Imagine a place where you can walk in as you are, without title or burden, and find a welcoming circle ready to talk, to laugh, and to heal together.
This is a Third Space, and it is not a distant dream.
It is already taking root across Sarawak, from Bintulu to Miri, and it needs you.
In the face of a quiet but urgent mental health crisis, the RAKAN Sarawak Destiny Movers (RSDM) programme is proving that ordinary people, in ordinary settings, can build extraordinary resilience.
The question now is: will you be part of it?
The numbers demand our attention, but they also reveal a profound opportunity for connection.
In Sarawak, 35.8 per cent of the population grapple with mental health issues, with the heaviest toll on rural Bumiputera communities.
Nationwide, Malaysia’s helpline Talian HEAL 15555 received close to 91,000 calls in 2025 alone, double the previous year, mostly from young adults aged 18 to 35.
Police data show that over 80 per cent of 5,857 suicide cases between 2020 and October 2025 involved men, predominantly young workers.
In our own state, suicide deaths rose from 40 in 2020 to 63 in 2024, and four out of five of those were men.
The 2022 National Health Morbidity Survey found one in four adolescents battling depression and one in ten having attempted suicide.
Yet behind every statistic is a neighbour, a son, a friend who could find hope in a conversation held on neutral ground.
This is where the Third Space comes alive.
Ray Oldenburg, the sociologist who coined the term, gave us a blueprint that is both simple and transformative.
A genuine Third Space is neutral ground where anyone can enter freely, leaving the roles of “boss,” “parent,” or “patient” at the door.
It is a leveller, where a teenager and a psychiatrist can sit as equals.
Conversation is the main activity, playful, honest, healing talk.
The space is accessible and accommodating, with a low profile and a homely feel.
Regulars anchor it, making newcomers feel safe.
The mood is playful, built on humour and mutual care.
Most powerfully, it becomes a home away from home.
Homi Bhabha added that such spaces are also where cultures meet and new understanding is born, vital in our multi-ethnic Sarawak, where Iban, Chinese, Melanau, and all communities can weave shared strength from shared vulnerability.
RSDM, supported by strategic communications firm Faradale Media-M, has turned this theory into a living movement.
Its 2026 workshop “Unmask the Mind to Thrive and Flourish” in Bintulu brought over 90 participants from schools, technical institutes, and higher education together on neutral ground, far from classroom hierarchies or home pressures.
In that space, a psychiatrist from Hospital Bintulu, a facilitator, and a teenager sat in the same circle as co-learners.
Through creative sessions like “Language Matters,” the “HeART Space” arts therapy, and reflective discussion on the film Azimat, they built a home away from home.
The evidence is stunning: post-workshop surveys showed more than 90 per cent of participants gained stronger confidence, practical coping skills, and the motivation to create psychologically safe environments.
Many now recognise early signs of emotional distress and offer initial support, becoming everyday mental health “first responders” for their families, peer groups, and neighbourhoods.
This is not a one-off project.
The model has already expanded to Miri through the HOPE (Healing, Outreach, Prevention and Empowerment) workshop, with new modules on workplace neurodiversity, digital hygiene, and rural mental health.
Local corporate partners like Lembaga Pelabuhan Bintulu (LPB) and BIG Pharmacy are investing in this social infrastructure, understanding that a resilient community is the bedrock of a thriving economy.
The policy ground beneath our feet is firm.
Sarawak’s Post Covid-19 Development Strategy 2030 (PCDS 2030) aims to double the economy to RM282 billion while making social well-being and inclusive unity central pillars.
Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Dr Sim Kui Hian has announced a new state policy on suicide behaviour prevention, stressing that mental health is everyone’s business.
At the national level, the National Social Policy 2030 and the National Strategic Plan for Mental Health 2020–2025 call for community-based, non-clinical support.
Budget 2025 allocated RM24.6 million to improve mental health services, and the K-MindSET programme in Budget 2026 will boost community mental health literacy further.
All of these policies point to one truth: healing must happen where life happens, in our own longhouses, kampungs, and neighbourhoods.
And this works everywhere.
In rural Australia, the Bathurst Men’s Walk and Talk proved that a regular, welcoming walk in a low-profile outdoor space lifted mood and built belonging without a single clinic.
RSDM brings that same spirit to Sarawak.
For our rural communities, a Third Space might be a weekly gathering under a village shelter, a digital meet-up using the iSarawakCare platform, or a youth-led art circle.
Urban residents can transform a café corner, a community hall, or a library nook.
What matters is not a big budget but a commitment to showing up, levelling hierarchies, and talking honestly.
You are the key.
Whether you are a student, a parent, a business owner, or a retired elder, you can anchor a Third Space.
You can volunteer with RSDM, learn the ALEC model of emotional awareness, or simply begin a regular walking group where “How are you, really?” can be answered truthfully.
The global evidence is clear: mental health is not built by clinics alone but by social networks, by shared art, by the courage to unmask our struggles together.
This also delivers on the Social pillar of ESG and our SDG promises.
Malaysia is on track to achieve 49 per cent of its SDG targets by 2030, far above the global average, but mental health remains a priority.
Every Third Space you help create pushes that progress forward, reducing inequalities and strengthening the social fabric for generations.
The crisis is real, but the solution is already in our hands.
The RSDM Destiny Movers have shown that when a community decides that no one should walk alone, transformation follows.
We invite you to seek out information, join a workshop, support the initiatives in Bintulu, Miri, and beyond, and perhaps start your own circle.
Together, we can turn the sobering statistics into a story of connection, resilience, and authentic living.
The Third Space is not just a place to go; it is a way of being together.
Let us build it, one conversation at a time.
References
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