APPENDIX (I)

MPU-3322 / MPU-3342 CONTEMPORARY MALAYSIAN ISSUES

Review Report on Mental Health: Guideline of Preparation

Coursework 1: Table of scores (100 marks)

Student ID topic ethics and Personal identity learnt
No Name of
Morality of Academic professionalism Value in lessons Total
student

(1-5) (1-5) (1-5) (1-5) ___ x 100

20
1
2
3
4
5

Note:
∙ Please insert the table of scores after the cover page, before the content.
∙ Each paragraph should be in the range of 150-200 words. For the section on the review of points, the range
number of words excludes the statement quoted from the lecture notes.
∙ Insert the respective sub-heading before the content.
∙ It is compulsory to have citations / source of information in these segments (use Harvard Reference
Format. At least 2 citations per paragraph): Introduction, Reasons and Review of Points and wherever
appropriate followed by References / Bibliography at the back.

1. Introduction (2 paragraphs) – Group marks / Morality of topic

Suicide is a wilful act of ending one’s life. While many people are struggling to survive from terminal
illness or disabilities, there have been incidences where apparent healthy ones resorted to end their lives
before reaching their ripe old age. The loss of the will to live is related to the mental state of the sufferers.
According to World Health Organisation (2018), the number of people inflicted with mental illness is
expected to increase in the coming years due to the increase in stress related triggers that come from an
urbanised lifestyle that witnesses an increase in materialistic needs and the strive to stay competitive and
relevant in the face of rapid changes and challenges. On average in Malaysia, 20 of the 68 people who call
Befrienders Kuala Lumpur daily for help have suicidal thoughts. The number of people crying out for help
has increased by 16 per cent, from 21,256 in 2015 to 24,821 in year 2016 (Pillay 2017).
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Recently we have been saddened by the news of the untimely deaths of a few people due to suicide. For
example, there was this recent case involving a mother who chose suicide to end her suffering from breast
cancer. Before ending her own life, she killed her 10-year old daughter as well (Halim Said 2017). Earlier
in the same month, a famous K-pop singer-songwriter, Kim Jonghyun, from South Korean boy band
SHINee,
took his life after having been overcome by severe depression. On 21 December 2017, about 100 of his
Malaysian fans, gathered together for a candlelight vigil near Dataran Merdeka in memory of him (Aref
Omar 2017) and on April 4 2018, a student committed suicide by jumping off a building in Seremban
despite scoring 10As in SPM (Fong 2018). Cases like these have raised concerns about the need to take
note of mental health issues as well as to address them as the consequences of this illness can be
irreversible.

2. Reasons why this segment is selected for review (2 paragraphs) – Group marks / Morality of topic

We have selected the section on mental health disorder due to the following reasons.

We are concerned about detrimental effects of mental health disorder. This illness may affect just anyone
of us and.... Add further elaborations.

Next, we are alarmed with the fact that the mental stress that people are experiencing has increased
dramatically in proportion with the speed of globalisation and development. As students, we.... Add further
elaborations.

3. Review of points (4 paragraphs – 2 paragraphs of reinforcing in agreement; 2 paragraphs of countering in

disagreement) - Group marks / Academic Ethics and Professionalism
Format:
State the points mentioned in the lecture notes and your stand regarding the statement. Then add
other information to support your stand (agree/disagree). There should be a total of 4 different
statements for this part.

It is stated that those who suffered from mental health disorder are challenged by the stereotypes and
prejudice that result from misconceptions about this illness (state points from the lecture notes). We agree
with this statement. In our opinion, the stereotypes and prejudice of people towards them make it difficult
for them to come out from the shell of their misery because … Add further elaboration (own opinion and
cited information).
 Add another paragraph of agreement

Besides, it is stated that families are the ones who should ensure that the person undergoing treatment
completes their course of the prescribed medication (state points from the lecture notes). However, we

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disagree with this. We think that the responsibility to ensure that the patient completes his medication
should not be mainly shouldered by the family because…. Add further elaborations (own opinion and cited
information).

Add another paragraph of disagreement

4. Relate the reviewed topic:

a. Personal experiences and thoughts (2 paragraphs – personal experience and thoughts) – Individual
marks / Personal identity
Format:
Personal experiences and thoughts
- Personal experiences – related experiences that may include either one of the following:
(i) involve you as the main character
(ii) involve people in your social circle (family/relatives/friends)
(iii)something that you have witnessed happening to others (known/unknown)
- A case that you read in the news / social media / media – citation is needed here. Begin the
paragraph by stating the source of information. (eg: From the movie "XXX" directed
by.......(year of release) or YYY newspapers (year), it is reported.... )
Note: The time and place of the incident should be mentioned.
- Personal thoughts – your views about the topic. Not researched or cited information.

