How does Malaysia’s nearly three-times male suicide rate affect study priorities?

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Malaysia’s nearly three-times higher male suicide rate will shape the National Gentleman Study’s focus on men’s mental well-being and emotional resilience.

KPWKM is kicking off the 18-month Kajian Lelaki Budiman Negara (National Gentleman Study) this month under the 13th Malaysia Plan, with Minister Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri saying the work is aimed at developing evidence-based policies and initiatives for men’s empowerment. In her remarks, she framed men’s empowerment as going beyond leadership and economic participation to include emotional resilience and mental well-being, while also citing the male suicide rate being nearly three times higher than that of women.
The study is positioned around emotional resilience and mental well-being
Nancy Shukri said the government recognises men’s empowerment through a broader lens that includes emotional resilience, mental well-being, maturity, and the ability to shoulder responsibilities with integrity. She linked this framing to the reality that men face increasingly complex social, economic, and mental health challenges, using the nearly three-times higher male suicide rate as part of the evidence she cited.
The suicide statistic is used to justify addressing mental health alongside family well-being
The remarks connect the study’s intended outcomes—resilient, responsible men who can contribute meaningfully to family well-being—to mental health concerns. By highlighting that male suicide is nearly three times higher than female suicide, the minister placed mental well-being within the study’s empowerment scope rather than treating it as separate from family and national development contributions.
The study sits within a broader men’s empowerment policy process
Nancy Shukri said the Men’s Empowerment Consultative Forum would gather views, experiences, and recommendations from stakeholders under the Public-Private-People Partnership (4P) approach, and that its findings would feed into policymaking and programme development. The National Gentleman Study is presented as one of the implementations supported by those inputs, with the mental health challenge reflected in the empowerment definition she outlined.
The suicide rate is one of several indicators cited during the announcement
Alongside the male suicide rate, Nancy Shukri cited the 2023 National Health and Morbidity Survey finding that 4.6 per cent of Malaysians aged 16 and above were living with depression. She also referenced household debt at 84.3 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP), divorces rising 4.1 per cent to 60,457 cases in 2024, and Royal Malaysia Police data indicating that 95 per cent of domestic violence perpetrators recorded between January and December 2025 were men. Within this set of statistics, the nearly three-times higher male suicide rate specifically reinforced the study’s inclusion of mental well-being and emotional resilience in how men’s empowerment is defined.

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How does Malaysia’s nearly three-times male suicide rate affect study priorities?

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