Say you are dying of an illness and your doctor pronounces that you have no more than three months to live. Worried that your last days will be racked with unbearable pain, you ask to die.

Two doctors certify that you are of sound mind and have made the request voluntarily. They administer you with a drug overdose. Several minutes later, you are dead.

Two weeks ago, Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan raised the issue of whether euthanasia should be allowed in Singapore.

Doctors disagree with the act

Dr Noreen Chan, 42, medical director of Dover Park Hospice and consultant at the National University Hospital

'I personally am against euthanasia. Also, the World Health Organisation's definition of palliative care states, among other things, that palliative care 'affirms life and regards dying as a normal process' and 'neither hastens nor postpones death'.

Our response to suffering should be first to acknowledge it, then try to relieve the suffering, rather than to remove the sufferer.

I feel very disturbed when people talk about euthanasia in Singapore. I do not think any society should make euthanasia available when it cannot ensure equal access for all its citizens to pain relief and palliative care.

Dr Cynthia Goh, centre director of Lien Centre for Palliative Care and head of department of palliative medicine at the National Cancer Centre Singapore

'I personally disagree with euthanasia and would be against it being allowed in Singapore. This is because we have too many frail and vulnerable people in Singapore whose voices may not be heard properly, and who may become victims of non-voluntary euthanasia.

Also, I am worried that people who are old and sick, who already feel that they are a burden to their families and to society, would ask for euthanasia, not because they wish to die, but because they feel that it is their duty to die.

I often hear patients expressing a wish to die. But they are not asking for euthanasia, and we must not mistake it as such.

Dr James Low, 43, senior consultant and head of department of geriatric medicine at Alexandra Hospital

'I disagree with euthanasia because it goes against one of the most fundamental principles of medicine, which is first and foremost to do no harm.

To me, ending someone else's life is the worst harm that can ever be done to another person, what more to a vulnerable population such as the sick, elderly and dying.

It is unthinkable that the profession that takes pride in healing, curing and comforting life be also the one that takes it away. It reminds me of the proverbial wolf in sheepskin, except that now the sheepskin is the white coat.

Dr Tan Yew Seng, 42, medical director of Assisi Hospice

'I do not think that euthanasia should be legalised in Singapore. The legal and ethical issues can be complex and may be difficult for the general public to understand.

There are hospice patients who request the doctor to assist in ending their lives. This, however, tends to represent a 'cry for help', a distress call as a result of physical, emotional or spiritual suffering.

We know that for the majority of them, after we take steps to treat the suffering, such as by treating their pain, bodily distress or depression, the patients no longer express the need to hasten their death.

Dr Ang Peng Tiam, 50, senior oncologist and medical director of Parkway Cancer Centre

'I do not agree with active euthanasia. I think it is morally wrong. As a doctor, my duty is to save life and not to take life away. If indeed our society wants euthanasia, then let society decide how to carry it out. It should not be put in the doctor's hands.

Doctors can guide you on medical conditions, like for instance, declare that someone is terminally ill. But the act of killing someone is not for us to carry out.

To me, euthanasia is a cheap option. We should be able to relieve the pain of the dying to help them allow nature to take its course. The heart of the issue now is that we are not offering patients enough support as it is very costly and time-consuming.

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