Ryka Rafaela Solomon, 15

School: Anglican High School

Topic: Roadshows are the most effective way to engage, educate and encourage all age groups on organ donation

Award: Senior Category, 2025

‘Ignorance is bliss’. There is no shortage of people who agree with this sentiment and no one could fault them. After all, they are just trying to keep their peace of mind. But, what if this practice comes at the cost of lives? From an article by NUS professor Julian Savulescu and doctor Sumytra Menon, every year, more than 500 patients in Singapore wait for a life-saving organ transplant. Despite this, many people in Singapore remain blissfully unaware of the dire need for organ donation. Roadshows are one of the most effective ways in combating this ignorance, by engaging, educating, and encouraging residents from all age groups. 

First and foremost, roadshows can directly increase people’s awareness on organ donation and the need for organ transplants. The lack of interest in organ donation can stem from ignorance, and a roadshow is the perfect way to rectify it. With a ‘Question and Answer’ session with medical professions and organ donors, roadshows can help debunk prevailing negative myths about organ donation, such as myths about hospital staff working less hard to save the lives of people who agree to donate and myths surrounding the age limit for organ donation. This can also build trust between attendees and medical professionals as it demonstrates transparency. Furthermore, at roadshows in heartlands, there can be interactive booths and fun games that can help attendees further understand the importance of organ donation and change negative attitudes in a positive environment. Through such activities, roadshows can also create a memorable experience that will stay with attendees and lead to awareness being raised through word-of-mouth. Thus, roadshows can directly educate attendees on organ donation. 

Additionally, roadshows can foster a sense of empathy through face-to-face interactions. During the roadshow, there can be a personal sharing area where invited speakers can share their testimonials, whether it is as the recipient or the donor or family members who lost their loved ones because they were not able to receive an organ in time. Seeing these people who have such experiences and have been directly affected by organ donation in real time can help to foster understanding and compassion. This can allow attendees to understand the importance of organ donation and the suffering that arises when there is a lack of available organs for donation. This can lead to many critical beliefs about organ donation being reshaped. Hence, roadshows in the heartlands can build a sense of empathy and encourage attendees on organ donation due to it being a tangible experience. 

Lastly, roadshows can attract media attention. Roadshows often draw the attention of the media, and with 96% of the nation’s population having social media accounts, this would be undeniably effective in increasing the awareness towards organ donation among residents near heartlands. This would allow the roadshow to reach a wider audience and encourage more people to attend. Additionally, even if they do not attend the roadshow in person, they can still become more informed about organ donation through the media coverage on the roadshow, having their misconceptions cleared up and positively affecting their attitudes towards it. Hence, roadshows would be an extremely effective way to educate, engage and encourage residents on organ donation. 

However, there are many other ways to engage, educate and encourage people on organ donation. So how do roadshows at heartlands compare? For example, a popular method of raising awareness is by holding social media campaigns. The arguably biggest flaw of holding a roadshow in the heartlands on organ donation would be the duration of the event. Although roadshows can spark initial interest in organ donation, sustaining long-term awareness as well as changing attitudes would require more long-term measures beyond the roadshow. Social media campaigns such as an Instagram page aimed at spreading awareness on organ donation could not only feature reels interviewing medical professionals to walk viewers through the process, but also share testimonials from recipients of an organ donation as well as the donors themselves. As there are no time constraints for such social media campaigns, it has the advantage of lasting longer than a roadshow that is only open for a few weeks at most. Thus, this could create a longer lasting impact on viewers who would be able to see the social media campaign. However, many could argue that roadshows, despite not having the longevity of a social media campaign, allow attendees to have a tangible experience that they will retain better than posts they see on social media. 

Additionally, another method to raise awareness for organ donation would be to display posters relating to organ donation up in places that many Singaporeans, of all age groups, frequent. These locations range from hawker centres, malls to void decks of HDB flats. Seeing these posters constantly could influence their attitudes towards organ donation, changing any negative views on it as well as debunking any myths around it. The posters could include brightly coloured, eye-catching elements with positive messages about organ donation, as well as stories from recipients of organ donation and donors. However, compared to the personalised approach a roadshow provides thorough explanations for specific questions, a poster’s information can be easily misinterpreted and most likely lacks the clarity and depth provided by the answers given at a roadshow. 

Finally, schools can invite organisations related to organ donation such as the National Organ Transplant Unit (NOTU) to share more about the subject, walking students through the entire process. Students are the future of Singapore and changing negative views on organ donation at their young age is crucial in creating a society where organ donation is widely accepted and if not, encouraged. I know firsthand just how effective the talks held by such organisations are. For instance, when my school invited NOTU speakers to share more about the Live On Festival and organ donation as a whole, this was when my interest in organ donation bloomed. The sharing opened my eyes to the egregiously low organ donation rate and how vital organ donations were in saving lives. Inviting speakers from such organisations to speak at the school would also likely reach more students than roadshows, as few would go out of their way to attend roadshows. Nonetheless, roadshows could still be considered more effective due to the provision of interactive booths with various activities to engage participants and fun games that require knowledge on organ donation to be played. Hence, attending a roadshow can leave a stronger impact on the teenagers and students by fully immersing them, as compared to those who only attend the talks held in school. 

In conclusion, there are various methods to engage, educate and encourage residents on organ donation and all methods indisputably come with their separate strengths and limitations. However, roadshows are certainly one of the most effective ways to do so.

References

1. https://medicine.nus.edu.sg/cbme/wp-content/uploads/sites/14/2024/08/2024-Jul_Julian-Sumy_Organ-Donation-1.pdf

2. https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2024-singapore#:~:text=There%20were%205.79%20million%20internet%20users%20in%20Singapore%20in%20January,January%202023%20and%20January%202024.

Disclaimer: Please note that the views and opinions expressed in the essays for the Live On Festival 2025 are those of the participants and are not endorsed by the National Organ Transplant Unit (Ministry of Health).

To learn more about organ donation and organ transplantation in Singapore, please visit www.liveon.gov.sg