TANG RECEIVES DEATH ROW KIDNEY; HOTA CHANGES ON

C O N F I D E N T I A L SINGAPORE 000058 E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/16/2019 TAGS: TBIO SOCI ECON SN SUBJECT: TANG RECEIVES DEATH ROW KIDNEY; HOTA CHANGES ON TRACK REF: A. 08 SINGAPORE 978 ¶B. SINGAPORE 18 Classified By: DCM Daniel L. Shields for reasons 1.4 (B) and (D) ¶1. (SBU) Retail magnate TANG Wee Sung's quest for a kidney came to a bizarre conclusion January 9 when he received a kidney, apparently from hanged triad gang leader TAN Chor Jin. Tang's health problems became a front-page staple after he was fined and spent a day in jail last summer for trying to buy a kidney from a poor Indonesian man (ref A),Tan, also known as the "One-Eyed Dragon," was himself an object of media fascination for his spectacular (by Singapore standards) 2006 murder of a nightclub owner (and former friend) in a dispute over money. Although Minister of Health KHAW Boon Wan deferred to the involved families to confirm the source of Tang's new kidney, Khaw did not deny that Tan may have specified Tang as an intended recipient. The media reported that Tang was one of only two people in Singapore to undergo a kidney transplant on January 9, the day of Tan's hanging. Khaw did praise Tan's generosity in donating his organs. ¶2. (C) This neat resolution appears to raise new questions about the GOS's role in addressing Tang's health problems and perhaps facilitating the transplant. Tang's predicament prompted the GOS to undertake a major reform of the Human Organ Transplant Act (HOTA) to allow compensation for organ donors (ref B). However, Tang would still have awaited parliamentary action on the HOTA amendments, which could take several months. Meanwhile, more than 500 other Singaporeans are waiting for donor kidneys and only 80 receive one each year. Tang's health was at one point so poor that he had been removed from the kidney waiting list. He was only added back to the list last October after undergoing triple heart bypass surgery. If Tan did not specify Tang as a recipient for his kidney, it is not clear how Tang got to the front of the line. ¶3. (SBU) Notwithstanding that Tang has a new kidney, the proposed HOTA amendments appear to enjoy strong public support and be on track for passage. On January 12, MOH released a summary of the feedback it received from 200 individuals and nine professional organizations gathered during a 30-day public consultation period in November and December (ref B). MOH found that 85 percent of Singaporeans are in favor of compensating organ donors for lost income and expenses associated with the transplant and follow-up care. Three in four Singaporeans think the amount of compensation should be at least S$50,000 (US$33,783). There was reportedly no consensus about whether foreigners should be included in the compensation scheme as well, so MOH indicated it will create guidelines for hospital transplant ethics committees to determine how to reimburse foreigners without letting them profit from the donation. The amendments to the HOTA are expected to go to Parliament for debate early this year. Visit Embassy Singapore's Classified website: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eap/singapore/ind ex.cfm HERBOLD