My right to die

I HAVE always been a strong proponent of euthanasia. No one person, or law, should have the right to prolong the suffering of another against his clear and unadulterated will.

If I am terminally ill, bedridden, and in a perpetually drugged state because the pain is just too much to bear, I would certainly not appreciate being told I do not have the right to end my life.

Sure, we have to take into account religious sensitivities and arguments about 'the sanctity of life'. But it is inhumane to impose one's own religious or moral beliefs on others who do not share the same faith, more so if one is suffering and the other is not.

I favour a strictly regulated process involving physicians, counsellors, and family members assessing the right to die on a case-by-case basis.

He Zongying, 24, is a final-year business management student at the Singapore Management University.

Seeking natural release

LEGALISING euthanasia denigrates the sanctity of human life. By shutting out the option of an instant death, we are upholding the dignity of terminally ill patients. It is vital that such patients are given constant care and support so that hopefully, they can overcome the demons in their minds and make the most of the rest of their lives.

Euthanasia goes against the basic principles of health care, in particular the commitment of doctors and nurses to save lives. This includes proper palliative care for the irrevocably ill patient.

To me, life and death are processes that should not be tampered with. In the face of a debilitating condition, I would derive strength and reassurance from my faith and seek release the natural way.

Muhammad Farouq Osman, 19, has a place to read arts and social sciences at the National University of Singapore.

Know when it's time to go

CHRISTIANS generally equate mercy killing with murder, hence it goes against God's commandments.

While I respect these arguments as a Christian myself, I believe there are particular circumstances when the plug should be pulled.

This is when I have been officially brain-dead for more than a year, a life-support system being the only thing keeping me alive.

Do not get me wrong. I am not easily giving up on life. If I were handicapped or wracked with pain, I would not beg for euthanasia, because part of me is still feeling and thinking. But if I were reduced to an unnatural extension of a life-support system, without any mental, emotional, or physical faculties, I would consider myself dead.

That, I feel, is truly the time to go.

Bryna Sim, 22, is an honours student in history at NUS.

Good intentions, messy results

AS A law student, the idea of legalising euthanasia does not sit well with me.

Already a very controversial issue from an ethical point of view, I see much difficulty in translating its so-called 'good intentions' into well-defined, enforceable legal rules.

On the one hand, doctors are to act in the patient's 'best interests'. On the other, the Penal Code criminalises the act of 'intentionally causing death'.

How do we change this to suit euthanasia, where death is intentionally applied, arguably for the patient's 'best interests'?

Any benefits legalisation brings will be outweighed by an onslaught of increased litigation, forcing judges to play God.

The law prides itself on protecting the sanctity of life first and foremost. I simply cannot see any option other than cherishing it wholeheartedly.

Tan Huiqing, 22, is a fourth-year law student at NUS.

Relooking the Hippocratic Oath

IN MEDICAL school, we debate the right to die and have speakers give end-of-life talks, but ultimately, we are bound by the Hippocratic Oath, which states that a doctor should do his patient no harm.

In practice, however, this is not always possible. Some patients lose the will to live under great adversity, with medical intervention merely prolonging their lives artificially. In these cases, a lethal injection may be their best form of relief. If facilitating that relieves them of all harm, why not?

After all, medical students are also taught that death is merely a biological event. Perhaps it is time for a modern revision of the Hippocratic Oath that caters to the latest technological advances and ethical issues, while maintaining the gold standard of medical practice.

Tabitha Mok, 22, is a fourth-year medical student at the University of Western Australia.

This article was first published in The Straits Times on Nov 10, 2008.