Example
Topic: Mental health issues
Personal experience – narrate the story
✔ Related experiences that involve you as the main character
Example: You were the sufferer of mental health issue
✔ Related experiences that involve people in your social circle
Example: Your family members / relatives / friends were sufferers of mental health issue
✔ Something that you have witnessed happening to others (known/unknown)
Example: You have witnessed an incident involving a person with suspected mental health issue.
✔ A case that you read in the news / social media / media – citation is needed here. Begin the
paragraph by stating the source of information. (eg: From the movie "XXX" directed by.......(year of
 release) or YYY newspapers (year), it is reported.... )
✔ Example: You share a case preferably, a case that is well published, where someone is inflicted
with mental health issues.

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Personal thoughts – share what you think and feel from the personal experience
✔ Example:
I feel depressed whenever I....
In my opinion / I think mental health disorder has not been ...

b. Value learnt (2 paragraphs) – Individual marks / Value in lessons learnt

Share what you have learnt based on what you have shared in your personal experiences and thoughts.
The values from the lessons learnt have to be explicitly stated in the first sentence of the paragraph and
should be made the main point that governs the description of the same paragraph. In this section, the
emphasis is on you and the value that you have learnt. Therefore, do not suggest measures that
should be taken by others (friends / family / government etc), instead you should share personal actions
that you should take in response to the lessons that you have learnt. Soft skills such as leadership,
communication skills are not value learnt.

Examples of core values are as below:

Dependability, Reliability, Loyalty, Commitment, Open-mindedness, Consistency, Honesty, Efficiency,
Innovation, Creativity, Compassion, Motivation, Positivity, Optimism, Passion, Respect, Courage,
Perseverance, Patriotism and others.

EXAMPLE:
Student’s name 1: Lee Ai Sin (as appeared in the tutorial list)

Personal experience and thoughts

My grandmother is my role model when it comes to positive thinking. She used to share stories of the
difficult life that she had during the Japanese occupation in Malaya in the 1940’s. She suffered from
poverty and lived in fear during those trying times. My grandfather died during the war. It was a big
blow to her as my grandfather had been a source of strength to her. When he died, my grandmother
almost lost her will to live. However, when she looked at her two young children, she knew that she
needed to arm herself mentally to overcome all the hardships for the sake of her children. She realised,
then, that her greatest barrier was not the circumstances around her. Instead, it was her mind-set, how
 she chose to view all the difficulties. Her mind-set could become her weapon of defence for herself, if
she decided so. Although at times she would weep because of despair, she refused to wallow long in
self-pity. Due to this, she became more resilient after passing through those difficulties for she had
learnt to reject negative thoughts from roosting in her mind.

I am truly inspired by my grandmother. Her life experiences has made me realise the importance of
mental health. I hope to be as resilient as her. In order to be strong mentally, I need to learn to reject
negative

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thoughts from eating away my self-motivation and self-esteem. People tell me that a student’s life is
fairly easy compared to working life. However, the stress of assignments and tests can be
overwhelming, especially when we take a challenging course or given a tight deadline to complete an
assignment or to do our revision before a test. My grandmother reminds me that in times like these,
even much more I have to learn to take care of my state of mind. Being human, I may feel down and
out sometimes but I should not let myself remain beaten and down for too long. I must attempt to rise
again by telling myself that there will be a hope of better things to come, to thank God for all the good
things that I have. If I take the initiative to take good care of my mental health, I believe that I will be
able to overcome the destructive effects of stress.

Lessons learnt
Based on what I have learnt from my personal experience / observation of the case on mental health
issues, I have two lessons that I have learnt to share with my class. First, I realised that I need to practice
self-responsibility towards my mental health. I should not belittle the importance of positive self-talk.
Each time I encounter challenges, the first person to motivate myself to rise and stand tall is none other
than myself. My grandmother has served as an exemplary role model for me in this aspect. Although
my grandfather used to be her source of strength, she didn’t allow herself to fall apart mentally when
she lost him during the war. Instead, she took charge of her life, by first taking good care of her inner
thoughts. I want to follow her footsteps of being responsible in guarding my mind from destructive
thoughts. From her, I realise my responsibility in cultivating a healthy mind-set because it is with a
healthy mind that I am better able to withstand many winds of change that blow upon me during my
journey as a student and also my journey in life ahead.

Besides, I have learnt about the importance of self-love. By self-love, I mean being kind to oneself.
Many times, we tend to pay so much attention to outward achievements that we neglect proper
self-care. Why? We do not see that loving ourselves is the first step to proper self-care, and that
includes better care of our mental health development. When my grandmother lost my grandfather to a
cruel war, it would have been easy for her to sink into the state of hopelessness. However, she realised
that life had to go on despite her broken heart and she marched on positively in life. Although my
grandfather was no longer there to shower her with love, my grandmother found strength in self-love.
 With this self-love, she was able to take optimistic actions to make her life happy again. From her, I
learn that even if we lose those who love us, we can be still strong and find happiness again.

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