21-6-2023 (KUALA LUMPUR) On Wednesday, Malaysia’s Upper House of Parliament passed a third Bill to decriminalise suicide attempts, following two Bills that were passed the day before. The Mental Health (Amendment) Bill 2023 was passed with a voice vote after a third reading.
Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Ramkarpal Singh, told members of the Upper House that the Bill is intended to empower crisis intervention officers to rescue victims who are attempting suicide. Singh said that the focus of the Bill is on the victims and that the aim of the amendments is to treat and not criminalize the act of attempted suicide. The Bill seeks to amend the Mental Health Act 2001.
According to Bernama, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform), Azalina Othman Said, said previously that these amendments will define the post and powers of crisis intervention officers. It also includes a moratorium for the implementation of Section 309 of the Penal Code until the repeal of the section is completed and gazetted.
On Tuesday, the Upper House passed two Bills related to the decriminalisation of suicide attempts. Singh said that the priority in these amendments is to rehabilitate a person who is thinking of taking their own life. The Bills will have to be presented to the King for approval and then gazetted for the amendments to take effect. The Bills were passed in the Lower House of Parliament on May 22 and May 23.
The aim of the reform is to encourage those affected to seek help, remove the stigma of suicide, and lower the country’s suicide death rate. The government also proposes strengthening punishment for cases of aiding suicide involving children and mentally incapacitated people.
According to former health minister Khairy Jamaluddin, Malaysia recorded 1,142 suicide cases in 2021, compared to 631 cases in 2020. In 2019, the suicide mortality rate was at 5.7 per 100,000 populations, according to the most recent data from the World Bank.
