SENSITIVE ISSUE: Ko said that if people want to kill themselves they should take sleeping pills instead of burning themselves in their apartment building

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 20, 2019
By: Lee I-chia  /  Staff reporter

The Taiwanese Society of Suicidology, Taiwanese Society of Psychiatry and Taiwan Association Against Depression yesterday urged politicians and the public to show care, rather than blame or ridicule, regarding suicide.

Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), chairman of the Taiwan People’s Party, said while meeting supporters on Thursday that in the past few years there had been many fires in Taipei caused by self-immolation.

“If you want to burn yourself, please go to the riverside park, alright?” he said. “Do not set yourself on fire in an apartment building.”

“Caring for others is actually protecting yourself,” he said, adding that society should not have so many “marginalized people,” such as illicit drug users, alcoholics, people with personality disorders or people with depression.    [FULL  STORY]