KUCHING: The 13th International Conference on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology to be held here probably in August next year is timely, said Minister of Welfare, Community Well Being, Women, Family and Childhood Development, Datuk Fatimah Abdullah.
She said this at a press conference after receiving a courtesy call from Professor Dr Cecilia A. Essau, Department of Psychology, University of Roehampton UK in her office at Baitulmakmur Building, Petra Jaya near here, yesterday.
The conference that was held 12 consecutive times in the UK and was never held outside the UK before.
“We, including Professor Dr Cecilia A. Essau who is a Professor of Development Psychopathology at the University of Roehampton, UK are interested to bring the conference here as she was born here too.
“This conference will benefit people not only in Kuching, Sarawak but also in the whole region. If it is held in the UK, it will be costly to go there. But if we hold it here, it will be a great opportunity for our people as well as for South East Asia and even the South East Pacific Region to be able to hear from the people who are professionals in this area,” she pointed out.
Fatimah said the topics included in the conference are very timely as the state government is emphasising on community well being so this feel good feeling is important.
“Indeed it is very timely, things have changed our lives and environment changed a lot so we want to ensure want become a developed state by focusing on the wellbeing aspect and this is the opportunity,” she said.
Fatimah added that she will persuade the state government that they would like to hold the international conference here.
“There are about 10 keynote speakers including Professor Dr Cecilia and workshops with top speakers from all over the world joining the conference and once approved by the government we will continue with the proposal to be sent to the University of Roehampton, UK through Professor Dr Cecilia,” she said.
Meanwhile, Professor Dr Cecilia said the conference will focus on the whole spectrum of psychopathology.
“We want to cover anxiety, depression, autism, learning disabilities and more in the conference,” she said.
