NSRM: Preliminary Report 2007
Table 1: Gender comparison in association with marital status
Married Single
Widowed Cohabiting
Missing Data
Total gender
Male 41
50 31
37.8 5
6.1 5
6.1 82
Female 9
29 16
51 4
12.9 1
3.2 13.2
31
Total 50
47 9
1 6
113
When gender‐wise analysis was performed, an interesting difference between the sexes was
observed. Married males contributed 50 n=41 of suicidal deaths while single males
contributed 38 n=31. Meanwhile for females, a much higher proportion were singles 51.6,
n=16 as compared to those who are married 29, n=9, as shown in Table 2. However, this
association is statistically not significant pthan 0.05. This trend needs to be observed on a
longer term before any conclusions can be made about the association between gender and
marital status amongst those who committed suicide in Malaysia.
2.6 EDUCATION LEVEL
Figure 7: Education level of suicide victims
The education level was not known for 43 n=49 of cases. For those whose education
level was known, the majority had studied until secondary level. This is in‐keeping with the
national trends, where the average years of schooling is about 6.8 years or lower secondary level
UNESCO 2008.
2.7 EMPLOYMENT STATUS
Figure 8: Employment status of suicide victims
None; 8; n=9
Primary; 12;n=14
Secondary; 34;n=38
Tertiary; 3;n=3
Education Level
Fulltime; 57;
n=49 Part
time; 4;n=3 Temporary;
5; n=4
Retired; 2;n=2
Unemployed; 27;
n=23 Disabled;
2;n=2 Housewife;
3; n=3
Employment Status
NSRM: Preliminary Report 2007
Data on employment were available in 86 cases. The majority of suicide victims 57 were
fulltime ‐employed, while 27 were unemployed. The remainder were either part‐time 4 or
temporarily ‐ 5 employed, 2 were retired, 2 were receiving disability pension while 3
were housewives.
2.7.1 Specific Employment
Specific employment was identified in 46 cases. The most common employments were
students n=9; 20, 3 businessmen n=3, 7, drivers n=3, 7, labourer n=3, 7 and security
guard n=4, 9. The other employments are as listed below.
Figure 9: Specific employment of suicide victims
Of the 9 students, 6 were females and 3 were males. Only 1 was Malay, aged 22, while the
others were 5 Indians, 2 Iban and 1 Murut aged 12 to 17 years. School problems were cited in
two cases, intimate partner problems in another two while no life event was identified in five
cases.
1 2
3 4
5 6
7 8
9 10
