Just when I am relishing being alive on this good earth exactly 45 years after my birth, along comes a stark reminder that this fragile thing called life may not be sweet-tasting to some others who would rather end it all at a tender age than choose to grow old.
I was jolted into silence last Tuesday when I heard on television a Primary Six boy had jumped to his death that morning. He was a pupil of Canberra Primary School in Sembawang.
It brought back memories of another suicide which happened in 2000. A 16-year-old student of Victoria School fell to his death after a quarrel at home. Apparently, he had rushed out of the flat into the corridor and plunged to his death. It was the June holidays then.
It appears the young contemplate suicide at an age when they should be enjoying the privilege of being young. I use that word – privilege – because on hindsight I now realise how much I miss those care-free times and yearn, albeit in vain, to relive that phase of my life again.
Is something wrong with the system nowadays? Are our students stressed out by the workload at school? Two days ago, some readers wrote to the Forum Page of The Straits Times. One of them, Dr Winston Lee, said of the boy, “We should take stock of the pressures he faced and find ways to help other children in the same situation.”
Dr Lee continued, “Being a child in Singapore is not much fun; today’s children do not have the opportunity to lead a full life. The pressures of coping with the overwhelming demands of an overloaded syllabus will definitely take a heavy toll on the overall development and well-being of the younger generation.”
Another reader, Dr Thomas Soo, said, “Alarm bells must ring when children die tragic deaths… Something must be very wrong with our society if we allow teenage deaths to continue in our developed society.”
One thing’s certain – more young people are contemplating suicide. According to the Samaritans of Singapore (SOS), children and teens make up about 10 per cent of those who attempt suicide here. In 1999, 15 teens aged between 10 and 19 committed suicide. In 2000, there were 21. And in 2001, 28 teenage suicides were recorded.
In his book Too Young to Die- An Asian Perspective on Youth Suicide, Singapore’s first private psychiatrist Dr B. L. Chia stresses that suicide is personal and that suicide in the young results in great horror and disbelief for both the family members as well as society.
I read the Chinese daily Lian He Zao Bao’s report on the boy’s suicide. His suicide note was appended. What disturbed me most was my realisation that the boy had found peace in his decision to leave this world. He left instructions for paper offerings, among which are a large house, a car with a driver, some servants, food snacks and lots of money, to be burnt for him. Let me quote the concluding part of his last words:
“…promise me not to cry except at my funeral or else hee…hee… and be happy for it’s my last request and remember ok?”
Perhaps, the time is ripe for a review of the young suicide trends.
Date of article: 19 May 2003