Medical (Therapy, Education and Research) Act (MTERA)​

I signed up for MTERA a few years ago.

When I was volunteering with Tzu Chi Singapore, they kept on preaching about cadaveric donation, and I was inspired enough to do some research about this in Singapore. I learned that Singapore is better coordinated than Taiwan where 大体捐赠 is concerned. In Taiwan, Tzuchi Hospitals take in the cadavers and use them for scientific dissections at the Tzu Chi universities. Here in Singapore, our National Organ Transplant Unit handles the donations, and they will take care of everything from the deployment of cadavers to medical schools to the cremation and scattering of the ashes into the sea.

Several years ago, I made up my mind that I don't want to be surgically treated if I were diagnosed with cancer or some other terminal disease, but I still intend to make my demise useful. So, I asked my mother and aunt for permission to sign up for MTERA. My mother agreed, on the basic assumption that she would be long gone by the time I died. We had a mutual agreement that I would outlive my parents as long as it's within my means, and my mother and aunt signed the authorisation letter and I was successfully admitted into the MTERA holding list (whole body). NOTU gave me a blue donor card for me to carry in my wallet (I lost it), and all these years I have been supporting the public awareness efforts of the government to raise awareness regarding Human Organ Transplant Act (HOTA) and MTERA.

Since it's Ramadan now, I just wanted to point out that it is important to communicate clearly and respect the multi-religious views of our Singaporean society. This is because many of our Muslim friends have difficulty accepting HOTA or MTERA as they believed that when a Muslim person dies, he/she has to keep his/her corpse intact. During my time supporting NOTU, I have seen lots of Muslims opting out from HOTA because they cannot bear to see their or their loved ones body being cut up and their organs harvested after their demise. It's their religious view, so we have to respect their opinions and refrain from forcing them against their will.

For most of us Chinese Singaporeans, the taboo is not as big, but because there's really nothing to gain out of cadaveric or organ donations, we have to be open and advise others about the helpfulness of being generous in donating organs and cadavers for a greater good. Organ HOTA donation is one thing, because you are harvesting six to seven organs in the body for donation to other patients on the waiting list; whereas cadaveric MTERA donation is another thing, because one is donating the corpse to the medical school for them to experiment with different slicing and cutting techniques to train trainee doctors so that they are not afraid of handling sick or dead bodies.

In a nutshell, it's not for the faint hearted, but if you can overcome your ego and conceit, it is a wonderful thing participating in HOTA or MTERA donation.