There is more to suicide than movies

July 10, 2006

Deputy Women, Family and Community Minister Datuk G. Palanivel’s call to the Censorship Board to cut out suicide scenes in Indian films may be timely; nonetheless it is only one of the many measures that need to be taken to reduce the incidence of suicides among Indian community.

Believing that censoring these scenes alone will prevent suicide among the Indian community is being too naïve and simplistic. I think the Seremban train tragedy is an eye opener for the new deputy MIC chief and his team on the serious problems of the Indian community.

The Indians are of the opinion that they are progressively marginalized from the national development. Their over dependence on government handouts and subsidies have left them lagging behind in all fields especially education and vocational training. As a result job opportunities are limited and unemployment is becoming a serious problem. Poverty is an inevitable accompaniment of unemployment.

Unemployment especially among the youth contributes to the increasing crime rate among them. Our wrong attitude to life is further reflected in the high incidence of diseases like obesity, diabetes and heart attacks which to me are mere indicators of our complacency. When we have loss the zeal to even take care of our own health, how can we expect to compete successfully in this fast moving materialistic global world?

Promoting our cultural and religious values are praiseworthy but over emphasis on these have resulted in the community losing out on mastering English and thereby the acquisition of valuable knowledge in science, technology, accounting and business management. We have witnessed how the earlier generation of Indians, with a good command of the language managed to excel in the various fields, both in government and private.

Instead more time and energy should be put into the pursuit of knowledge and skills in these fields as only these will ultimately bring progress to uplift our socio-economic status.
The new leadership if MIC has a lot of work to do to prevent more suicides in the Indian community. The socio-economic status must be improved. This can only be done by affecting a change the mindset, instilling discipline, encouraging hard work and self esteem among the members of the community.

Only if we are willing to change our mindset, can we rise up to face the new realities and challenges in life.

Dr.Chris Anthony