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EDITORIAL: Locks
alone wonˇ¦t keep hope alive
In light of a recent slew of suicides, the government is mulling ordering stores
to lock up charcoal to make it less readily available for people who want to
commit suicide.
Considering that ingesting pesticide is a common form of suicide in southern
Taiwan, the Department of Health said it is also planning on asking pesticide
manufacturers to set aside NT$1 for every kilogram of product sold to finance
the production of cabinets with locks, again aiming to make it more difficult
for people with suicidal tendencies to get their hands on the product.
However, while measures aimed at lowering the number of suicides by making it
harder for people to find the means to kill themselves are good, one hopes that
government officials wonˇ¦t be so naive as to think theyˇ¦ve tackled the problem
of a rise in suicides and can now relax.
People who truly wish to end their life could think of alternatives. Is the
government going to ask stores to also lock away knives, sleeping pills and all
potentially poisonous chemicals and ban high-rise buildings?
Life is precious and outsiders can only imagine the state of despair, pain and
hopelessness someone might be experiencing if they feel the only way to deliver
themself from the anguish and despair is to end their life.
People commit suicide for many different reasons, ranging from their mental
state to relationship problems to job woes, for example, but after a quick look
at the state of the nation, it is not hard to grasp why someone who is
depressed, especially if they are underprivileged, may feel trapped and
hopeless.
The unemployment rate remains high and salary raises remain a distant hope. The
government has added to the publicˇ¦s burden by announcing rises in fuel and
electricity prices.
The increase in electricity prices is expected to have a trickle-down effect on
virtually all goods and services, so price fluctuations are inevitable and
spending will be affected.
Imagine the pressure ordinary people will face to cover increasingly expensive
daily necessities, let alone the unemployed and the underprivileged who are
already cash-strapped.
The crux in solving the nationˇ¦s climbing suicide rate is to tackle the problem
at its roots. It calls for beefing up of social welfare, assistance systems and
most importantly ˇX government introspection on how to more effectively allot the
social resources and emergency relief funds to the right people in a timely
manner.
Rather than approaching the issue of suicide with desultory tactics such as
locking away charcoal and pesticides, what is truly required of the government
is to prevent thoughts of suicide from taking root.
The best way for the government to prevent suicide is to lessen peopleˇ¦s daily
stress and pressure. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) was quick to harp on
the failures of the fomer Democratic Progressive Party in this area when it was
in power, but President Ma Ying-jeouˇ¦s (°¨^¤E) administration seems to have failed
just as abjectly.
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