21 Jun 2016 - someone through the liver donation and requested only that the recipient was a younger person. Si Jia was
MYPAPER TUESDAY JUNE 21, 2016
POSB offers savings scheme, card rebates for national servicemen BY JEREMY KOH FULL-TIME national servicemen (NSFs) can now earn an interest rate of 2 per cent per annum under a new POSB scheme. To do so, they have to allocate a portion of their monthly salary to a POSB Save-As-You-Earn account. The amount they can set aside a month is capped at between $50 and $3,000. They
will earn an interest of 2 per cent on these savings. This is a component of the “POSB Save-As-You-Serve” scheme, launched yesterday, to recognise the contributions of national servicemen. NSFs can transfer money into this account and earn the 2 per cent interest for 24 months from their month of enlistment, including their month of enlistment. At the end of the 24 months,
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The “Save-As-You-Serve” initiative “will give NSFs a head start in their savings journey”. DESMOND LEE, SENIOR MINISTER OF STATE FOR HOME AFFAIRS AND NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT the amount in the account will will earn only the ordinary savings account rate. For NSFs who are now in the midst of their service, they will be able to transfer a monthly amount from their salaries to the account and earn a 2 per cent interest for 24 months
starting from today. If these NSFs take up jobs after they complete their national service within the 24 months, they too can transfer part of their salary to this account and earn the 2 per cent interest. Another perk for NSFs and NSmen is a 2 per cent rebate on all local contactless payments made on their HomeTeamNS-PAssion-POSB debit card or their Safra DBS debit card. For NSmen, they have to spend at least $400 a month on the card to obtain these rebates but there is no minimum spending requirement for NSFs. The rebates NSFs can earn a month are capped at $50. POSB says it is the first bank to offer a rewards programme
First in Singapore to donate liver to stranger BY LINETTE LAI
NON-DIRECTED DONOR: Mr Lim just wanted to help someone through the liver donation and requested only that the recipient was a younger person. Si Jia was that person on the national waiting list. ST PHOTO: MARK CHEONG
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EARLY 30 years ago, before the Human Organ Transplant Act made organ donation the default in the event of a person’s death, Lim Kok Seng signed up to be an organ donor. Twenty years later, he started volunteering for clinical drug trials to help advance medical science. And in January last year, the 54-year-old security concierge decided to take things a step further, by coming forward to donate part of his liver to whoever on the national waiting list needed it most. That turned out to be 16-year-old Lim Si Jia, whose own liver was unable to break down a compound called glycogen properly. Following a 10-hour surgery at the National University Hospital on March 24 this year, Mr Lim became the first non-directed liver donor in Singapore’s 26 years of carrying out liver transplants. Left untreated, Si Jia’s condition could lead to cancerous tumours forming on her liver and prove fatal in the long run. Krishnakumar Madhavan, who is co-director of the National University Centre for Organ Transplantation, said the majority of living organ donations worldwide are directed – that is, the donor has a specific recipient in mind. Said Professor Madhavan: “This is the first time in our experience with somebody who steps up and says: ‘I want to donate; it doesn’t matter to whom.’” Mr Lim, who simply wanted to be able to help someone, decided not to wait until after his death to donate his liver because he was not
sure whether it would still be in good working order by then. “When you are above 60, you know, complications do come in all forms,” he said. “Even if I made the pledge, my liver might not be good (enough) to help anymore.” He also wanted to make the donation before he turned 55, as doctors generally recommend that people who want to donate their organs do so before this age. Typically, potential donors go through a lengthy counselling process over months to make sure they are aware of the risks and still want to go ahead. They are given the option to back out at any time before the sur-
gery, even as they are being wheeled into the operating theatre. They also do not know who the person on the receiving end is until after the operation – if they choose to do so – so as to avoid feelings of obligation. Mr Lim met Si Jia, who now has 60 per cent of his liver, for the first time about a month ago. The rest of his liver will regenerate within three months, doctors said. He said: “I only had one request, which was that (the liver) be given to a younger (recipient), so that they have much more life ahead of them.”
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specifically for NSFs and NSmen. Desmond Lee, Senior Minister of State for Home Affairs and National Development, said the “Save-As-You-Serve” initiative “will give NSFs a head start in their savings journey”. “Over 50,000 members, including NSFs and NSmen, will also be able to earn higher cash rebates on contactless card payments made through their HomeTeamNS-PAssion-POSB debit card or DBS Safra cards,” he added. Mr Lee said that he hoped more partners will come on board to introduce other innovative programmes to recognise the contributions of NSFs and NSmen.
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