Silver Ribbon (Singapore) - Advocacy - Decriminalisation of Suicide

Decrimininalisation of Suicide

Silver Ribbon (Singapore) appreciates the partnership with AWARE Singapore in advocating this change since 2013 and is pleased to learn that attempted suicide was decriminalised as of 1 Jan 2020 in Singapore.

7 March 2013
Suicide law deters the distressed from getting help, TODAY, voices

24 February 2014
Time to reconsider suicide law, Asia One

9 September 2018
Penal Code review committee: Punishment not the answer for people attempting suicide

5 October 2018
Getting help early key to lowering suicide number

February 2019
Movement to Decriminalise Attempted Suicide

4 January 2020
Commentary: Decriminalising attempted suicide in Singapore does not mean less help for vulnerable people

Mental Health Declaration in Job Applications

Since 2016, Silver Ribbon (Singapore) has been discussing with Ministry of Manpower & Tripartite Alliance for Fair & Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP) on the challenges faced by persons with mental health issues in securing a job and disclosing their mental health condition at their job application forms.

And, we are indeed pleased to learn that TAFEP has included the following clauses in the Tripartite Guidelines for Fair Employment Practices, advising what employers must do to be FAIR

Review your job application form to ensure that each field is relevant to the job (e.g. skills, qualification and experience). Companies should not ask job applicants to declare personal information such as their mental health condition unless there is a job-related requirement. You may refer to TAFEP's sample job application form (Word document) for more guidance.

Remove fields on age, gender, race, religion, marital status and family responsibilities, or disability. All declarations on mental health condition should also be removed from the job application forms. If you require information that may be viewed as discriminatory, you should state your reasons clearly why you are collecting the information.