Organ Donation among Malaysian: The Malay Dilemma toward Social Development

Organ donation among the world community today is not a new phenomenon. The noble act of organ donation by donors that at times, has no blood relations has enabled many patients with chronic diseases to earn a second chance in life. The same scenario also takes place in Malaysia in which awareness of organ donation to help parties in need is not new. Many citizen of Malaysia is aware that their contribution gives "new life" to the needy. This little “scarifies” indirectly shows that Malaysian people put a high value for the social development in their country. The Malays in Malaysia is the largest ethnic group, but unfortunately, the statistics show that the Malays are the least to sign up for organ donation. Thus, the objective of this study is to identify the causes that prevented them from doing so. This study was conducted by taking into account three factors; religion, awareness, as well as perception or views on organ donation willingness among the Malays. Of the three factors studied, only two significant factors contributed to the main question of why the Malays shy away from organ donation and they are religion and perception. This shows that the Malays are aware that organ donation is a noble practice, but limited perception and knowledge of religion limit their participation. Therefore, it is recommended that a comprehensive discussion among religious leaders in changing the perception and explain the laws of religion on the issue of organ donation is carried out continuously in various mediums so that the awareness of the Malays in organ donation can be fully utilized for the benefit of everyone.