DR.
IP:
Sir
sir
COD ZA
DRAFT
DRAFT SPEECH BY DR HON HENRIETTA IP, OBE, JP
LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
22.6.88
Mental Health Amendment) Bill 1987
I rise to support the Mental Health (Amendment)
Bill. I have found that it will adequately cover situations such as when a mentally ill person is neglecting himself to the point of death or when a child is neglected while in the custody of a mentally ill person. I am glad to hear from the
Administration, during the discussion on the Bill, that arrangements will be made so that parents or guardians of mentally handicapped adults can indiate their willingness to the medical treatment and operations on a standard form. also satisfied that although guardians of mentally handicapped adults cannot have full power to dispose of the entire property
Derson of the handicapped, they will have adequate powers to use it for his benefit.
income
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What I am unhappy about, Sir, is that it has taken five years since I first alerted the Administration to the need
for a piece of legislation to protect and care for mentally handicapped adults that the Bill was first read. And when it
cap did arrive, the legislation was embedded in a bill for the
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mentally ill at large. The fine distinction between what is meant by mental illness and what is meant by mental handicap is
already unclear to a lot of laymen The mingling of these two
into one
make matters worse and more confusing.
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concepts ONE Bill, I am afraid, would simply/leave such
state of affair intact
I admit that mentally handicapped
thatness.
persons may also suffer with mental illenge. And if they do, I
stress that they are no different from the mentally ill ✯
as
persons of normal intelligence and shouldfecting these two uftinct group
theswftinct
Cap But there is definitely an advantage to separate these two
of people.
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Therefore, it is heartening to hear that there