Euthanasia - Legal vs Ethical

I write this with a conflicting mind.

Sparking off with Singapore's polar bear death, it triggered me to think and question the logic and reason behind euthanising a species which is non-human. Actually, it has been in my head since I came to understand the concept of euthanising. Thereafter I questioned myself if we as human beings had the right to put down an animal just solely because "we own it and we love it and it's for their own good".

But I'm not writing to condone the behaviour of putting down the polar bear don't get me wrong. It is questioning euthanasia in general. As a whole. As an option.

Euthanising has been a topic for debate since years ago - only certain countries made it legal to euthanise a human being.

I quote from Google: Euthanasia - the painless killing of a patient suffering from an incurable and painful disease or in an irreversible coma.

Animals are capable of feeling emotions- dog wags its tail when it's happy. A cat hisses when it's aggressive. Bettas flare when they feel threatened. These are known facts since we have interacted with animals of all kinds. They are able to at the very least, experience simple emotions - happy, stressed, threatened, excitement.

Humans and several other species of animals (dolphins, elephants, primates for example) tend to experience a more complicated spectrum of emotions. We feel guilt. We cry when we watch movies. We feel touched when someone does something nice for us. We plan and look forward to holidays. We understand the concept of time. This capability allows us to experience emotions that some animals will never experience or even know of its existence. Your dog wouldn't cry joy of tears seeing you take a day off work, and surprise! You're baking dog cookies for him - maybe your girlfriend would.

We've seen documentaries and some in real life too - gazelle escapes a crocodile attack despite being severly injured. Runs off to join the group and hope it doesn't die. OR
Insects still trying to run the hell out of your hot soup even though 4 of its legs are in it.

My bottomline - their basic instinct is to survive.

Another concept is the ability to look forward into the future. We would've felt unhappy if we didn't manage to earn a high salary or travelled to a dream country before we died. We are capable of envisioning the future and make it something which would make our lives "fulfilling". Animals wouldn't consider themselves living a "fulfilled" life until they say, have a grandson pup. Or finally able to see their owner's wedding. They don't. They live in the present. Your dog feels happy doing a trick for you and gets the biscuit as a reward. It's happiness exists in the CURRENT. It doesn't feel sad or remorseful because it chewed on your carpet 10 minutes ago. They can't comprehend what is in the future and what "life purpose" they should fulfil. Their basic instinct, is simply, to live.

Yes, to counter that, some animals do harvest food and stash them away for winter periods. Or birds migrating to another country to avoid harsh seasonal changes. But that isn't about looking forward or fulfilling their life purpose. That is also Nature's way of basic survival instincts which is hard-wired in certain species so that the species can survive and continue to reproduce. It has nothing to do with us humans planning a trip 3 months down the road to Disneyland.

Which is why I feel that Euthanasia, a concept invented by humans, should it be enforced upon the species which don't have the capability to comprehend the same kind of emotions we have?

I agree, people put their dogs down when it's in pain and it's the most logical way to do that. Yes it helps. It helps so that you don't have to see it being in pain again. But what if that animal simply just wants to live and doesn't think like you do?

People will argue back, "what if it wants to die?" Well, since no one can confirm that other than the animal itself, why can't they just die naturally? They wouldn't know there is an option of euthanasia that's for sure. So why enforce it on the animal?

That being said, it is just the cynical side of me debating with myself. Of course, given certain circumstances, putting an animal to sleep will be the most logical solution. But whether or not it is ethical, I wouldn't say for sure.

I wouldn't curse the hell out of somebody if they decide it's the best for their pet. I'd respect that. Euthanasia may be legal, but is it ethical?

I am taking my degree for the 6th year hence I am a failure

This is a common thing I hear everyday from everyone.

"6 years still taking your degree? Getting long service award?"

"Still can't bear to leave your school?"

"How old already still cannot think?"

In case you don't know. I am a rational individual, just like you. I will want to complete my degree in preferably, 2 to 3 years. But I did not, simply because of the following reasons:

1. I have no passion in studying. Simply because.

2. I used to believe the value of having a degree brings more value to my future. But I don't see it now. This is my analysis:

The value of a degree is decreasing everyday due to the abundant supply of graduates flooding the market.

