A recent spate of student suicides in Hong Kong has reignited public anguish and concern over the mental well-being of the city’s youth, especially with regard to a possible contagious or copycat effect. As chairman of the 2016 government-appointed student suicide prevention committee, I am compelled to revisit our findings and call for urgent collective action to contain any likely spread.
The 2016 report explicitly appealed for a holistic and public health approach to suicide prevention. What we said then is still valid. It is a shame that there is still much room for improvement in building a community safety net for our youth. Each lost life represents an unfathomable tragedy – shattering a family, scarring a school and leaving a community in despair.
Suicide is preventable, but it requires a society-wide commitment to vigilance, empathy and systemic change rather than some sporadic, fragmented approach. The community has invested considerably in mental health yet the impact is still limited. We could achieve more if measures address the core issue of mental health.
To understand the recent suicides, our centre collaborated with the police negotiation team, experts and researchers to analyse the cases. The findings underscore a sobering truth: suicide stems from a tangled web of factors.
Family dynamics, triggering events and individual vulnerabilities vary widely. Even students in similar circumstances may respond differently to stressors. It would be naive if not fruitless to look for a single solution to such a complex problem.
While data from the Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention puts Hong Kong’s latest suicide rate at four per 100,000 for students aged 25 or younger – which translates to one student across 50 schools of 500 pupils each – the unpredictability of risk defies simplistic solutions. Relying solely on identifying “high-risk” individuals is akin to looking for a needle in a haystack.
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