Suicide watch: authorities urged to ‘control access to means’ after high-rise deaths

GEORGE TOWN – This month alone saw three deaths at high-rise buildings in Penang, two involving suicides and one an accident.

Rather than sweeping these incidents under the carpet, experts are weighing in on them, prompting high-rise building management and operators of the two Penang Bridges to exhibit helpline numbers at strategic locations around their facilities.

“The numbers may prompt those suffering from depression to think twice before they attempt to end their lives,” Sneham Malaysia president Datuk Florence Sinniah said.

Florence told The Vibes that operators of such places where suicides generally occur should help the authorities “control access to the means”.

“We cannot totally prevent unfortunate deaths, but we can at least step up the efforts to remind those suffering from depression that help is always available.”

Placing helpline numbers on notice boards in common and public areas, and organising community outreach programmes could help those suffering with internal issues think twice about resorting to tragic ends.

Citing the drastic reduction of the use of the toxic chemical paraquat in suicides, Florence said that this is the result of a stricter control of the poisonous herbicide.

“Nowadays, alleged suicides occur through falls from elevated heights or jumping off the two sprawling bridges, besides drug overdose,” she said.

Florence added that it is important to remind those suffering from depression that there is always a platform to seek help.

“It is the first step towards finding a solution to their mental torture," said Florence.

Whether it is illness, monetary woes, relationship issues or tragedies, including growing anxiety due to the pandemic, the first step is to reach out for help and confidence is always assured by various organisations offering counselling.”

On October 5, prominent developer Ewein Bhd president and group managing director Datuk Ewe Swee Kheng was found dead on the ground floor of his luxury residence at Palazzo Condominium in Pulau Tikus.

Ewe is believed to be among the witnesses in the undersea tunnel trial involving former finance minister Lim Guan Eng.

Ewe was also remanded by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission to facilitate investigations linked to the undersea tunnel project in January 2018.

On October 19, a 6-year-old girl was believed to have accidentally fallen to her death while she was holidaying with her family at a hotel in Tg Bungah.

However, police are said to be puzzled as there were no telltale signs of where the girl may have slipped from.

Her body was found largely intact inside an empty artificial pond at the foyer on the second floor of the property. 

Northeast district police head Soffian Santong confirmed the case and said police needed time to conclude their investigations.

Two days later, a 26-year-old polytechnic college student from Yemen was found dead on the fourth floor of a condominium near the Queensbay Mall here.

The student, who was only identified as Fatimah, was reportedly suffering from depression after she was forced to undergo a lockdown order over a long period at home due to the Covid-19 outbreak.

Florence said that it is important that people are discouraged from sinking into loneliness and a prolonged depression because everybody during the course of their lives encounters some challenges to their mental health.

The state has recorded 53 suicide reports and 19 attempted suicide cases from January to May this year, based on police data.

“There is no shame, and we must break the stigma related to mental illness. 

“We must ensure that it is normal to seek clinical or psychological help or to just converse over the helpline to treat the conditions,” she said. – The Vibes, November 1, 2021