NSRM: Preliminary Report 2007
The mid‐year population for 2007 showed that Malays and other Bumiputera groups made
up 66.4 of the population, Chinese 24.9, Indians 7.5 and others 1.3. All states generally
showed the same trend, i.e. bumiputera being the biggest group except for Penang with
bumiputera and Chinese groups almost at par i.e. 44.2 per cent and 44.8 respectively.
In contrast, the figures collected by NSRM reported 11 for Malays, 43 for Chinese and
27 for Indians. This indicated an over‐representation of the Indians and Chinese, which had
been seen repeatedly in earlier studies.
2.4 CITIZENSHIP
Most of the suicide victims were Malaysians 87, n=95, while foreigners contributed 13
n=14 of suicides in Malaysia. Among these, the highest percentage was contributed by
Indonesians 43, n=6 followed by the Nepalese 22, n=3 as shown in Figure 5.
Figure 5: Distribution of country of origin for non‐Malaysian suicides
In general, the sociodemographic profile of suicide victims was similar to previous studies.
According to World Health Organization, the suicide rates worldwide for the year 2007 were
consistently higher among males compared to femalesWorld Health Organization 2008. The
age group was also consistent with previous studies, where the predominant age group to
commit
suicide were among the youngMcClure 2000. The ethnic distribution were similar to
the findings from other local studiesNadesan 1999; Hayati, Salina et al. 2004; Teo, Teh et al.
2008 where Indians were consistently reported to have the highest suicide rate.
2.5 MARITAL STATUS
Figure 6: Distribution of marital status for suicide cases
Contrary to international literature, where suicide is usually committed by people who are
single World Health Organization 2002, the data showed that a significant number of married
persons also committed suicide 51, n=50.
Chinese; 7;n=1
Indian; 7; n=1
Indonesian; 43;
n=6 Myanmarese;
7; n=1
Nepalese; 22;
n=3 Filipino;
7; n=1 Singaporean;
7; n=
1
Married; 47
n=50
Co ‐habiting; 1
n=1 Single;
44 n=47
Widowed; 8;
n=9
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
