Interview by Yuki Lei
In recent years, Macau’s suicide rate has been on the rise and has become a social issue of great concern, and Caritas Macau Secretary-General Paul Pun Chi Meng has told the Post that social organisations have been actively taking measures to prevent a further increase in the suicide rate.
According to the Health Bureau’s (SSM) latest statistics, Macau recorded 22 suicides in the first three months of this year, with the victims aged between 17 and 75, down by four cases quarter on quarter and by one case year on year. The number of attempted suicide cases recorded in the first quarter of this year stood at 52, with more than half of them young people. In 2023, the bureau reported 88 suicides, with the victims aged between 14 and 92, a 10 percent increase from the previous year.
What are the reasons behind Macau’s rising suicide rate?
Pun pointed out that factors such as rising social pressure, estrangement of interpersonal relationships and difficulties in managing emotions are some of the main reasons for the increase in the suicide rate. He cited Caritas Macau’s suicide prevention services on 2852 5222 (Chinese) or 2852 5777 (English) as noting that in the first quarter of this year there were 2,916 incoming calls seeking counselling, a year-on-year increase of 325 calls, of which 165 involved suicidal thoughts, a year-on-year growth of 28, while 7 percent of the calls involved teenagers under the age of 19, a rise of 5.7 percentage points year on year. A total of 461 calls were made online, a year-on-year increase of 226 calls, of which 66 were made by those struggling with thoughts of suicide, a year-on-year growth of 55, while 16 percent were by youths under 19 years of age, down by 15 percentage points year on year, showing that the proportion of youths seeking help for suicide was gradually rising, indicating a growing severity of mental health problems among local youngsters.
Talking to the Post by phone last week, Pun said that in order to tackle the rising suicide rate problem in civil society, various social organisations have actively launched a raft of efforts, adding that every year, Caritas Macau Life Hope Hotline representatives visit schools and communities to promote their counselling services and emotional and stress education activities, as well as to provide professional psychological support and assistance to help people in need solve problems and tide over difficulties through their hotline services.
In addition, Caritas Macau’s Hoi Fai* Life Education Resource Centre – Macau’s first Life Education Resource Centre – also conducts every year life education learning experience promotion services to carry out activities in schools related to interpersonal relationships, self-understanding, career planning, emotion, stress and adversity management, suicide prevention, parenting education and life education, targeting students of different age groups in tertiary, secondary and primary schools and even kindergartens as well as their parents.
There is also Caritas Macau’s Life Gatekeeper suicide prevention programme, which provides education and training for students and teachers to enhance their sensitivity to suicidal ideation, learn appropriate assistance and referral skills, and play the role of life gatekeeper in a timely manner, so as to help the person concerned to tide over his or her difficult times, according to Pun, who said he believes that emotion and stress education activities in schools and in the community can help enhance the ability of students and teachers to recognise the risk of developing suicidal thoughts and increase their sensitivity to suicidal ideation, thus ultimately achieving the goal of suicide prevention.
Silent companionship also a way of support
“In the face of the suicidal tendency of some people around us, first of all, it is very important to be accompanied. The other person needs companionship, and companionship does not necessarily mean chatting all the time but is letting the other person know that you have always been by his or her side, and you will occasionally take a walk or go shopping with them, accompanying them to get through difficult times, so as to help them drive away their loneliness and anxieties,” Pun said, pointing out that in order to effectively combat the rising suicide rate in the community, it was necessary to tackle the problem from a number of aspects.
Firstly, mental health education should be strengthened to enhance public awareness of mental health issues and highlight the importance of such issues; secondly, a comprehensive mental health service system should be established to enable more people in need to receive timely support and assistance; and lastly, the social support system should be strengthened to nurture more life gatekeepers, so that more people can care for and support others, together creating a warmer and more caring society.
Nevertheless, Pun said, the efforts of social organisations such as Caritas Macau alone are far from enough and, therefore, civil society as a whole needed to be united and work together in order to effectively prevent and combat Macau’s increase in the suicide rate, so that everyone can enjoy the happiness and peace of mind brought about by mental health, while arousing the public’s concern and attention to this important issue.
Summing up his advice on preventing suicide and tackling suicidal thoughts, Pun urged everyone to spend more time with those around us to help them drive away their loneliness and anxiety.
Anyone who is emotionally disturbed or feeling hopeless is urged to call the Caritas Life Hope Hotline directly for emotional counselling services, the Social Welfare Bureau’s (IAS) 24-hour counselling hotline 2826 1126, or visit the bureau’s Mental Health Information Website at https://www.ssm.gov.mo/apps1/mentalhealth/ch.aspx#clg28356 for more information on mental health.
*Directly translated, “Hoi Fai” means “triumphant light of the sun”.
This poster from the Caritas Macau website shows its Expat Life Hope Hotline 2852 5777 for Macau’s foreign communities.
