to live or not to live

This morning I was listening to a radio interview with a HK patient who is paralysed due to an accident and has been hospitalised for over a decade. Few years ago, he was featured in a documentary for he wanted the government to grant him the right to mercy killing. It has stirred a lot of discussions in the media. He even wrote to the Chief Executive to pledge for his right.

Ever since his story was featured in a documentary, he was visited by a lot of people including some known public figures such as the politicians, celebrities, journalists, doctors, etc. It was when his life was changed immensely. While he was laying in bed for over a decade, all he did was nothing but remembering the past and imagining the future (if ever he had one). His story and the message was communicated through the media. It was when his life has been completely changed. Because of donations, he went through an operation which made it possible for him to talk and move using wheelchair though he still has to rely on others to take care of his everyday life.

The turning point is that, as explained by him frankly, he still wants to live though believing that he should be granted to right to mercy killing (though he does not necessarily have to exercise this right). His life has a lot more surprises now, filled up by his determination to continue writing books. He never thought he could be a writer. Since he was visited by lots of people, he was encouraged to do more than he could have imagined. He started writing a book and when it was 90% done, he sent the proposal to the publisher which was then accepted right away. That really excited him a lot. The result was more than he has expected. His story really has touched many hearts in Hong Kong. His second book was published just now about the failure the famous people have experienced. The story is published to encourage people to learn from failures.

The debate about whether to allow mercy killing is always on. From a patient's point of view, if one has to suffer that much, s/he may want to shorten the suffering through mercy killing. One has the right to choose, whether to live his life or not. However, others believe that one should value life, or least the life one still has, regardless of the sufferings or sickness. Life is precious. The question is, if your family member is suffering so much, do you still want him/her to experience so much pain? The process of enduring pain could be ten times worse than living (though I never experienced it and hope I or any of my family had to). I tend to believe that an individual should have the right to choose to live/die with his/her dignity.

I remember I once watched a movie called 'Mar Adentro' by Alejandro Amenábar, a Chilean director which is an intelligent movie on human dignity. It touches on the conversial issue of mercy killing. The ending was a subtle one. It is worth watching though shocking as well.