The Hon. T.K. Jayasundara

¶ 01 Mr. Presiding Member, I second this timely Private Member’s Motion by Hon. Lal Premanath of Matara. We must ask why a person seeks to end life and whether attempts culminate in death or fail; either way, the behavioural pathway is similar—progressive psychological breakdown culminating in suicide.

¶ 02 Our society tends to individualize and blame the victim. In truth, these are social as well as individual issues—economic decline, social conditions, and community ethos all matter. A fundamental cause is insufficient resilience.

¶ 03 We misdefine resilience—as height, size, or language fluency. True resilience is the capacity to face new circumstances. Our education system trains children for predefined tracks—degrees, professions—but not for adaptive coping. Teacher‑centred and exam‑centred education has eroded resilience. Earlier generations endured harder times with patience.

¶ 04 We heard the President of Vietnam this morning—Vietnam faced severe hardship but built a hopeful trajectory by fostering people’s resilience. Our media and social discourse too often undermine rather than build resilience. We must reorient education and society to cultivate resilience so that when adversity comes, youth can cope without resorting to self‑harm.