Old attitudes 'must be discarded'

A kidney patient who has waited more than a decade for a transplant said she hoped more people would discard traditional Chinese beliefs and carry organ donor cards.

Law Mi-lin, 47, said Hong Kong people were unwilling to donate organs mainly because of a belief that it was better to keep the body intact after death.

'This belief should no longer prevail. I understand it is difficult to change one's mind but that is what we need to work on,' she said.

The mother of two grown-up children began suffering kidney disease in 1989 and now has to receive dialysis four times a day.

'It is not comfortable, but I am now used to it after all these years,' she said.

Ms Law, formerly a watchmaker, was forced out of her job because she tired easily.