PETALING JAYA, June 21 -- Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh has reportedly called for the adoption of online therapy and support services to address addiction among young Malaysians, saying conventional face-to-face counselling is no longer effective.

She said traditional awareness campaigns urging youth to avoid drugs and other vices have failed to stem addiction, pointing to the persistent rise in such cases.

"For many years, the government has been doing the same thing, telling youths 'let's avoid doing this' or 'stay away from that', but it has not been effective," she was quoted saying by Free Malaysia Today.

"We need a new approach, which is why I have told my ministry to start providing online support or online assistance."...