Now, let's flip the pages of the newspaper and recall your memories of the illegal organ trading issue of Tang Wee Sung, the "famous guy" . If you can recall, this is what the news is about......

In July 2008, Mr Tang Wee Sung, a Singapore retail magnate. In the news report, it is reported that Mr Tan was revealed to have attempted to buy a kidney for $300,000 from an Indonesian man, who is in need of money desperately. He was "trading" the kidney with money illegally without abide the law. Hence, he was already wrong by trading in the ......"black market" . The underground economy or black market is a market where all commerce is conducted without regard to taxation, law or regulations of trade. The term is also often known as the underdog, shadow economy, black economy or parallel economy.

Apparently, we can see that Mr Tang was in the wrong at this stage but some people defended him with some important points. As they said that Mr Tang has a severe kidney failure and bad health, this is an only solution, attempt and method to get a new kidney without going through a long, time-wasting process which should be carried instead as they said that Mr Tang did not have a lot of time to solve his kidney problem. In the news, it mentioned that Mr Tang's health has been deteriorating by each passing day. In addition, he also has diabetes which is complicated by his heart problems, hence, he was really very desperate at that moment as even the doctor said that he can only give him less than five years to live.

Alright, let us put ourselves into his shoes! Let's say if you got a kidney failure, diabetes and you are desperate in searching for help, will you still be calmed and look for other fast solutions that will not break the law? Some will say that their health are more important and they do not care whether they have broken the law as long as they are still healthy.

But many people lambasted Mr Tang, saying that he is a prominent local businessman and can use his personal wealth to break the law and secure an organ for himself which the people are not very happy of. But anyway, do you agree that Mr tang deserved to be punished as he thought that...... money can buy everything? Or you believe that he had broken the law was due to insufficient time and he was forced and left with no choice to break the law......?

He was later fined $17,000 and sentenced to one day’s jail. He even falsely declared that the would-to-be donor was a distant relative. The would-to-be donor, Sulaiman Damanik, was jailed for three weeks. Wang Chin Sing, the man who was the "middle-man" arranged the meeting between the two, received fourteen months jail.

However, organ transplants are necessary to save lives. Practically, all countries in the world including Singapore all suffer from severe shortages in organs needed for transplant to save people. Legalizing the trade in organs may just solve all the problems. Is it moral or right to do so? Should Singapore legalize the trade in organs? How do you feel about this......?

This is a speak regarding whether should Singapore legalize the organ trading by the Minister of Health, Mr Khaw Boon Wan in parliament in July 2008.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_market, http://www.todayonline.com/articles/309537.asp, ILLEGAL ORGAN TRANSPLANT- Hwa Chong Institution- Current Affairs Discussion