Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Attempt suicide is a crime!



Malaysia Penal Code Section 309. Attempt to commit suicide.

Whoever attempts to commit suicide, and does any act towards the commission of such offence, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year, or with fine, or with both.


Today was my holiday and I spent the whole morning in HUKM looking for a psychiatry patient to clerk for my case report, only in vain.

I clerked a patient admitted for drug overdose. She swallowed 8 tablets of Mefedemic Acid/Ponstan (a type of pain killer), 6 tablets of sedative anti-histamines and 10 tablets of antibiotics. When I first heard of this case, the first thing that crossed my mind was: this isn’t suicidal. I had history of taking more drugs in a day than this 18-year-old girl. On days where I had severe menstrual pains, I could take more than 10tablets of various pain killers. And on days when I had an allergic reaction, I would take over 10 tablets of various antihistamines. You might even think that I sounded more suicidal than her.

‘Where did you get the drugs?’
‘They were my mum’s. She was sick’
‘How many tablets were there and how many did you take?’
‘I took everything in the packets!’
‘Why did you take the drugs?’
‘My father was scolding me and I was stressed. I didn’t want to hear him and wanted to sleep’
‘Have you done this before?’
‘This is my first time.’
‘What do you usually do previously, when your father scolded you?’
‘I watched television and ignored him.’
'Do you discuss the problem with anyone?'
'I like to keep it to myself'
‘Did you feel sad?’
‘I was just stressed.’
‘Did you think of dying?’
‘No, I just wanted to sleep. ’
‘Do you know the side effects of these drugs? The consequences of drug overdose?’
....Silence... (shaked her head)




Of course I was not suicidal. I knew I would not die from mild pain killers and anti-histamines, at least not at that dosage. And I knew exactly which drug could kill me, but I rather not mention here… If you perform a suicidal risk assessment for this 18-year-old girl, she had suicidal signs.

The suicidal clues were:
1. She ate all the drugs available.
2. She had a stressor
3. She had noone to turn to when she had problems

Why would I discuss this case?-you may ask. Well, simply because it was a very good example of our daily life. Very common. We get stressed up and to things without thinking. – impulsiveness - Some drugs are relatively harmless, but most drugs have severe side effects and when overdosed can harm the body and even cause death.

NO, SOMETIMES WE DO NOT WANT TO DIE. You might feel lost, depressed, feel like dying, but u do not want to die. Most suicidal persons are undecided about living or dying, and they “gamble with death”, leaving it to others to save them. Almost no one attempted suicide without letting others know how they are feeling. However, accidently they could die or hurt themselves.



Suicide is considered a crime under the Malaysian Penal Code.

Penal Code Section 309. Attempt to commit suicide.

Whoever attempts to commit suicide, and does any act towards the commission of such offence, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year, or with fine, or with both.

Suicidal cases admitted to the hospital would be reported and you can be fined or imprisoned.

Moral Of the story:
1. If you attempted suicide (failed), you end up with :
- a few ribs fracture, or maybe being handicapped
- an awful stomach lavage (washed out)
- a fine or imprisonment
- a whole lifetime of regrets

2. If you committed suicide (succeeded), you end up :
-IN HELL
-repeatedly repeating the suicidal act (if you are a Muslim believer)
-your friends crying and weaping
-your family in pain
- a whole afterlife of regrets

Suicide is not the solution. Think of your family and loved ones...

Need help?
Contact the befrienders : http://www.befrienders.org.my/ (absolute confidentiality)

(Acknowledgments to Cheryl for the above picture and Fabian for the penal code.)
Disclaimer: Patient's identity is confidential

13 comments:

  1. It's a lonely road for people suffering from depression, especially if they have no one to turn to. There should be more awareness raised about the illness. It's a hush hush don't tell situation in the society. Most of the time people would just dismiss it or think said people are crazy or siao. It is very sad.
    I hope more people will extend their hands to those who committed or intend to commit suicide, find out the reason and help them, instead of scolding them for an act they have no control over sometimes.

    ReplyDelete
  2. yeah.... and i think it's a little unfair to punish those who attempted suicide, when they are lost and in need of help.. most countries around the world had abolished that penalty code.. in fact, we need to reach out to these people.. help them... Suicidal is a death that can be prevented!!

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  3. "You might feel lost, depressed, feel like dying, but u do not want to die. Most suicidal persons are undecided about living or dying, and they “gamble with death”, leaving it to others to save them. Almost no one commits suicide without letting others know how they are feeling. However, accidently they could die or hurt themselves."

    this is so true.. i attempted suicide before but im glad i fail in the attempt. lol..
    gotta keep bouncing back ..
    u hv a very nice blog :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. thanks goldflower,the idea of this post is to tell others that they are not alone.. and there are people out there to help... suicide is not the solution.. i am glad you blounced back... be strong,.. life is beautiful, if only you open your eyes to appreciate it's beauty...

    it's okay to take anti-depressants to help.. do not worry about dependance,..it's like taking flu medicine when you have flu.. and if you do need to talk anytime, call the befrienders: 03-79568144
    the hotline is available 24-7.. :)

    take care.. hope to hear from you again...

    ReplyDelete
  5. It's a penal code, dear. Not Penalty code. =)

    Yeah, if you don't die, you suffer the health consequence of a botched attempt.
    If you do die, you go to hell... or worse, you repeat the scene forever. It's not funny when you actually think about this.

    ReplyDelete
  6. haha! okay.. i'll correct that... just that penal code sounds funny... nvm....

    i've visited your blog, you seemed to hate the government, like a lot!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hah hah! It just sounds so wrong, doesn't it?
    -
    Nah, I only dislike corrupted officials/politicians. Make this beautiful country a mess. I love Malaysia so much (particularly KL)... can't imagine myself living in another place.
    -
    You're in UKM aye? How's life there, schoolmate?

    ReplyDelete
  8. Wau...is juz so educational blog here
    haha...i am in psy posting now oso
    guess i can learn so much here regarding the law
    Haha!!

    ReplyDelete
  9. >iamyuanwu>> schoolmate? hmm... i thought you were some random blog enthusiast who happened to stop by... hehe.. who are u ler...

    >ka fei>> yeah, a little educational i suppose... hehe.... too bad i can't read your blog,... it's usually in Chinese :(

    ReplyDelete
  10. So if you die they will jail your corpse ? :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. that's why attempting suicide is a crime while committing suicide isn't ^^ so unfair ei?

    ReplyDelete
  12. u sound like a real doc here, best wishes from me! ;)

    ReplyDelete

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Author's Note

Dear friends and readers, Thank you for dropping by and leaving comments/ shoutouts. More importantly, thank you for being there... please accept my apology that, lately, i may be busy with work and not have time to reply youir messages/comments, but rest assured, each and everyone is read, and highly appreciated :) have a nice day! ^^

of love

Today, i heard a story which was not a story of falling...
of living in the dark end of winter turmoil..
instead, it was a love story..
of a couple who did not live happily ever after...
but they live, loving each other..