Calista Trinity Yeo Yan Ru, 15

School: West Spring School (Secondary)

Topic: Are conversations about death necessary to encourage organ donation?

Award: First Place, Senior Category, 2026

Modern society treats death rather strangely. Despite it being the one certainty every human share, it is often spoken about in hushed tones or avoided entirely throughout our lives, until an individual's final moments. Conversations about death are commonly associated with discomfort, grief, or even bad luck in some religions. However, by avoiding these conversations, society may be unintentionally restricting one of the most powerful ways to save lives: organ donation. Conversations about death refer to discussions surrounding end-of-life decisions, medical treatments, funerals, wills and even organ donations. Organ donation is an act of surgically removing healthy organs or tissues from one person to be transplanted into another person to treat severe illness or save a life. I strongly agree that conversations about death are necessary to encourage organ donations, as they help eliminate misconceptions, ensure that individuals’ wishes are respected and help foster a sense of compassion and awareness within our society. Despite this, these conversations should be approached with sensitivity and care as some individuals treat this as ‘taboo’ or even have built emotional barriers around death, as a topic.

First and foremost, conversations about death are ever-so necessary as they educate people about organ donation and help to correct common misconceptions. Many individuals avoid signing up as organ donors as they do not comprehend the process of it. Some fear that doctors may not prioritise them, knowing that they are organ donors, during an emergency, while others may believe that organ donation will disfigure the body or interfere with their funeral arrangements. These misunderstandings are often fuelled by fear and the lack of open discussions surrounding death. By encouraging conversations about end-of-life choices, families and healthcare professionals will be able to provide true facts about organ donation. People may then only realise that organ retrieval is indeed conducted respectfully and only after all efforts to save a patient’s life have failed. As a result, individuals are more likely to make informed decisions instead of following false stories or terrors. Therefore, conversations about death play a rather significant role in increasing public understanding and how they embrace organ donation as a whole.

Talking about death allows individuals to tell their family and loved ones what they want clearly. In many situations, family members are supposed to give consent before organs can be donated, even if the deceased had originally registered as a donor. Many people believe that families, blinded by grief and shock, may hesitate or even refuse because they are uncertain about what their loved one truly wanted in the end. This lack of knowledge stops organs from being donated, even though many patients’ lives could have been saved. However, if conversations about death had already taken place, family members would feel more comfortable respecting their deceased loved one’s wishes. Clear and open discussions take away this bad feeling of guilt as relatives know that they are honouring a decision which was consciously made. Consequently, conversations about death can increase the likelihood that organ donation will proceed successfully. If talking about death does not happen more often, the chance of saving lives disappears because of confusion and ‘pain of the heart’.

In addition, conversations about death help to normalise organ donation within society. In many cultures, death is viewed as an uncomfortable or even taboo subject, causing people to avoid discussing it entirely. This lack of conversations causes organ donation to seem scary or ‘not-the-norm’. However, when we face this uncomfortable feeling and start being more open to the idea of death, people may start to view organ donation, not as something vile, but an act of compassion and empathy. Public campaigns, school programmes and family discussions can help encourage individuals to think about how their organs can save or improve the lives of others, when they pass-on. Such conversations also help people to recognise the severe shortage of organ donors and the patients, who are suffering, waiting for transplants. By creating awareness and empathy, discussions about death can greatly inspire more individuals to become donors. This shows that open conversations about death can indeed help in building a more compassionate and empathetic society.

However, there are people who may argue that conversations about death are not actually necessary to encourage organ donations. There are government policies and awareness campaigns that help to increase the number of donors without the need of having uncomfortable personal discussions. Some countries, like Singapore, have introduced an ‘opt-out’ system where citizens are automatically registered as organ donors unless they choose not to. Such systems like this have successfully increased the number of organ donors by making donation the ‘default’ option. Moreover, advertisements and social media campaigns showing patients receiving transplants can emotionally move people emotionally and also help raise awareness about the importance of organ donation. These campaigns and advertisements are helpful for those who may find conversations regarding death distressing due to fear, religious beliefs and cultural traditions, as it helps promote organ donation after death without the need to talk about the subject. In the event of forcing these uncomfortable conversations upon people, it could create fear and anxiety instead of encouraging support of organ donation.

Although these methods can definitely help encourage organ donation, these efforts are not enough without meaningful conversations about death. Awareness campaigns are made to inform people about organ donation, but they cannot guarantee that families can understand and respect a person’s wishes during times of sadness and vulnerability when their loved one has passed on. Similar to awareness campaigns, opt-out systems potentially can increase donor numbers, but family objections can still prevent these donations from being carried out. It is understood that avoiding conversations about death may provide temporary comfort in families, but it usually leaves them unprepared in situations where decisions regarding organ donation must be made. This shows that while policies and campaigns are valuable in the sense where they help promote organ donation, it can never replace honest and respectful conversations between individuals and their loved ones.

It is very important that these conversations are executed in a certain manner as it can greatly impact the effectiveness of it. Discussions regarding death and organ donation should not be fuelled by fear or insensitivity, but should instead be focused on empathy, individuals’ personal values and the opportunity to save countless lives. It is ever-so necessary that families have a safe environment where they can discuss their beliefs and concerns without having the fear of being judged. This is where the role of healthcare professionals comes into place as they can help guide these conversations with respect, making sure that each cultural perspective and personal beliefs are seen and heard. When these conversations about death are done with sensitivity and compassion, it can help strengthen people’s understanding of organ donation, without creating a sense of discomfort or fear among families.

In the end, conversations about death are necessary as they help to encourage organ donation through educating others, clarifying personal beliefs or wishes and even grow a sense of compassion in our society. These discussions will assist families in making informed decisions during times of grief and uncertainty, helping to increase the chance that organ donation will happen successfully. Yes, awareness campaigns and a country’s policies can help support these efforts, but they will never replace humans’ essence of trust and understanding, which is formed during heart-to-heart conversations. Ultimately, while death may still remain as an uncomfortable subject to talk about, avoiding it will not change our fate: death. By being more open-minded towards the idea of it, society can encourage more individuals to consider the act of organ donation, helping to save countless lives.

Disclaimer: Please note that the views and opinions expressed in the essays for the Live On Festival 2026 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 ↗ (opens in new tab)