The move by Malaysia, which has a majority Muslim population, follows a similar decriminalisation by Singapore three years ago.
The law has not been widely enforced but there have been convictions, including of a disabled man who was sentenced to six months jail in 2020 in the highly conservative, north-eastern state of Terengganu.
Under Anwar Ibrahim’s government, Malaysia’s use of the death penalty has been wound back.Credit: AP
The abetment of suicide or attempted suicide has been made an offence punishable by up to 10 years’ prison under the amendments to the criminal code. A mental health bill which was also approved by Malaysian parliament will empower crisis intervention officers to forcibly enter premises to rescue people they believe are trying to take their own lives.
Singh, the deputy law minister, told the upper house that Section 309 “must be repealed to change the country’s approach to attempted suicides from one that is punitive at present to a medical treatment-based approach”.
He had said previously that research had demonstrated there had been a fall in suicide attempts in countries had had gone down the path of decriminalisation.
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The law had “never been a deterrent and in fact, is actually a barrier in accessing help and support”, said Hasbeemasputra Abu Bakar of the Malaysian disability rights advocacy group SIUMAN, one of the organisations that lobbied for reform.
“Criminalising suicide attempts only stigmatises survivors and those struggling with mental ill-health and suicidal behaviour,” he said.
“The World Health Organisation Global Report [in 2014] found no empirical evidence that decriminalising suicidal behaviours leads to an increase in suicide rates, and urges countries to ‘review their legal provisions in relation to suicide to ensure they do not deter people from seeking help’. Decriminalisation is a stepping stone in the prevention of suicide and requires the accompaniment of multi-level prevention efforts.”
Anwar’s government has acted after seeing Malaysians, like people elsewhere, suffer from the wider consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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The WHO said in 2022 there had been a 25 per cent global increase in anxiety and depression during the global health crisis. Last year, Malaysia’s then-health minister Khairy Jamaluddin reported there had been an 81 per cent increase in cases of suicide in 2021 compared to figures in 2020.
While welcoming the government’s latest decision, Hasbeemasputra said more resources were needed “to address the social determinants of health, the socio-economic factors that influence good or bad health outcomes, in addition to making mental healthcare more accessible, including for persons with disabilities”.
“The pandemic should have taught us that healthcare services have to be inclusive and accessible, and social safety nets and community-based interventions must complement this,” he said.