Koek Yu Jay, 15

School: Yusof Ishak Secondary School

Topic: An email to encourage a kidney dialysis patient

Award: Senior Category, 2025

Dear Mr Ng,

How are you? I hope that you are feeling better after your dialysis session at Tampines Dialysis Centre. After hearing more about the situation you are facing with kidney failure, I am writing this email to inform you of the benefits of getting a kidney transplant and ways to discuss it in a sensitive manner with your family. 

I can understand why you are not willing to ask your family to donate a kidney. Kidney failure does not allow you to release waste naturally and requires you to constantly commit time to go for dialysis which could have been used for work or personal free time that can be spent bonding with your family. Your kidney failure is not acquired voluntary through your own lifestyle and purely because of your family history and genetics. It is also arduous for you to constantly go for dialysis every few days just to remove the waste in your body. You also have to spend nights in the dialysis centre and endure the discomfort of going through dialysis. Thus, in light of this, I would advise you to get a kidney transplant as soon as possible to alleviate yourself of the dire situation that you are in, and so that you do not need to go for dialysis anymore. 

By getting a kidney transplant, you can help your family in many ways. For example, your family finances would not be cash-strapped after getting a kidney transplant since they would not have to continually pay for your dialysis which is expensive even after government subsidies. Your family would also not have to constantly monitor you for any unusual fluctuations in your health during and after dialysis, removing burdens from their shoulders. Lastly, your family can take their mind off from always worrying about you and always preparing for the worst-case scenario and always being in a state of anxiety. They can now be assured that the worst-case scenario such as disabilities and death will not likely happen to you in the medium to long-term. 

Your family may not know that organ donation exists in Singapore. They probably do not know much information about organ donation in Singapore, procedures of a living organ donation, and think that organs can only be used by a person and cannot be donated to other persons for charitable purposes. Thus, as a result, they would not consider it as they would not have known that organ donation exists in Singapore, could be used to help you out of the situation, and thus try to be a person of help to you. Even if they know of it, there are many myths surrounding organ donation within the older generation and they feel that the rate of success of an organ transplant, specifically a kidney transplant is low. They might also fear that an unsuccessful kidney transplant may be the cause of your death, carrying the burden of being the cause of death of someone close to them by blood. Thus, due to these factors, your loved ones may not have considered organ transplant if you have not asked them about it. 

I know that organ transplant is both a heavy and sensitive topic to be discussed with anyone including your loved ones. It is tough to raise up this topic without including technical terms or gory details, and might thus sway people away from organ donation. Thus, in retrospect, it is advisable to dedicate time for this discussion to take place, not at random times such as having a fireside chat or having casual conversation while enjoying meals. These moments are inappropriate junctures to bring up the topic as people might be taken aback by the sudden mention of the topic and be resistant towards listening to anything that you have to say about it. People might also not remember what you have said and no progress would be made. Moreover, your tone must not sound forceful for your loved ones when discussing this topic. Considering donating your organs to someone even if they are your loved ones is a heavy decision for your loved ones and cannot be taken lightly. The decision made requires thought from a lot of factors from the donor’s perspective and the act of donation is also irreversible. They are losing a part of themselves to prolong the life of someone else who needs the said organ to function like a normal human without major medical conditions. Thus, as a precaution, you must be able to accept ‘no’ as an answer. They may not be willing to donate a part of themselves to you, feeling the disadvantages outweighs the benefits. They are not obligated to donate to you their organ and as thus you must not pressurise them into giving you their organ against their wishes and sound that you should be entitled to a donated organ. This response can seriously hurt familial ties between your loved ones and burn any bridges between you and them. 

I wish you good luck in your discussion with your family about this topic. Hope that the discussion is fruitful and you are able to find a suitable donor and return to a normal life as soon as possible. Thank you. 

Cheers,

Jun De

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