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Suicide rate high among ethnic Indians in Malaysia

Among the various races in the country, 30-35 Malaysian Indians per 100,000 comitted or attempted to commit suicide annually.

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KUALA LUMPUR: More ethnic Indians than Malaysians are committing suicides in the country, a senior Minister on Sunday said and stressed on the need to spread
awareness among the people on the issue.

Among the various races in the country, 30-35 Malaysian Indians per 100,000 comitted or attempted to commit suicide annually as compared to 10-12 Malaysians per 100,000, Deputy Minister for Women, Family and Community Development, G Palanivel, told a meeting here.

Palanivel, who is also the deputy head of the Malaysian Indian Congress, the largest Indian-based political party in the country, said early detection of suicidal tendencies could result in early intervention and help solve the problems.

"The percentage of Malaysian Indians committing suicide is very high. We must as far as possible discourage the ways to commit suicide. The causes of suicide lie very deep. It is not solely confined to the poor, even the rich commit suicide," Palanivel told a roundtable discussion on the 'Community Response to Suicide'.

"We can detect those who are depressed but suicidal tendency is difficult. We need to create awareness on suicide. We should also take up the religious angle. We should not attach values to suicide as portrayed in films," he said.

The issue of suicides among the Indian community came unde spotlight recently, when a woman hurled herself along with her children in front of a train due to family problems.

The issue also brought up the influence of Indian movies, especially suicide scenes and their impact on people, with some experts calling for a ban on such scenes.

Palanivel said the 1.8 million Indians in the country should develop mental resilience and self-motivation to move forward even after a major setback and called for cooperation
of all segments of society to eradicate the problem, Bernama news agency said.

Prof Dr T Maniam of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia's Psychiatric Department felt Malaysian Indians resorted to suicide because of their "socio-economic condition,
alcoholism, unemployment, high dropout rate from schools and their attitude towards life."

"We have to reinforce to the community that the Indian culture does not condone suicide. We also have to create awareness that religion too does not allow such acts," Bernama quoted him as saying.

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