About NA in Malaysia

Narcotics Anonymous in Malaysia convened for the first time in June 1986 with a meeting in the suburb of Petaling Jaya. The NA message of recovery arrived on Malaysia’s shores via a returning Malaysian member who first experienced it at a treatment centre in Australia with foundations based in the 12-step-program. Alongside them at the time was also an American expat couple residing in Malaysia and the coming together of these recovering addicts began the story of NA in Malaysia.

This meeting of addicts (now called NA KL Home Group) slowly grew between the late 80’s to the early 90’s with 6-7 members in attendance per meeting. The location of this meeting also moved various times over the years to places such as Sungai Buloh, Petaling Jaya, and Kuala Lumpur. In 1994, another Home Group called NA Chow Kit was established. Across both Home Groups, the fellowship of recovering addicts comprised of 30-40 members.

The 90’s to early 2000’s was a noteworthy period of NA history in Malaysia with the accomplishment of several milestones including:

• the creation of an Area Service Committee,
• the hosting of the Asia Pacific Forum, World Unity Day and the NA KL Area Convention and,
• the establishment of a Literature Translation Committee responsible for translating the NA literature into the native Malay language.

Since then, NA in Malaysia has grown in spurts. Regional growth has spread the message of recovery to other states across Malaysia such as Johor Bahru, Pahang, and Kelantan but many areas are still underserved and do not yet have in-person access to the fellowship. Despite this, NA maintains a strong presence in the central areas of Kuala Lumpur and Selangor with several active working committees serving to develop the reach of NA. Vital to this are the committees of the Hospitals and Institutions Outreach and the Literature Translation.

At present, NA Malaysia has ongoing meetings each day of the week with both In-Person and Online formats serving any addict that comes into the rooms. In-person meetings operate at locations in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, and Johor Bahru with a total of 5 Home Groups actively running within the NA fellowship. Many members today have found a new way of life living drug-free by following in the footsteps of those who came before and who now have years and even decades clean.