Wake Up Call
The ringing of the phone startled me out of sleep.
I grumpily expected a cheerful voice pitching a lower auto insurance rate. Instead the voice was somewhat solemn, but not grave:
“..on behalf of Death with Dignity”.
I suppose it’s hard for someone to choose the right tone of voice with which to wake up a stranger with a message like that. This one was doing alright but still, the announcement was grim.
I was somewhat shaken. What could this wake up call mean?
Was it a follow up to the urgent mail I had received the other day telling me to “Hurry Up!” and clinch that Limited Time Special Offer for a discounted cremation?
Was it a Suicide Prevention Hot Line calling investors to talk them out of potential undignified self destruction given the current financial meltdown?
A new breed of upscale caring hitman giving his target fair warning to put on his best clothes, say goodbyes and compose himself so as to avoid an unbecoming scene when they met?
Someone imitating John Cleese in that hilarious scene in which a rather convivial Death breaks up a party in Life of Brian?
“Have you decided yet?”
“Are you going to vote?”
What relief! It was a civic-minded volunteer drumming up votes for the Death With Dignity proposition in the upcoming election.
It used to be known as euthanasia, mercy killing, assisted suicide. Now the euphemism for someone having a legal say in determining the time and manner of his/her own impending demise is “Death with Dignity”.
The proposition is to legalize what should be a very obvious right.
Or is it?
What do you think?
6 comments:
Agreed.
Vote yes on I-1000
I endorse the position of I-1000
Hi louis,
Very interesting and so far I do not thing we have similar services in Malaysia. Personally I think it's good since it.s proper planning although it can be a bit scary ..hehehe
p/s : loius are you following the baseball playoff ...? Which team ?
Rizal
Hello Rizal,
Good to hear from you again. I guess you are settling back into your daily routines after your Hari Raya traditions. I have been enlightened by and have enjoyed the many blogs about Ramadan, Hari Raya and Eid-Alfitri I have read in Malaysian blogs. I am glad to have been in Malaysia at times during those important periods.
The issue in my post will become a universal one in the near future because people all over the world can and want to assume more and more control over most aspects of their life, including its end.
As with most important issues, even scary ones, it's more satisfactory to confront and deal with it rationally. Most of the old taboos about aging and death are already disappearing.
The Presidential campaign is currently so involving that I have completely overlooked the professional sports for the time being :)
I can't see this getting anywhere in Malaysia. I doubt the issue will ever see the light of day, given the religious implications, and the religiosity that prevails.
I for one, would love the choice. And 'death with dignity' is the very term I think of when I think of this.
Whether or not an afterlife awaits, means nothing to me. It is this life that matters.
I can be sane and humane when it comes to my dogs, but didn't have that option when it came to my father.
But, I wonder at how many would welcome making this decision, whether for themselves or for someone they love. Not an easy task at all. Especially if one believes in a god, and that all this life is the 'test' and heaven or hell determines how you 'passed' or 'failed'!
Hi Pat,
Passage of the Death with Dignity initiative wasn't easy here either. It faced the same opposition from religions, and the law is hedged with a number of limitations. The basis of opposition by religions is flimsy. I recall that when I was growing up the Catholic church strictly forbade cremation on the same basis it opposes death with dignity now, yet cremations are now allowed for Catholics. The decision to pull the plug, as difficult as it is is really a more humane decision for someone suffering.
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