NGO: Most suicide cases wrongly classified

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KOTA KINABALU: Befrienders, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) involved in counselling, believes that most suicide cases in Sabah get classified as accidental death.

FOR YOU: Rubiah (third left) presents a copy of the Befrienders’ newsletter to Pang.

The NGO also believes that suicide is becoming a serious problem, particularly in the interior areas of the state.

President of Befrienders Kota Kinabalu Datin Seri Rubiah Abdul Samad said during a courtesy call on the Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Peter Pang yesterday that it was because of this that the NGO had set up its presence in the state.

Befrienders is a worldwide organisation and can be found in 40 countries.

In Sabah, it operates between Mondays and Fridays from 7pm to 10pm.

Presently, it has 40 volunteers, 22 of whom are classified as trained listeners and wait for distress calls at an unspecified call centre.

She added the volunteers were not only trained to listen but were also good at identifying stress cases.

The role of a Befriender volunteer, she said, was merely to provide a listening ear, while encouraging the caller to find a solution to their own problem.

The types of calls received range from people wanting to commit suicide, to those undergoing marital woes, or children running away from home due to problems dealing with their parents and siblings, she said.

For suicidal callers, the main role of the volunteer was to delay their intention, she said.

“We get an average about three calls per day or 40 calls per month.

“We are still relatively unknown to the people and we hope to promote our existence so that we can reach out to the masses,” she said.

Meanwhile, the NGO hopes to reach out to more youths in Sabah in the near future.

“We want to be more proactive in our approach,” she said.

She suggested for the NGO to work closely with the Youth and Sports Ministry in the latter’s own programmes.

She also said that they do organise their own programmes catered for primary school children and their parents.

The programme focuses more on improving communication between the parent and the child.

On another matter, the Befrienders will be holding another intake for volunteers soon.

For more information, please contact the Befrienders at 088-255788.