By Nasuha Badrul Huzaini
SHAH ALAM, Aug 25 — A total of 420 cases involving public service employees in the state have sought pre-counselling and emotional support through online platforms as of July, says Dr Siti Mariah Mahmud.
The state executive councillor for public health said the online platforms include Whatsapp, Telegram and Facebook Messenger.
She said according to records from the Counselling Management Unit under the Human Resource Management Division of the Selangor State Secretary's Office, the cases involved vary and do not specifically focus on mental health problems.
“For mental health issues, 17 cases involving state government servants were referred to the unit as of last month,” she said when answering a question from Sungai Ramal state representative Mazwan Johar during the Selangor State Legislative Assembly, today.
Dr Siti Mariah, who is also the Seri Serdang state assemblyman, said the state government had launched a few initiatives to help civil servants who require mental health support.
“We have set up a website for appointments under the Psychology and Counselling Service System (E-Psy Selangor) as well as a Facebook page for the Selangor Counselling Centre - Talian Sahabat (PKS-TS) helpline.
“The initiative would facilitate the booking of appointments with the counsellors as well as to provide easy access to various information related to the counselling centre.
“Moreover, the state government has also set up PKS branches at selected local councils such as the Sepang Municipal Council, Ampang Jaya Municipal Council, Selayang Municipal Council and Kuala Selangor Municipal Council.
“The objective is to help the state government servants as well as the public to seek counselling service from PKS counsellors via appointments,” she said.