This is what Economics taught me. As supply increases and as products are substitutes for one another (i.e.: a graduate can replace another graduate), suppliers become the price taker as they are in a perfect competition industry. So graduates are becoming the price takers now, taking any salary they have as they desperately need a job.

Demand is created by employers and supply is created by graduates. The probability of more graduates appearing will be higher than more companies appearing AND have the financial ability to employ a Uni Graduate. We can say that the demand for employees is elastic while the thirst for graduates to be employed is inelastic.

And therefore I cannot comprehend why, when it is an economical sensible decision to not put all my eggs into a Bachelors Degree, people think I am simply 'not thinking about the future.'

Lets talk about things after getting employed.

Stage 1: Self-fulfilment

Well suppose you get 4K a month with your Degree and are able to bring your parents to nice restaurants and you feel good about yourself. What are you trying to acheive? Happiness. Done.

Suppose I fail my degree and get a mere 1.8K job a month, I buy $2 tauhuay up for my parents to eat. I feel good about myself. What am I trying to acheive? Happiness. Done.

At this stage, I have acheived Happiness at a lower cost than you. Yes, you may get to enjoy higher quality food than me. But that doesn't mean you will FEEL happier.
It is much akin to my $3 Char Kway Tiao and $50 Steak classic example.

However if you think I am being absurb at this point, you may stop reading here.


Stage 2: Happiness derived from acknowledgement from others.

Comtinuing from previous example, you bring your parents to a lush restaurant for a Mothers Day dinner. Your parents were so proud and proclaim it to your relatives. Everyone says you are a great son/daughter. You feel good.

You satisfy Stage 2: Happiness derived from acknowledgement from others. Not only you yourself think you are great, you hear it verbally from others too.

For my case, my parents may chuck my tauhuay aside because it only costs $2. Nothing goes around my relatives ears because it is just tau huay. My parents see other people kids bringing their parents to restaurants. They see me as a useless daughter who doesn't bring them to eat nice food.

I didn't satisfy stage 2. I don't have happiness derived from acknowledgement from others.

Why don't I work and study harder, get a Degree, and try to satisfy stage 2 you may say?

Simply because, Stage 2 isn't what I need, what I want, and what I view as important in life. If my parents do not appreciate my $2 tauhuay and envy a $200 meal, whose position is it to say I am not good enough or my parents are taking things for granted? Your position? Or mine?


Secondly, what differs us from acheiving different results are the THINGS WE PLACE VALUE ON.

For example, your $4K job entails you to own a life of entertainment. Together with your spouse, both of you may live in a private apartment, big and spacious. You guys then went to Paris and took a picture with 500 Instagram likes. You enjoy your high life. This is what you value. Luxury, not having to think about price tags.

My job with a mere $1. 8K only allows me to visit Pulau Ubin for cycling every weekend. Then I spot a rare species of venomous snake and I get fucking happy. I take a picture of it and I get probably 30 Instagram likes. This is what I value.

Are you able to say your happiness in Paris is more than my happiness of seeing a rare snake in Pulau Ubin? Sure, your transportation cost is 500 times more expensive than mine.
Is your happiness 500x more than mine?

It's hard to gauge who is actually more happy in this situation. The point is, spending more money doesn't mean it makes you happier. This is what makes us different.

It is not the spending, it is the value we see in things.

If you value Stage 2, if you value luxury, you are not wrong.

But just because YOUR path has rainbows, doesn't mean other people's routes are filled with dark clouds.


Lastly,
I am not "proud" to say I have not passed my Degree.


I am just logical enough to see that crying doesn't help.

What makes a man?

Since young, we pinned hopes on our parents that whatever they tell us are true. And that they will never lie to us.

We grow up and realise our parents lie to us, about keeping that pet dog when we are old enough (never happens). About them always being right (not always). Etc.

I don't trust my parents words 100% from then on.

Then we fall in love with jerks and realise they lie as well, and not everyone who says they will never lie are good people. I gave up trying to hope that liars make good lovers.

