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Summary of the speech by Dr Tan Seng Giaw, DAP National Vice-Chairman and MP for Kepong during the debate on the Mental Health Bill, 2001 in the Malaysian Dewan Rakyat on 1 & 2 August, 2001.

After 15 years of rumination ( some say seven years), the Malaysian Attorney-General's Chambers presented the Meantal Health Bill to Parliament on 31 July, 2001.

(The Bill contains 76 pages and, among other things, provisions on admission, detention, lodging, care treatment, rehabilitation, control and protection of mentally disordered persons in, and discharge of voluntary patients from, psychiatric hospital.)

The Attorney-General’s Chambers has ruminated on the bill since 1986. Because of various factors such as the section on offences, the chambers did not present the final draft to Parliament until 31 July, 2001. It has taken 15 years to promulgate a law.

(In 2000, a mental patient was shot dead for holding a schoolboy hostage in Kluang, Johor. Then, another man ran amok in Muar, killing one and injuring three.)

The Health Ministry and the A-G’s Chambers have taken 15 years to draft the bill. On the other hand, the Government gives Members of Parliament only a few hours to study and debate it. What a travesty.

MORE PSYCHIATRISTS

About 10% of Malaysians suffer from mental illness, one to five percent of whom are severe, needing admission to hospitals. At least 12,000 new patients and 186,000 patients who have been seen before attend four psychiatric hospitals, 26 hospitals with psychiatric units and 189 government clinics. We would like details from private hospitals and clinics.

The World Health Organization, WHO, believes that one psychiatrist should serve 10,000 people. Malaysia has 22.5 million people. According that standard, she should have at least 2,250 psychiatrists.

Now, we have about 130 psychiatrists, about 20 of whom are in private practice. Each year, Malaysia can only train six to seven. We need at least 260 to keep things going. We don’t know how long it will take us to reach the WTO standard. Nevertheless, we must somehow get more good psychiatrists.

We hope that we can enforce the law successfully. Not only do we require more good psychiatrists, we also need back-up personnel such as psychiatric nurses, social workers and clinical psychologists. We are short on these.

There should be more allocations like RM 100 million a year for psychiatry instead of RM78 million this year. We must have more hospitals and clinics.

COMPLIANCE

Mental patients may be violent. As long as they comply with the treatment, they will not lose control of themselves. Some families can monitor. But others can’t. Once these patients stop treatment, their conditions such as depression and schizophrenia relapse, and they may be dangerous to themselves or others.

Therefore, we propose forming an independent body to study the compliance of patients and the ways to overcome non-compliance.

Dr Tan Seng Giaw