Hi Friends,
It appears that Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan has changed his mind about including foreigners in the organ donation scheme.
The Straits times mentioned that “Only Singaporeans will be reimbursed for donating a kidney.” And that “Payments will be extended to foreigners only when there is enough confidence in the scheme, said Health Minister Khaw Bonn Wan yesterday.”
Mr. Khaw even said “We don’t want Singapore to be a rogue regime.”
This was one of the major sticking points for me as this potentially allows for legalized organ trading. ( read my post on this here) As mentioned elsewhere, I am not against reimbursing donors for expenses incurred as a result of this truly altruistic act.
If we include foreign donors into the scheme, we are unable to monitor the donor back in their homeland and we do not know where the money goes to and we are never sure that the money from the recipient really went to help defray expenses only.
This money could have been attractive enough to act as an inducement for the donor.
I know from conversations online and offline, that some people think that this is just demand and supply economics and I should not have made a big deal of it.
However for me and I think for much of the medical community, medical ethics is just as important as economics in this issue.
Anyway, I don’t expect everyone reading this to get it. Never mind.
Nevertheless, I am glad that Minister Khaw has come to his senses about this.
I might have supported him for the HOTA amendment if this was the case in the first place.
BTW, other positive aspects which he mentioned at the 40th anniversary celebrations of the NKF yesterday included:
Safeguards such as:
1.Thorough screening including psychological assessment to exclude exploitation.
2. Cooling-off period which is good as we do not want “pressure-selling” ala "time share" scams.
3. Kidney donors to be reimbursed through third party and payment partly into Medisave Top-ups (read here)
Also, Kidney patients will get travel subsidy. They should get all the help they need.
Cheers
Dr.Huang Shoou Chyuan
Link: 1.Gigamole: Human Organ Trade- a nuanced approach
2.Gigamole: Human Organ Trade-Agree or disagree?
Showing posts with label NKF. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NKF. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 08, 2009
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
Ex-NKF Director's Escape- A Parody of Justice
Dear Friends,
I have written the following letter to the MSM's forum pages. Let's see if it sees the light of day.
Author's note (7.6.07): It has been printed by TODAY. Let's see if the ST will print it too.
Dear Editor,
Ex-NKF director’s escape from justice
The public must surely be justified in being extremely disappointed at how a high profile person like the ex-NKF director, Richard Yong, was allowed to escape the grasp of justice.
Did the Official Assignees’ (OA) Office not smell a “fish” when Mr. Yong sold his three properties in February?
Selling houses, even in Singapore’s red-hot property market, is unlike selling a pair of shoes, it takes time and various government bodies are involved. It is difficult to imagine how no red flags were raised during the process.
Or perhaps the Office thought he was merely liquidating his assets in order to pay his creditors in the impending bankruptcy and hence a nonchalant approach was called for?
Whatever reasons the relevant authorities have to offer, may seem a moot point now as the horse has already bolted. But nevertheless, we would still like to hear them and we would also insist on assurances that our civil servants take their jobs and obligations to the people seriously.
Dr.Huang Shoou Chyuan
(end of letter)
Of course the subject matter is the infamous Richard Yong who was the director/chairman and erstwhile pal of Mr. T.T. Durai of the now unforgettable NKF Saga.
The Saga that is the mother of all Sagas, the one that takes the cake, the one that was supposed to teach lessons how not to kick your own b#lls bacause it can HURT! Unfortunately the NKF saga has become a recurring nightmare- a deja vu experience.
The only difference is that the nightmares come with different names- UNSW/World Bank-IMF meeting/Suzhou/Shin Corp/Virgin Atlantic etc.
All of us willingly or otherwise are caught up in this complicated web in which our tax dollars are used not just to pay expensive cabinet ministers' salaries but also squandered away by government agencies who do not admit responsibility after each and every screw-up!
Sigh!
Dr.Huang Shoou Chyuan
Read the episode of the "Scarlet Pimpernel" below!
Tuesday June 5, 4:17 PM Channelnewsasia
Ex-NKF chairman fled just before ICA could blacklist him
It was only a matter of hours, but it was enough for Richard Yong to slip out of the grasp of the authorities and the National Kidney Foundation.
Three weeks after, the missing blanks in the former NKF chairman’s apparent escape from the country are now being filled in.
The Official Assignee’s (OA) office, which is responsible for the affairs of bankrupts, told TODAY it had “immediately informed” the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) to blacklist Yong on the morning of May 17, the day after he was declared a bankrupt.
But the OA learnt the next day that it was too late. The ICA confirmed that Yong had left Singapore “just after midnight, in the early hours of May 17”. Investigations are now underway.
The getaway was a culmination of a series of events.
First, Yong had begun to cash in on his three properties in February, when he admitted liability for damages in the NKF’s civil suit. When he moved house, he did not report his new address to the authorities.
When news of these developments surfaced, the bankruptcy application against Yong was brought forward a month. Filed on April 27, a copy went to the OA, as did a copy of the May 16 date for the hearing, and a copy of the court’s declaration of bankruptcy — as per the usual process. A Mareva injunction to freeze Yong’s assets was filed on May 9.