Then we meet 'the one' and imperfect humans like them lie as well. And I wonder, do we not deserve the truth from anyone throughout our lives? Where can we find that 1 person who wouldn't lie in your face no matter what happens?

Even marriages have vows and it is mutually agreed, based solely on trust, that neither of the couple is going to break his/her words. Through life and death, never to betray one another, etc etc.

Look at the divorce rates.


Trust is so important, and yet so fragile.
People nowadays are placing lesser and lesser importance in the essence of a relationship and emphasizing more on materialistic 'acheivements'.

What for be elated over a $5K diamond ring or a $10K Chanel bag if this guy doesn't adhere to his promises?

What for feel happy over a Paris trip when he doesn't take you to the zoo which he promised to take you 2 months ago?

And because people are so easily swayed by materialistic wants, they override the basic rule of a relationship - honour your words, big or small.

A lie, big or small, is still a lie.

The moment someone decides to lie to you, you are not worth the truth to him.

I hold on to the principle of being honest closely. And until that day someone understands and respect this point as well as I do, perhaps that is when I find my answer.



So what makes a man?



His words. His honoured words.

Majority doesn't necessarily win.

Don't you sometimes feel that for once, you know your facts and people around are wrong, but just because majority of the voices do not sing the same tune as you, you doubt yourself for that moment?

It happened to me today.

Just this evening upon reaching home, 2 of my loved ones were exclaiming that I filed the wrong year for income tax, based on the income tax filing written: Year of Assessment 2016. They thought it represents tax filed for actual year 2016. But I was certain that Year of Assessment refers to the previous year based on my previous experiences in work, and that was in my head.

I told them not to worry as it is the correct year. One of them exclaimed in a frustrated tone saying it is wrong, the other person agreed in sync.

For a moment, I doubted myself. Was I wrong? Have I remembered it incorrectly? Both of them are saying I am wrong. I must be wrong I guess. But there was still a bit of confidence in myself.

Finally it was confirmed I was right. Both of them continued on other topics as usual.

And honestly, for that brief moment I felt there was so much your loved ones can affect you in your self esteem.

I felt no one believed me because I am looked down upon by them, because to them, I am someone who fails her Degree for 6 years and hence I couldn't be correct, no matter how confident.

The thing about this, is they don't realise that when they firmly doubt someone's opinion, or doesn't give a person any credibility, it brings someone down. And even after realising they are wrong, they do not acknowledge being wrong. Isn't it sad, that people whom you love make you feel this way?

It doesn't only occur in small things like these. In life decisions, big or small, sometimes you have your answer in mind, but when majority speaks, you reconsider. You take a step back. You doubt your own judgement about things you are confident in. And that, my friend, is toxic to you.

Since young, I have always been taught to shut the fuck up if I have opinions. Especially if it opposes the majority. That made me even more opinionated.

At the end of the day, I am happy I reaffirmed myself and didn't submit to majority. 

At the end of the day, I want to share this quote:

Wrong does not cease to be wrong because the majority share in it.

Leo Tolstoy

I have little tolerance for people with little brains

Especially when it concerns animals.

I get it when you like to share a video of a cute puppy and go Awwww so cute. But people who say the dumbest shit gets on my nerves.

*Girl posts a video of a Panda*

'I wanna take it home'

Did you realise how ridiculously illogical you sound? Do you think you are going to plant bamboo trees in your room or the panda is going to magically be biologically adapted to your room temperature. God.

Girls who tell people to buy dogs when they share a video of cute dogs.

Shut the fuck up already and stop having the default mentality that the only way to keep a pet dog is buy trading money for it. Don't tell people to BUY a dog, it's 2017 with so many animal welfare activists why are some people still sounding so narrow-minded?

I get too sensitive with all these ignorant people. If I had 3 wishes I'd wish they die 3 times.

On Negativity

I've seen too much of people dealing problems with negativity. People always ask me not to be so positive. My parents wonder why am I able to be fine with coping with failing my school term for 5 years. My friends think I don't give a fuck about my studies. Well, I actually do. I just don't whine and complain or cry about it, or think that I am hopeless because I am not labelled a "graduate".

