DOORSTOP INTERVIEW BY DR KOH POH KOON, SENIOR MINISTER OF STATE, MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND MINISTRY OF MANPOWER, AT THE LAUNCH OF NATIONAL MINDLINE 1771

Thanks for joining us. Today, we are here at the launch of national mindline 1771. This is an important milestone in our national mental health strategy. It is an important milestone because this is the first time we are putting forth a national-level helpline that allows it to be the first stop for those who are seeking help with mental health issues. 

2.             Through this 1771, help-seekers can have access to three different ways of help. First, they can call 1771 and talk to a counsellor who can address their concerns. Or, those who may prefer more of text messaging can use WhatsApp method to do so. And finally, of course, the third way they can access help is through our mindline.sg – a portal that puts forth all sorts of information that can allow self-help, but also they can do chats on the mindline.sg portal as well. 

3.             So in this way, it provides an anonymised way for help-seekers to reach out for help because we understand that sometimes those with mental stressors may want to remain anonymous because they are sharing very intimate personal concerns and personal occurrences. 

4.             And we also know that because mental health issues, mental stressors, can occur across different spectrums of society; from young children, to teenagers, to working adults, or even retirees and older people. So it means that this mode of help needs to be accessible to as many groups of people as possible and meet all the diverse needs. 

5.             Why is this helpline important? Because over the last few years, we have already put forth quite a lot of resources in the community. Today, we have more than 200 community touchpoints that those who need mental help may be able to access. But because there are many, many touchpoints in the community, it is important to provide some wayfinding for those who need help as well. 

6.             So this 1771 helpline is a way for those who need help to see this as a first stop, to help them navigate the landscape, and to help them access the appropriate level of intervention that they may need. So for those who may just need very simple guidance, the counsellors on the helpline can point them the way. For those who may need a lot more intensive support, perhaps to talk to a General Practitioner (GP) who may provide better intervention. Then, the helpline can also guide them to where’s the nearest GP who’s trained in counselling to help them. 

7.             In other cases, those help-seekers may actually require a lot more Family Services’ support, so this is where we can refer them to many of our Community Intervention Team partners, our social service agencies and social service centres. They can reach out to some of these counsellors to help them walk through the challenges that they may face in their homes, for example. 

8.             And finally, of course, in emergency situations where someone is already contemplating taking their life or perhaps hurting someone else, then this is where we can transfer this call to our colleagues in the Institute of Mental Health (IMH), so that they can handle such more urgent and emergency situations on the call, and if need be, refer to the police force to provide intervention. So this is a full spectrum service, even though it is the first stop, it is something that we think is important to link up all the various services that we have. 

9.             But we can only make this work when we have our partners working with us. So today, we have many of our community partners who are already plugged into this, and you see some of them joining us today. We hope that in time to come, as this service matures, we will bring in as many partners who are also keen to provide some of these services on the ground. 

10.          So this is not the end. This is only the very beginning, and we will evolve along the way, as the needs of the society evolves.