Death and rights
Two recent news stories that touch on the subject of death are as sad as they are thought-provoking.
The first is that of the man convicted of brutally killing the little girl known to the public as “Little Light Bulb” (小燈泡) in 2016.
On Tuesday last week, the girl’s father read a statement in court, in which he said that he hoped the judges would sentence his daughter’s killer to death because, in his view, as things stand in Taiwan, the court could not reform the killer or guarantee that he would not commit further crimes.
The second story is that of sports program host Fu Da-ren (傅達仁), who was experiencing great pain after falling ill with cancer but, because Taiwan has no laws permitting euthanasia, had to travel to seek assistance in Switzerland, where he finally passed away with dignity.
The main impression that one gets from these two news stories is that in Taiwan, no matter whether people deserve to die or want to die, they cannot get the death they deserve or desire.
If the law only goes so far as to stipulate that people “cannot die,” is that enough to safeguard human rights?
Obvious answers are that those who deserve to die, but do not die, might commit more heinous crimes when they are released from prison, while those who want to die, but cannot die might go on being tormented, along with their families, for the rest of their lives.
What sort of laws do we really want and need? That is a question that the legislators who write our laws, and the officials who enforce them, need to think long and hard about.
Lee Chia-hsien
Chiayi
Rage about plastic straws
The production of cheap, durable and convenient plastic bags grew from 2 million tonnes in 1950 to 440 million tonnes in 2015, heavily affecting marine ecology and often being mistakenly consumed by marine animals.
The Earth is on its way to becoming a plastic planet.
The government is calling for more comprehensive restrictions on plastic materials. Starting from July 1 next year, government agencies, public and private schools, department stores, shopping malls and fast-food chains are no longer to provide single-use plastic straws to customers dining in.
People thinking only of their own convenience have criticized Environmental Protection Administration officials, who said that people can use spoons instead of straws to eat the tapioca balls in bubble milk tea, for lacking common sense.
Many have accused the government of throwing away the apple because of the core, and being unwilling to develop biodegradable plastic products.
“Biodegradable” does not mean that plastic products will vanish into thin air. Plastic degraded into smaller pieces is still plastic and the degradation process will eventually stop, which does not help environmental protection.
The truly biodegradable, biomass-derived Polylactic Acid (PLA), can only be decomposed in highly humid environments at temperatures above 60°C and with anaerobic bacteria.
It takes 60 days for a PLA product to be thoroughly decomposed, and if conditions are not ideal, decomposition takes longer.
The most urgent task when solving the plastic crisis is still the “3Rs”: reduce, recycle and reuse.
However, because the plastic ban affects our daily lives, people let go of rational thinking and become keyboard warriors.
Taiwanese have a weak grasp of the concept of opportunity cost and rational debate over public policy implementation often deteriorates into aimless criticism.
That is something everyone should keep in mind and try to eliminate.
Lin Po-kuan
Tainan
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