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Hospital Sungai Buloh honoured Hajjah Normah Abdullah on 22 June with a heartfelt send-off, marking the passing of a trailblazer, Malaysia’s first female surveyor and a former lecturer at Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) Shah Alam.
In a video shared by the hospital, medical staff lined the corridors to accompany Normah on a Walk of Honour, a solemn tribute to her final act of generosity: choosing to become an organ donor.
Normah, 72, passed on Saturday, 20 June, and her family honoured her wishes to have her organs donated following her death. Her organs and tissues are expected to save and transform the lives of at least five patients.
The hospital said that the organ procurement also marked a new milestone in the collaboration between the Health Ministry and the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE).
The hospital added it was honoured to work with Universiti Malaya’s Hepatobiliary Surgery Team, whose expertise and commitment helped make the effort possible.
Normah’s passing was also acknowledged by the Department of Survey and Mapping Malaysia (JUPEM).
Following Solat Asar, family, friends, and those who knew her gathered at Surau Al-Ittihadiyah in Section 9, Shah Alam, to offer prayers for Hajjah Normah one final time. She was subsequently laid to rest at Tanah Perkuburan Islam Seksyen 21.
Organ donation rate in Malaysia is low
Normah’s decision to be an organ donor serves as an inspiration to many and also raises a little awareness regarding organ donation.
In Malaysia, there’s an extremely low organ donor pledge rate – less than 1% of the population. The global benchmark for functional organ donation system is 20%.
In 2024, Malaysia has only 15,486 new organ donor pledges, the second lowest since 2019. The numbers increased to 51,734 in 2022 after the pandemic, but dropped significantly to 28,367 in 2023.
The major reason why there’s a low organ donor pledge rate is due to family refusal out of religious beliefs. Nearly 90% of potential deceased organ donations in Malaysia fail to proceed due to families declining consent. This means those who pledged often cannot fulfil their wishes and those awaiting life saving donations aren’t getting the help they need.
One of the concerns regarding organ donation is because some beliefs see it as a form of mutilation of the deceased. Since June 1970, the National Fatwa Council ruled that organ donation and transplantation are permissible in Islam.
Authorities are weighing a shift from Malaysia’s current “opt-in” system to an “opt-out” model, similar to Singapore’s, where organs can be retrieved after death unless the family objects. There are also proposals to display organ donor status on driving licenses or MyKad to make registration easier.
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One Life Ended, Five Began: Hospital Sungai Buloh Honours Organ Donor Hajjah Normah
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