I just saw this news from the main Singaporean english daily, The Straits Times, and thought that it was pretty horrifying at so many levels. And if you think about it, such 'horrors' happen everyday - people sacrificing themselves or part of themselves in an irreversible manner for material rewards that a majority of us would deem unnecessary or overextended. In this case, the incident only made the news because an iPad or iPhone was involved.
The article dated 3 June 2011:
A TEENAGER in China reportedly sold one of his kidneys for 22,000 yuan (S$4,185) so he could buy an iPad 2.
The Global Times said the 17-year-old high school student, identified only as Zheng, had confessed to his mother after she noticed the gadget and a deep red scar on his body, which was from the surgery.
Zheng had travelled from his home in Anhui province to the city of Chenzhou without his family's knowledge, where his kidney was removed at a hospital under the supervision of a kidney agent.
The Global Times said Zheng's mother took him back to Chenzhou to report the incident to the authorities, but the contact numbers given by the kidney agents were not working.
Zheng also bought an iPhone and a laptop with the proceeds from the sale of his kidney, his mother said.
The Chenzhou hospital where the boy had his surgery denied any connection with the kidney removal, but admitted that it had contracted out its urology department to a businessman.
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