between the lines of fear and blame

there's been a lot of talk of euthanasia (or mercy killing, although it's an oxymoron, to me - mercy killing, in every sense of the term) domestically, especially after our health minister mr khaw boon wan said that there's an increased need for palliative care in singapore, especially with an aging population, and also, whether euthanasia should be made legal in singapore.

many of the proponents of euthanasia claim that it is within the autonomy of patients, especially those in "continuous, unbearable and incurable suffering", to choose to die peacefully, or to choose 安乐死, as the mandarin term puts so concisely.

however, i personally am against euthanasia. in stead i think that palliative care is a much better option for several reasons.

first of which is that euthanasia is against the very fundamentals of the profession that is medicine, which is to not do harm. instead, should euthanasia be legalised, doctors will be asked to inflict the greatest harm of all, that is to take the life, albeit one that is waning, of another being. doctors should be healers, the ones who help preserve life, not the ones to extinguish it.

also, the nuances of the terms suicide (which is forbidden in singapore), murder (which, needless to say is too a crime), and euthanasia is something that we cannot ignore nor overlook, not when it is a matter of life an death. euthanasia must first of all, be voluntary. and it is the deliberate act of terminating a person's life for that person's benefit. suicide is the act of ending one's own life. an murder, the life of another. so what then happens when a patient asks for euthanasia volunteeringly, but just as the doctor is going to administer the lethal shot of drugs, the patient thinks against euthanasia, but is too weak to protest. is that not then murder, and the doctor then a murderer? additionally, where then do we draw the line between suicide and euthanasia? and that's a huge grey area that we'll then have to content with.

instead of removing the sufferer, i believe in relieving the suffering, i believe in palliative care. having personally been to a hospice, where the average time that a patient spend there is 7 days, i was told, i think that it is a better option, where it is a place that manages the pain of the patients, as well as their emotional needs. granted the hospice was not the most cheerful of places, the patients there, or at least the ones that i had seen, seem - prepared. there was a sense of calm emanating for them, and a sense of steely resolve to meet what had to be met head on. incredible, considering that most had on average, about 7 more days to live. and they (or at least most of them) managed to summon the strength to burst in smiles and applause when we sang to them. i can't say this for others, but if i were to die of a terminal disease, with prolonged pain, this would be the way that i'd choose to go, prepared and unfaltering, unflinching, but fighting to the very end.

which leads me to my final point: euthanasia undermines the sanctity of life. life is precious. life is beautiful. life is wonderfully. admittedly, it indeed is almost impossible to view life with such rose-coloured lens when one is in pain constantly, and with the feeling of guilt to be such a burden, physically, emotionally and financially to one's loved ones. but these feelings neither diminish the sanctity of life, which is the very reason why murder is wicked and abhorrent, nor the patient's right to live. it is this consecratedness of life that separates us, humans from animals, because otherwise what then is our purpose on this good earth, if no matter what we attain, no matter what we achieve, will all ultimately lead to death, to nothingness.

and this is my question to us all, what then is your purpose here? because according to science, our sole purpose is to ensure the survival of our species, and in particular, our dna, and thus, according to science, the sole meaning of our existence is to mate - a lot, to reproduce - a lot, and die - once.

if your purpose is to do well in school and get a great paying job, my question is: then what? then what, when your live savings can be wiped out in a weeks.

if your purpose if to have a great time, my question is: then what? i remember ben elton writing in his novel stark about this so very rich guy who didn't know what to do with his life and his riches. in other words, he had no meaning in life. for he was tired of all his luxury, because despite owning so much, he still had one body, one stomach, one dick. (i'm trying as best as i can to quote ben elton accurately but i really can't remember the phrase word for word.)

if your purpose is to find the perfect someone, then my question again is: then what? because there is no such a thing as perfection, and sooner or later, your perfect someone will disappoint you, and if that is your only meaning in life, then your life will be meaningless indeed.