LONDON: Malaysian students in the United Kingdom can now turn to Mercy Care Helpline to deal with issues that affect their mental health in the time of Covid-19.
Mercy Care Helpline or Talian Kasih Mercy is a confidential helpline from Mercy Malaysia UK (MMUK) in collaboration with the Malaysian High Commission, Education Malaysia Global Services, Public Service Department, Majlis Amanah Rakyat, Health & Wellbeing IKRAM UKE and the United Kingdom & Eire Council for Malaysian Students.
"There are many challenges in what we do. But for students in particular, away from friends and family in Malaysia, things can be much more difficult," said Zahid Rastam, the charge d'affaires ad-interim at the Malaysian High Commission in the UK, who launched the helpline virtually on Saturday.
Zahid described the initiative as timely and necessary, considering the current situation.
"This helpline is for Malaysian students to talk, to share whatever they feel (so that) early intervention can be provided to those who need help or have mental health issues," said Zahid.
He added that students faced academic pressures and expectations apart from financial problems and issues with accomodation and rent.
Covid-19 also created a lot of uncertainties and restrictions on people's movements and travel, forcing them into isolation.
Zahid said students were also concerned about whether they could see their families and friends in Malaysia again soon.
"All of these things put a lot of pressure on the students.
"There is an urgent need for the students to have other people to listen to them, to have someone to talk to. This is the purpose of Talian Kasih Mercy."
He said the helpline was unique because it provided professional support to students while taking into consideration cultural and religious perspectives.
This form of assistance, he said, would be able to fill the gap that other local services such as the general practitioners and university counsellors were not able to provide.
"The hashtag #kitajagakita is not just a slogan. We must help each other," he said.
MMUK chairperson Haliza Hashim, in her speech, said the Talian Kasih Mercy volunteer team came together in November last year.
For the session starting today, the team would provide a "listening service" to students where they can talk about issues affecting their mental health.
The helpline is available on Mondays and Tuesdays, from 7pm to 10pm.
"The helpline is confidential and anonymous.
"The volunteers will listen to their problems and guide them through their issues. They are not providing a counselling service, but aim to empower the students by allowing them alternative ways to look at their issues," Haliza said.
There are about 13,000 Malaysian students in the UK. However, only about 9,000 have returned to study on campus at present, with the remaining students still in Malaysia taking online lessons.