by Teo Wan Gek

Shortly before he received a new kidney last Friday, Mr Tang Wee Sung and his family became aware of the identity of the donor, said a family spokesman yesterday.

But, he added, Mr Tang, 56, and the donor did not know each other.

The Straits Times reported yesterday that the donor was believed to be triad leader Tan Chor Jin, who was hanged at Changi Prison last Friday.

Khaw mum about Tang's organ donor

by Jamie Ee Wen Wei

Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan says he is glad that former C.K. Tang boss Tang Wee Sung has a new kidney and wishes him well.

He did not, however, confirm if Mr Tang, 56, had received the kidney of triad leader Tan Chor Jin, dubbed the One-Eyed Dragon, who was hanged at Changi Prison last Friday.

Responding to reporters' queries on the sidelines of a seminar organised by the Speak Mandarin Campaign, the minister said: 'I think we leave it to the patient and the family of the late Mr Tan to confirm or refute whether there was this directed transplant. I think for patient privacy, I cannot comment more than that.'

Harvesting organs from death row donors

by Nur Dianah Suhaimi

In his 12 years of practice, urologist Dr Lim (not his real name) has harvested kidneys from death row inmates a total of six times.

As one of the 15 doctors in the Ministry of Health's renal transplant team, he is occasionally rostered for duty whenever there are cadaveric kidneys to be harvested.

While most of the kidneys come from brain-dead stroke patients in hospitals, members of the renal transplant team are sometimes required to make a trip to Changi Prison to harvest the kidneys of a prisoner to be hanged.

No coercion

Prisoners on death row are not forced to donate their organs. Neither is the idea put to them by prison officers.

It is understood that those who request to donate their organs do so of their own initiative. The prison will then act as a facilitator. It will inform the health authorities about the prisoner's request, and the rest of the procedure will be arranged by the Ministry of Health.

Prisoners also have to declare which organs they wish to donate. The One-Eyed Dragon, for example, chose to donate his kidneys, liver and one good eye.

One-Eyed Dragon wanted to help others

by Debbie Yong

He took a life in cold blood but in his final moments, former triad leader Tan Chor Jin wanted to help save lives.

A few days prior to his execution at dawn last Friday, he had requested that his kidneys, liver and cornea be donated, his elder brother Tan Chor Juay told The Sunday Times yesterday.

'He said that since he could not take these organs with him when he died, it would be better to use them to help others than let them go to waste,' Chor Juay, 48, said at the wake for his brother in Hougang Avenue 3.

For more The Straits Times stories, click here.