We wish you a warm welcome to Johor Bahru and, in particular, to our convention.

 We are grateful for your support and commitment to this convention. It has emboldened us to strive to improve on the quality and prominence of our speakers and the papers to be delivered. Even though the calendar for psychiatric conferences for 2002 is a very hectic one, we are so pleased to see you in Johor Bahru and we promise you a conference that is both beneficial and meaningful.

 It is apt to sit back for a while to ponder on the state of our mental health services. Our convention theme is chosen to enable us to take an informed and organized approach to evaluating and redefining the mental health needs of the nation. We have none other than Professor A.S. Henderson, Emeritus Professor, The Australian National University and Clinical Adviser in Mental Health, Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing, Canberra, Australia to share with us his experience and expertise.

 It is indeed our privilege to have Y. Bhg. Tan Sri Harun Hashim to speak to us on ‘Basic Human Rights of the Mentally Ill” – no other person can be both more appropriate and prominent.

 Dr. Hwang Tae-Yeon shall share with us the tremendous advances made in community psychiatry in South Korea. We also have experts on Dialectical Cognitive Behaiour therapy from Australia. We certainly forget not all other speakers, both foreign and local, leaders in various aspects of psychiatry coming to deliberate with us all ‘sane and insane’ matters.

 We thank our VIP, Dato Dr. Hj. Ahmad Tajuddin Jaafar, not only for his gracious official opening of our convention but also for his support and commitment to the cause of psychiatry in Malaysia.

 Last but not least, a toast to our fellow participants –

“without you (conference) life would have been unbearable”.

 "SELAMAT BERSIDANG"

 Organising Chairman