The OA’s office told TODAY it was first informed by the NKF’s lawyers that Yong had been made a bankrupt and could be “a flight risk” on the morning of May 17. “The passports of new bankrupts are generally not impounded or confiscated by the OA. However, if there is hard evidence that the bankrupt has previously travelled or has attempted to travel without permission, his passport may be confiscated,” said a spokesman.
Attempts were made on May 17 and the next morning to personally serve the First Notice on Yong at his residence. But with Yong already gone, the OA launched investigations into offences he may have committed, such as unauthorised travel and disposal of assets.
Yong now has until June 12 to submit his Statement of Affairs. If not, the OA may apply for a warrant of arrest.
TODAY understands that Yong’s two daughters are in the United Kingdom. He was last seen on May 21 in Kuala Lumpur. “We do not have precise information on Mr Yong’s current whereabouts. To date he remains uncontactable,” said the OA spokesman. - /fa
I have written the following letter to the MSM's forum pages. Let's see if it sees the light of day.
Author's note (7.6.07): It has been printed by TODAY. Let's see if the ST will print it too.
Dear Editor,
Ex-NKF director’s escape from justice
The public must surely be justified in being extremely disappointed at how a high profile person like the ex-NKF director, Richard Yong, was allowed to escape the grasp of justice.
Did the Official Assignees’ (OA) Office not smell a “fish” when Mr. Yong sold his three properties in February?
Selling houses, even in Singapore’s red-hot property market, is unlike selling a pair of shoes, it takes time and various government bodies are involved. It is difficult to imagine how no red flags were raised during the process.
Or perhaps the Office thought he was merely liquidating his assets in order to pay his creditors in the impending bankruptcy and hence a nonchalant approach was called for?
Whatever reasons the relevant authorities have to offer, may seem a moot point now as the horse has already bolted. But nevertheless, we would still like to hear them and we would also insist on assurances that our civil servants take their jobs and obligations to the people seriously.
Dr.Huang Shoou Chyuan
(end of letter)
Of course the subject matter is the infamous Richard Yong who was the director/chairman and erstwhile pal of Mr. T.T. Durai of the now unforgettable NKF Saga.
The Saga that is the mother of all Sagas, the one that takes the cake, the one that was supposed to teach lessons how not to kick your own b#lls bacause it can HURT! Unfortunately the NKF saga has become a recurring nightmare- a deja vu experience.
The only difference is that the nightmares come with different names- UNSW/World Bank-IMF meeting/Suzhou/Shin Corp/Virgin Atlantic etc.
All of us willingly or otherwise are caught up in this complicated web in which our tax dollars are used not just to pay expensive cabinet ministers' salaries but also squandered away by government agencies who do not admit responsibility after each and every screw-up!
Sigh!
Dr.Huang Shoou Chyuan
Read the episode of the "Scarlet Pimpernel" below!
Tuesday June 5, 4:17 PM Channelnewsasia
Ex-NKF chairman fled just before ICA could blacklist him
It was only a matter of hours, but it was enough for Richard Yong to slip out of the grasp of the authorities and the National Kidney Foundation.
Three weeks after, the missing blanks in the former NKF chairman’s apparent escape from the country are now being filled in.
The Official Assignee’s (OA) office, which is responsible for the affairs of bankrupts, told TODAY it had “immediately informed” the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) to blacklist Yong on the morning of May 17, the day after he was declared a bankrupt.
But the OA learnt the next day that it was too late. The ICA confirmed that Yong had left Singapore “just after midnight, in the early hours of May 17”. Investigations are now underway.
The getaway was a culmination of a series of events.
First, Yong had begun to cash in on his three properties in February, when he admitted liability for damages in the NKF’s civil suit. When he moved house, he did not report his new address to the authorities.
When news of these developments surfaced, the bankruptcy application against Yong was brought forward a month. Filed on April 27, a copy went to the OA, as did a copy of the May 16 date for the hearing, and a copy of the court’s declaration of bankruptcy — as per the usual process. A Mareva injunction to freeze Yong’s assets was filed on May 9.
The OA’s office told TODAY it was first informed by the NKF’s lawyers that Yong had been made a bankrupt and could be “a flight risk” on the morning of May 17. “The passports of new bankrupts are generally not impounded or confiscated by the OA. However, if there is hard evidence that the bankrupt has previously travelled or has attempted to travel without permission, his passport may be confiscated,” said a spokesman.
Attempts were made on May 17 and the next morning to personally serve the First Notice on Yong at his residence. But with Yong already gone, the OA launched investigations into offences he may have committed, such as unauthorised travel and disposal of assets.
Yong now has until June 12 to submit his Statement of Affairs. If not, the OA may apply for a warrant of arrest.
TODAY understands that Yong’s two daughters are in the United Kingdom. He was last seen on May 21 in Kuala Lumpur. “We do not have precise information on Mr Yong’s current whereabouts. To date he remains uncontactable,” said the OA spokesman. - /fa
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