Zuraida Kamaruddin (PKR-Ampang) said the statement was also a mental symptom.
This created an uproar with Noor Azmi Ghazali (BN-Bagan Serai) standing up to ask Zuraida to state her question.
Zuraida then clarified that she wanted the health minister to state the allocation to curb mental health problems.
“I was made to understand NGOs who carry out their work do not have enough allocation,” she said.
The PKR Wanita chief also asked about measures taken to increase the number of psychiatric practitioners in the country because the current ratio was one psychiatrist to 200,000 Malaysians.
She said this was a far cry from the World Health Organisation recommendation for there to be one psychiatrist for every 10,000 citizens.
Zuraida added 40% of Malaysians were expected to suffer from mental health issues due to depression, stress, abuse and suicidal feelings.
At this point, Health Minister S Subramaniam said one of the reasons for stress is when a health question is turned into a political question and one should know which question to ask.
This remark from the MIC president drew laughter from the MPs present.
Subramaniam replied that several measures have been taken to reduce mental stress in schools and expanding the services in clinics, hospitals and other localities.
“Experts from government clinics and hospitals could train communities to handle stress,” he said.