Just weeks after the general elections in May 2011, the Singapore Democratic Party put together a Healthcare Advisory Panel comprising several medical doctors and healthcare professionals to work on an alternative plan. The dedication and single-mindedness with which the team pursued this project was inspiring.
The product, which will be unveiled this Saturday at the Peninisula-Excelsior Hotel, would make any party in the world proud. It is not just a policy paper, it is a comprehensive and detailed programme that a government can implement.$CUT$
We want to introduce to Singaporeans the team behind this massive project, one that put in so much effort and time to draw up a visionary and compassionate healthcare paper which is an extension and elaboration of the health programme the SDP had proposed during the elections:$CUT$
Dr Ang Yong Guan graduated from the National University of Singapore (NUS) in 1979 with a medical degree and did his post-graduate training in psychiatry at the University of Edinburgh from 1984 to 1986. Upon his return from Edinburgh, he served as a psychiatrist with the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) for 17 years. Dr Ang is currently in private practice as a Consultant Psychiatrist. He was the President of the Singapore Psychiatric Association and Chairman of the Chapter of Psychiatrists, Academy of Medicine. He is the founding and current Chairman of the Action Group for Mental Illness (AGMI). He is also a member of the Clinical Advisory Committee for Chronic Disease Management Programme on Mental Illness 2009.
Dr Cheng Shin Chuen, Consultant Surgeon, read Medicine at the University of New South Wales, Australia and graduated in 1998. He completed his basic and advanced specialty training in General Surgery in Singapore in 2006. He was a senior Clinical Fellow in Vascular and Endovascular Surgery in Prince of Wales Hospital Sydney in 2007. Dr Cheng was the Head of Vascular and Endovascular Service at the department of General Surgery, Tan Tock Seng Hospital and adjunct Assistant Professor, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, NUS. Dr Cheng has also been invited overseas to supervise or proctor complex surgical procedures.
Ms Eveline How is a corporate communications and marketing manager at a utility company. Her interest in healthcare stems from her being the main provider for her immediate family members’ medical expenses. Other than healthcare, she is also an animal welfare advocate. She graduated from the NUS with a Bachelor of Business Administration and a Graduate Diploma in Law.
Dr Patrick Kee, MBBS (S’pore), M. Med (Int Med) S’pore, FRACP (Aust), FAMS, GDGM. Dr Kee is a specialist in Palliative Medicine who has been caring for the terminally ill for the past 10 years. He is currently working part time with the HCA Hospice Care and is a director of TLC Home Medical Services Pte Ltd.
Dr Leong Yan Hoi graduated from the National University of Singapore in 1988. He subsequently obtained his Designated Factory Doctor registration in 1997. Dr Leong has been practising as a general practitioner in a heartland clinic for the past 15 years.
Dr Neo Eak Chan graduated from the University of Singapore in1968. He subsequently became a private practitioner running his own clinic. In 2000, he organised and ran Ezyhealth, a public-listed health provider company. In 1991, he was also in the Committee of the Singapore Medical Association that submitted its views to the National Health Review Committee. He was also a former Chairman of Ayer Rajah CCC. Dr Neo believes that the best healthcare is preventive health and any good healthcare system should focus on primary health as its main priority.
Associate Professor Paul Ananth Tambyah is a graduate of the NUS’ Medical School where he obtained both the MBBS and MD degrees. After completing his national service, he did postgraduate training in Infectious Diseases at the University of Wisconsin, USA. He returned to Singapore and has served on a number of national and international committees including the Board of the Society of Healthcare Epidemiology in America and the Council of the Western Pacific Committee on Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases. He is currently in academic medical practice at a major teaching hospital in Singapore.
Dr Tan Lip Hong obtained his M.B., Ch.B. from Leicester University, U.K. in 1988, and returned to Singapore for his clinical training. He subsequently obtained his M.Med. (Occupational Medicine) from the National University of Singapore in 1994. Dr Tan has worked as a General Practitioner in the heartlands for the past 17 years.
Dr Toh Beng Chye obtained his M.B.,B.S. from the NUS of Singapore in 1988. He subsequently obtained his Designated Factory Doctor registration in 1997. Dr Toh has been practising as a General Practitioner in an HDB clinic for the past 16 years.
Dr Wong Wee Nam graduated with MBBS from the University of Singapore in 1972. After his housemanship, he served as a medical officer with the Singapore Armed Forces and, subsequently, the Ministry of Health. Over the years, he has published many letters on Health issues in the Straits Times. In May 1991, he submitted a paper to the Health Review Committee that was formed by the government to look into the problems of healthcare at that time.