Last month, the SMA News carried an article by Drs Jacqueline Chin and Jacinta Tan about an ongoing research project in the NUS Centre for Biomedical Ethics to study attitudes on "end of life decisions". Such research is critical, as are healthy open debates on these issues. Hopefully, these will pave the way to sound decision making about euthanasia and the related practice of patient assisted suicide.
Personally though I am not hopeful. Attitudes here are relatively conservative and too 'kiasu' about the sliding down the slippery slope. Public opinions are constrained too much by sensitiveness towards perceived religious values. This is not wrong. But it does limit our options to be "progressive".
Let's see what happens.
For those who are interested, you can contact Drs Chin and Tan at: Dr Jacqueline Chin or Dr Jacinta Tan at EOL.Decisions2010@gmail.com.
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