The thing about people - they tend to deal with problems even before adjusting their own mentality.
And it's really redundant if you try solving problems before you adjust your mindset.

Wait, we all know what being negative means. But what are negative emotions?

• Sadness
• Fear
• Anger
• Aggression
• Annoyance
• Confusion
• Paranoid
• Self-pity
• Resent
• Deluded
• Jealousy
• Blaming
• Injustice

All these are but only a handful of emotions we commonly feel.

What does negativity do?

• It limits your view. It narrows your options. For example, if you quarrel with your sibling/girlfriend/someone you love, you tend to be overwhelmed by anger. (or any of the above depending on your nature)

The only option that you have when you feel angry? Aggression. You fight back. You quarrel. And if you partner has no capability of adjusting her mindset, she does the same back to you. You're focused on the argument, and you leave out the options of talking things out, or taking a step back, or simply giving in. You lose the ability to weigh the consequences due to your actions.

You were walking along an alley and suddenly a man confronts you. Fear takes over you.
Your vision is focused on running away from the man. And when you let fear take control, you didn't think of fighting back. You didn't think of grabbing the bottle glass lying nearby to confront him. You closed your options due to fear.

This is what happens when negative emotions control your mind.

I'd like to bring this issue onto social media, which is the most apparent way of expressing thoughts.
Posts full of whines, complaints about people, friends, work issues, are everywhere.
We do whine once in awhile. Do me a favour, scroll through your own posts and see if it's whiny at least 80% of the time. If it fits, something is fucking wrong with you. You're too negative. Please don't blame your friends if they dislike you.

And in all brutal honesty, no one cares about your whines.

You realise with negativity controlling your actions, problems don't get solved, no matter what you do. And if problems persist, it's not about the problem. It's about you.

If you're consistently having problems with friendships, with relationships, and no matter what you do it just keeps repeating, it's you who are the problem. Not your friends.

How else would your problems be gone if you're the problem yourself?

• Negativity is contagious. 

Maybe you're surrounded by people who are negative. Trust me, eliminate them. If not, please place lower importance on their words. People who tell you that you "CANNOT" or constantly make you feel that you are not capable, they will not be the ones who will acknowledge ANY success you have. Find the great people, who see the best in you, who make you feel good, and make you feel worthy.
These are the people who will celebrate each milestone you've marked.

Acknowledgement is important to us - human beings love compliments. We get praised when we're were young, scoring well for a test. We feel great. However, when we're all grown up, no one goes up to you and tells you "Good Job", for solving your company's issues. And if your workplace doesn't positively influence you emotionally, please choose the right people you hang out with after working hours - Not quit your job if you know you're good at what you're doing.

Lack of acknowledgements do not equate to your incapability.

... I actually don't know how can people tolerate humans who seem to criticise on anything and everything.

With the right people and the right mentality, problems will seem, well, not so problematic afterall.


This is really just a personal point of view.
Again, I apologise if it offends anyone.

(have to say this kind of shitty statement in case I get flamed again)
(not really sorry for providing a personal point of view actually)

On Social Media - Microdetailing

Isn't it rapid how technology has changed our lives? From the world-wide web to instant messaging platforms to now, instant sharing platforms. Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter etc.

I always wondered as I scrolled through Facebook news feeds, on the purpose of what this person's post is. And I am very, very, enthusiastically interested in people who microdetail their lives.

It can be physical, literal things like:

Taking a bath.

Strolling along the park.

Going to sleep.

It can be something close to the heart:

Feeling lonely.

Missing someone.

Crying. (Ok.....)

Although I don't understand why people would want to take a selfie of themselves crying.. judgements aside. I'm taking a very objective approach on this post.

There is an increasing phenomenon of microdetailing people. If I could, I would study them. Yes almost everyone has moments you feel bored, and you just want to post and see who actually bothers reading your non-constructive posts. I do that. But the group I'm talking about are people who do it almost every single time they do something, or think about something.

It's really interesting to know what's actually behind their intentions and how does it help them mentally and emotionally. What do you think?

And, I'm sorry if this offends anyone. It's nothing new my posts offend people anyway.