help those who are in distress. The Family Service Centres located in the heartlands provide counselling services for anyone who needs help or who is suicidal. The

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Samaritans of Singapore (SOS) has a 24-hour crisis hotline 1800-221-4444. Other helplines include those by the Care Corner Mandarin Counselling Centre and Family Service Centres, and their numbers are given out through radio programmes and talks. Those who have psychiatric disorders or depression or are prone to suicide can receive medically appropriate help at the Institute of Mental Health. Those who are bereaved due to suicide often need much support, and those affected can attend a support group called "The Healing Bridge" run by the Samaritans of Singapore.

The annual Suicide Prevention Week by SOS is a commendable community effort to increase understanding of suicidal thoughts and the avenues for help. Last year, the event was supported by my Ministry and the Southeast CDC. The annual event is aimed at bringing prevention messages to the community, so that everyone can be alert to early signs of depression and refer those affected for help.

Sir, some of the efforts are targeted at the young. For example, SOS has implemented an Email Befriending Service to complement their hotline as more young people are now using the Internet. Children can call the Tinklefriend helpline run by Singapore Children's Society. At the IMH, the Child Guidance Clinic and Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry provide services for children and adolescents with emotional problems. Recently, my Ministry and the Ministry of Education jointly developed a resource booklet entitled "Children at Risk - A Handbook for Teachers". This handbook informs teachers on how to identify at-risk students and the appropriate interventions. My Ministry is also expanding the STEP-UP programme which enhances the capacity of VWOs in the delivery of school-based social work. This programme, which complements MOE's existing pastoral care system, strengthens

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our students' emotional resilience and helps parents and teachers better manage and support our students. MCDS will also work with youth agencies and SOS to enhance programmes and capability to support suicidal youths who are out of school.

Sir, the possible reasons for suicides are multi-faceted. Local academics and researchers found that the reasons leading to suicide among young people included interpersonal relationship problems and conflicts, stresses resulting from school or work, financial pressures and mental illness. My Ministry and the other relevant agencies will continue to study the trends and profile of persons who commit suicide and the reasons for suicide. As we have done in the past, we will share pertinent findings with the agencies involved in the prevention and intervention efforts so that all of us can enhance our programmes and services where appropriate.

Mdm Halimah Yacob (Jurong): Sir, I want to thank the Minister for giving us the information, but it seems to me that although the programmes which the Minister has mentioned are programmes which are currently in place, the suicide rate among females aged 15 to 24 continues to be high. Are there any new intervention programmes that the Ministry can think of? For instance, the intervention programme mentioned between MCDS and MOE on children at risk may not necessarily target the specific group we are concerned, ie, those between 15 and 24. Obviously, MCDS, when working with MOE, colleges, polytechnics, secondary schools and universities may have to target the women in these areas. My question is: are there other programmes that the Ministry is thinking of and, specifically, will the Ministry be able to conduct a survey to identify what are the causes, so that we can have more targeted assistance programmes for them?

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Assoc. Prof. Dr Yaacob Ibrahim: Sir, I agree with the Member that we should be targeted, and that is why I have announced in Parliament that we are launching a new programme called "STEP-UP". "STEP-UP" is a programme where we will enhance the capability of VWOs for doing school-based social work, and this will include not only the secondary schools, but also the ITEs and junior colleges. So, we will try and reach out to the entire spectrum of the youth sector. I also mentioned in my reply that we will work with youth agencies and SOS for school children who are out of school, so that we can also target them.

With regard to the study, we are continuously looking at the data to understand further what were the causes. I have mentioned earlier in my reply that there had been some research done by local academics. Very often, it is very difficult for us to identify the causes because, unless the deceased leaves a note behind or there is some information gathered from the coroner's report, it is a mix of guesswork and speculation to understand what is actually going on. But there is enough evidence, not only from local but also from studies abroad, to show that there are some factors that we can point to, and I have mentioned that in my reply. But as to exactly what are immediate causes, I think it would be difficult for us to point to one particular factor. But having said that, Sir, the approach that we have taken in regard to the young people is a 4-pronged one.

First, we try to equip our young with coping skills. So, we have embarked on programmes with MOE. MOE itself has a pastoral care programme. In fact, it has also ramped up some of the programmes to provide expertise in school to deal with children who may have problems.

Second, apart from coping skills, we also go into early detection, where we

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work with frontline agencies. I have mentioned the example of the handbook with school teachers. We have trained Family Service Centre staff, professional service staff, and even the police have been involved in picking up some skills that they can use in order to identify suicidal tendencies among the clients that they come across.

Third, we have public education programmes where we work with SOS and other agencies.

The fourth approach is, of course, to provide treatment at the Child Guidance Clinic at IMH and other Government agencies.

This is the 4-pronged approach that we have taken. But we understand the concern of the Member and will continue to study the data to find how best we can tackle this problem.

Dr Lily Neo (Jalan Besar): Sir, may I ask the Minister whether more efforts can be made to raise public awareness on suicidal tendencies, since about 80% of those who committed suicide have expressed their intentions to their family members and friends before their acts? The best preventive measure is to have family members and friends referring all potential cases for early treatment or help before it is too late. Therefore, how would the Minister facilitate this?

Assoc. Prof. Dr Yaacob Ibrahim: Sir, I agree with the Member that the role of the immediate support system is important, ie, family members, friends, etc, who may know of colleagues who may have suicidal tendencies to step in to offer them help. In fact, we run a lot of public education programmes. For example, the Suicide Prevention Week run by SOS is meant to raise the awareness of the public not only about the causes

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but also the opportunities available. They can call the Family Service Centres. The numbers are readily available. I mentioned about Tinklefriend which is run by the Singapore Children's Society. The Samaritans of Singapore (SOS) runs a 24-hour crisis hotline. So, if anybody comes across a person, colleague or friend who may have such suicidal tendencies, he or she can call SOS and SOS can help the person with suicidal tendencies to deal with their problems. The Singapore Association of Mental Health also offers such services.

The best avenue would always be to go down to the nearest Family Service Centre in the heartlands, because we have trained the frontline staff at the various agencies to deal with these problems so that they can assist the person in terms of walking him through to find a solution to his problem.

Assoc. Prof. Ngiam Tee Liang (Nominated Member): Sir, the age band of 15 to 24 is quite a broad one and, if the figures were to show the number of young female working adults involved, it will probably constitute a larger proportion. If this were so, could the efforts that we are all doing not also be channelled into the workplace, and that a new public education programme in the workplaces be mounted with the cooperation of the employers, and to include suicide prevention as well? In this context, of course it is not just the females; it is also the male workers. So, too are the older workers and mothers under stress. We should not underestimate the importance of stress at the workplace and unrealistic expectations, as well as the uncertainties of the New Economy as contributory factors.

Assoc. Prof. Dr Yaacob Ibrahim: Sir, I agree entirely with the Member that we should also look at workplaces. I do not have an immediate breakdown of the data as to whether there is a tilt towards

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working women or with females who are still studying. But I will take the Member's suggestion and work with the agencies as to whether we can work with the workplaces to spread the message of suicide prevention.