“While it is encouraging to see a decline in suicide numbers, we must remember that one suicide is one too many,” said Dr Jared Ng, medical director at Connections MindHealth, a clinic that provides holistic psychiatric and psychological services.
“Each loss sends ripples through families, schools, workplaces, and entire communities. We cannot be complacent; we must continue to be vigilant towards those around us, empathise with those in need and practice kindness to ourselves and others.”
SOS CEO Gasper Tan noted that the decrease in suicides across the board is a “testament to the power of community and the significance of our collective suicide prevention efforts”.
“However, our work does not end here. Our goal is to continue fostering impact within our communities because suicide prevention can and should be everyone’s business,” he added.
To that end, SOS launched an initiative called Mindful Bytes last year to mitigate the risk of suicide among youths aged 13 and above, and widen the safety nets.
The programme aims to engage youths in safe online conversations, providing vital support to those at risk of suicide.
On the significant drop in suicides last year, Associate Professor Daniel Fung, CEO of the Institute of Mental Health (IMH), also noted the “substantial work” from cross-sectoral agencies from hospitals to social service agencies on suicide prevention.
“For example, recommendations of the Interagency Research Workgroup for Youth Suicide have been implemented to facilitate deeper collaborations between various agencies and healthcare institutions,” he said.
“These initiatives help to create an ecosystem of care and pathways that encourage help-seeking and early identification, support at-risk groups, and provide crisis support.”
