It was the first time I realised that those who record in their will that they desire to donate their body for medical research after their death are bound to not have an ordinary funeral though undoubtedly those with religious convictions will have a ceremony performed, openly, where religious freedom is in place. This was brought to mind when a colleague mentioned in the past days that his brother abroad has resorted to such a generous undertaking.

Likewise, earlier this year Fr Stephen Jaschko, a 99-year old Hungarian Jesuit missionary, who died on March 17 after having spent 54 years at the service of the missions in Taiwan. Fr Jaschko's entire life was dedicated to the mission of evangelisation in China with heartfelt and active devotion. In the end, he even donated his body to the Medical Institute at Fu Jen Catholic University; a gesture of complete self-donation to the Lord. Both the Hungarian daily publication Nepszadadsag and the Duna Television Station, as well as media in Taiwan, gave wide coverage to this missionary's demise.

As a public manifestation and acknowledgement from the state's administration, ROC Taiwan's President Ma participated in the memorial mass held on April 7 where he extolled Fr Jaschko's selfless contribution to Taiwan. Fr Jaschko once mentioned to his close Taiwanese friend that his elders in Hungary encouraged him in his childhood to be humble, responsible, and capable of taking suffering by saying he must have the camel knees, a donkey back, and a swine stomach, something which had inspired him through his life.

One hopes that such generosity by ordinary people even at the end of life will shake the more powerful leaders on the world stage into re-thinking their policies which bring death and destruction both through arms proliferation as well as through state funded, encouraged or forced abortions at the commencement of life.