ABOUT BEFRIENDERS MUAR
(Persatuan Sedia Bersahabat Muar)

Befrienders Muar was registered on 22nd August 2012, bearing registration no. PPM 001-01-22082012 and was officially launched on 3rd March 2013.

We are a non-profit, non-religious, non-political charity organization, which aims to provide confidential emotional support through telephone helpline, for people who are experiencing feelings of distress or despair, including those who are suicidal.

Befrienders Muar is a member of Befrienders Worldwide which has more than 400 centers in 40 countries, across 6 continents, run by more than 30,000 volunteers providing free, non-judgmental and confidential listening service.

Currently we have 18 volunteers who are from diverse background, occupation, religion, ethnic group and ages, with one thing in common – the capacity to care.

Our vision is for a society in which fewer people die by suicide, and where people are able to explore their own feelings, and acknowledge and respect the feelings of others.

By listening to a suicidal person, a Befriender helps them to listen to themselves.

The telephone helpline service no. is 06-2250792, offering free emotional support to callers from 8pm to 11pm daily, 3 hours a day 7 days a week.

The 5 G.R.E.A.T. Strategic Plan (2018-2022)

G – GROWTH
Befrienders Muar was founded five years ago. With the concerted efforts of more than 10 volunteers in the past 1,000 over days, today we can say that there has been considerable success and we are on track for more. The support of the public undoubtedly plays an important role in the advancement of our organization. In order to enable us to strengthen our roles in the next five years, we must continue to make innovations in our practices and operations, a key factor in our growth and long-term development plan, and a breakthrough in terms of organizational and service efficiencies. We will constantly observe our initiatives and missions to further strengthen our influence in public welfare and charity, supporting people in need of spirit & emotional assistance.


R – RECRUITMENT
We will continue to carry out volunteer recruitment drive activities, to develop more volunteers who are committed to listen, to strengthen our services workforce. In addition, we hope to nurture more enthusiastic people to join our “Friends of Befrienders” as “Caring Volunteers”. Volunteers who are willing to practice and sacrifice themselves diligently, can play the “gatekeeper” role in the various realms, including families, schools, communities, workplaces, etc., providing peace of mind to those who are frustrated and discuss their heartfelt issues, and work together with us to reduce or prevent more serious mental health cases.


E – EASE OF ACCESS
Everyone will inevitably encounter some difficult problems in life, whether psychological or physical. In order to obtain solution and guidance to these challenges, they need someone who is willing to lend their ears to listen and talk, to help them get out of the fear & uncertainties and return to a positive life again. In addition to providing three hours of phone listening service every day, we will promote other services such as face-to-face engagement by appointment, emails and mobile messaging services, enabling easy access to the public who are in need of emotional support services. Besides, we will continue to go to school and through the support of the school authority, conduct one-to-one discussion with students to help them find their spiritual and emotional well-being and act as a conduit for relieving their stress.


A – AWARENESS
We will continue to leverage on the strength and resources of various social organizations to promote and educate the public on mental health issues. To remind the people to constantly be vigilant of their loved ones and friends for any potential mental health problems. The attention and action of the public at large is vital in prevention and treatment of mental diseases of the mentally-challenged groups. The public and the government should alleviate the mental pressure of the modern society through psychological-based mental health education, guide and inspire people to detect early, diagnose early, treat early and recover early.


T – TRAINING
In meeting our targets to recruit, develop and retain qualified talents as volunteers, we will continue to facilitate our volunteers with development programs and training courses regularly. Volunteers will learn to develop their listening skills, such as tolerance, acceptance, respect, sincerity and other attitudes. We will also continue to invite professional counselors, spiritual growth mentors, marriage and family counselors and mental health professional trainers to give speeches and consultancy services on personal, family, marriage, affection, parent-child relationship and youth issues. Youth mental health and growth will be our main concern, therefore, we plan to launch a series of youth education programs to improve the way teenagers overcome their emotional distress. At the same time, we will also train young people on how to care for their classmates and give them care and attention.