Carrie Tan on advancing mental health

Mental health is not mental illness, but that is what one in two Singaporeans believes, according to a survey by the Ministry of Health. MP Carrie Tan brought this up in Parliament on Tuesday (Feb 6). She said framing mental health as a healthcare challenge risks pathologising it and creating a chronic reliance on formal healthcare institutions and medication. Rather, she said, mental health is something every person can own and be equipped to take care of for themselves, until it deteriorates to the point where clinical assistance is necessary. She said Singapore can encourage a wide variety of activities that are community- and personal-based to help people maintain mental well-being. These include yoga, meditation and different forms of traditional, art-, music- and somatic-based approaches. It is time to mainstream these options, she said, which are derived from the wisdom and heritage of Asian cultures. She therefore proposed extending SkillsFuture funding to such wellness learning. Ms Tan also called for Singaporeans to recognise the “invisible forces” undoing their mental health. She said the country needs new norms - to seek “a collective slowing down to cater time and space for collective mental and emotional restoration”. Saying this needs to be a whole-of-Government effort, she recommended that the current inter-agency taskforce become a permanent National Well-being Office under the Prime Minister’s Office. It should consist of well-being champions from every ministry and statutory board and include a consultative committee of representatives from the private and people sectors. Ms Tan said this will actualise what Singaporeans have expressed in Forward SG conversations - a desire for a different vision for Singapore, where people can thrive without being in a constant rat race and find a deeper sense of fulfilment.