Prevention of Teen Suicides

The following question stood in the name of Dr Lim Wee Kiak –

17 To ask the Minister for Social and Family Development (a) what is the Ministry doing to address teen suicides; (b) whether the Ministry has done any studies on reducing the suicide rate; and (c) what is the Ministry doing to strengthen the current multi-Ministry approach on this issue.

18 Mr Saktiandi Supaat asked the Minister for Social and Family Development (a) whether the Ministry will consider launching a suicide prevention campaign to raise awareness on how to look out for tell-tale signs to prevent suicides; (b) whether there is a need to set up a special hotline for teens which is manned by teenagers trained in counselling; and (c) whether counsellors are trained to alert the parents/guardians if they counsel a potentially suicidal teen.

Mr Lim Biow Chuan (Mountbatten): Question No 17.

Mdm Speaker: Who is the Minister responding to Question No 17?

The Minister for Social and Family Development (Mr Tan Chuan-Jin): Mdm Speaker, if I may take the next two questions together, please.

Mdm Speaker: Yes, please.

Mr Tan Chuan-Jin: Allow me to, first, emphasise that every suicide, whether amongst youths, the middle-aged or the elderly, is one too many. It is very sad, and we should endeavour to prevent them when we can. A number of local studies have been done on suicide in the young. The common reasons for teen suicides in Singapore are interpersonal relationship and family issues, as well as social stressors.

As the causes of suicides are often complex and multi-faceted, we do want to take a whole-of-Government approach in dealing with suicides in the young. These include efforts from agencies such as the Ministry of Health (MOH), the Institute of Mental Health (IMH), the Health Promotion Board (HPB), the Ministry of Education (MOE), and my Ministry.

Psychological resilience is crucial when youths face circumstances that overwhelm them. Within the school environment, HPB runs a series of psycho-emotional programmes to equip students with skills to manage stress and emotions, build positive and supportive relationships with peers, and recognise when and where to seek help. Students may also be referred to school counsellors, community agencies and mental health professionals such as the Child Guidance Clinic in the IMH, where necessary. Parents are alerted when required. MOE will further elaborate on its strategy to care for the socio-emotional well-being of students.

Outside of the schools, there is a strong network of community partners that have important roles in preventing teen suicide. Healthcare and social service professionals are trained to identify and intervene appropriately when they come into contact with higher-risk individuals, such as those with a history of suicidal and self-harming behaviours. The Samaritans of Singapore (SOS) conducts programmes to teach teenagers how to identify suicide warning signs and where to seek help.

SOS also runs a 24-hour crisis hotline, manned by trained adult volunteers, to counsel persons in distress. Counselling such persons requires relevant training, skills, emotional maturity and understanding of life's challenges. I think it would not be reasonable to expect teenagers to possess all these prerequisites to take crisis calls. For better awareness and dedication of resources, there should be just one hotline for such calls. Teenagers can play a role, certainly as friends, as fellow students, to look out for tell-tale signs. Or if we are concerned about the well-being of our friends, do let our teachers know or let the family know.

Several agencies such as MOH, IMH, MOE and my Ministry, have come together to further understand the triggers for suicide in the young and to devise effective strategies, including public education on prevention, towards building better mental resilience among our youths. I think this will better inform inter-agency efforts to address the stressors and influences that drive young persons towards self-harm.

I would end by saying that all of us have a part to play; parents and family members to provide a supportive environment at home. All of us, as relatives, as friends, if we do pick up indicators that give us concern, do flag it up to the relevant authorities so that we can follow up. It is better to be safe than sorry.

Mdm Speaker: Mr Saktiandi Supaat.

Mr Saktiandi Supaat (Bishan-Toa Payoh): I thank the Minister for the answers to the question. The Minister mentioned the strategies that have been taken holistically by cross-agencies to address teen suicide across the country. I was wondering how far away Singapore is compared to international best practices in terms of handling of teen suicide. In Britain, for example, they have a teen suicide prevention strategy. How far away are we from there? Are we moving towards that sort of strategy or campaign to address the teen suicide problem?

Mr Tan Chuan-Jin: Mdm Speaker, we do keep track of efforts that are being put in in other countries and we are always open to pick up good practices. We are working with the various agencies. Our numbers, admittedly, while they are low, like I said, every suicide case is one too many. We have been tracking the numbers over the years. They have been relatively stable, fluctuating in the last 10 years. For example, in 2015, the numbers were a bit higher but no discernible patterns as of now. We are coming together to undertake a deeper study to understand whether there are new developments. We are surveying the various practices around the world to see what else we could put in place.

Mdm Speaker: Mr Kok Heng Leun.

Mr Kok Heng Leun (Nominated Member): I thank the Minister. In a recent report from the Association of Women for Action and Research (AWARE), secondary school students with depression reported being unable to access a trained counsellor at school because the teachers did not want her, who is a girl, to see a male counsellor, and faced uninformed and unhelpful remarks from teachers about her conditions, such as the teachers saying that she did not want to recover because she was smiling. As teachers are always viewed as authority figures over these vulnerable young people, what sort of formal training do they have to ensure an informed and sensitive understanding of depression, other mental health difficulties and counselling?

Mr Tan Chuan-Jin: Mdm Speaker, I will leave it to MOE. They will be following up with a response subsequently but I would say that it would not be fair to highlight one specific example to reflect how our teachers approach these issues generally. I think teachers are trained, as far as possible, to pick up some of these concerns. When these are flagged out in students, the teachers generally would refer them to the counsellors. There is a system in place in MOE.

It is important for us to look at the entire system. From time to time, we would want to see how best to improve it and that is something we continue to want to do.

Mdm Speaker: Mr Azmoon Ahmad.

Mr Azmoon Ahmad (Nominated Member): Mdm Speaker, the Minister mentioned that the rate of suicide in Singapore is low in the last couple of years. Can I know, compared to the international standards, are we really that low or are we very far from international standards?

Mr Tan Chuan-Jin: We track the number of suicides on an overall basis. We look at suicide rates of the different age groups. In terms of composition, the number of youths, basically those in the 10 to 19 age group, is relatively low. I do not have the data for the international numbers. I can come back to the Member on that.