One billion Chinese can't be wrong

Once again, Saturday is 'funny letter' day at angrydr.blogspot...


Undignified to place a price on body organs

I refer to the recent debate on organ trading.

I am against such a trade. I am also against the medical directive which states that I have to opt out of the situation whereby other people are automatically entitled to my kidneys upon my death.

My heart is the seat of my deepest emotions. It experiences the intense joys and sorrows of my life. When I am disappointed or disillusioned with love, it goes through heartache and pain. The Chinese have a saying, xin gan bao bei, which implies that the liver is also associated with affection or emotion.

I don't see how or why human beings should be trading in such body parts which are closely tied to our personalities, and perhaps our soul.

Perhaps it sounds cruel to be against organ transplants, but the illegal trades being spurned off which involve kidnapping and coersion are infinitely more cruel.

It is a different matter if I am donating to a loved one. If I can give my heart to or die for my loved one, metaphorically speaking, then I feel it is not much different if I were to give the physical organ to them.

In our quest for life, why should we rob others of their dignity by placing a price on their organs?

Organ failure simply means it is time for you to go. We should accept death and suffering graciously. Our lives do not end with the passing of our physical bodies, but is extended in the lives of our sons and daughters, and in the good deeds we are remembered for.

Jennifer Wee Siew Cheng (Ms)


angry doc finds it hard to argue with that kind of logic.

Like Ms Wee, angry doc is no fan of organ transplant. In fact, angry doc is not too keen on any procedure that involves putting knife on healthy persons.

He would have posted his opinion on this blog, but he didn't have the guts. He was worried that the more progressive and sanguine members of the medical profession and society might baulk at his gall, and that their blood might boil after reading his entry. The thought of offending so many people chilled his bones, and he decided to hold his tongue.

But along comes a letter that angry doc just couldn't resist commenting on.

Well, perhaps angry doc should discuss the issue of organ transplant and trading. Who knows? He might have a change of heart after all.