<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR>May 17, 2009
</TR><!-- headline one : start --><TR>Top medical honour for PM <!--10 min-->
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>PM pays personal tribute to doctors as he is made honorary member of SMA </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Kor Kian Beng
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PM Lee received the Singapore Medical Association's honorary membership at the association's 50th anniversary dinner last night. -- ST PHOTO: LAU FOOK KONG
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ON A night when he received the highest accolade from the medical profession, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong paid tribute to doctors for keeping him alive.
<TABLE width=200 align=left valign="top"><TBODY><TR><TD class=padr8><!-- Vodcast --><!-- Background Story --><STYLE type=text/css> #related .quote {background-color:#E7F7FF; padding:8px;margin:0px 0px 5px 0px;} #related .quote .headline {font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:10px;font-weight:bold; border-bottom:3px double #007BFF; color:#036; text-transform:uppercase; padding-bottom:5px;} #related .quote .text {font-size:11px;color:#036;padding:5px 0px;} </STYLE>Doctors must comfort and care, says PM
In the last 50 years, Singapore's health-care standards have been totally transformed. But a lot of credit must also go to our medical professionals. Your professionalism, dedication and patient labours have benefited generations of Singaporeans, all of whom will need medical care at some point of their lives.
I am honoured and very happy to become an honorary member of the Singapore Medical Association. I am not a doctor, but I know many doctors. My first wife was a doctor, and so are my sister, cousin and two of my uncles. I know doctors as colleagues in Cabinet and Parliament, and have also worked with many doctors on our health-care system. I have been treated by a succession of doctors at various times, and but for their good judgment and conscientious care, I might not be here tonight.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>'I have been treated by a succession of doctors at various times and, but for their good judgment and conscientious care, I might not be here tonight,' he said, when the Singapore Medical Association (SMA) made him an honorary member.
In November 1992, he was diagnosed with intermediate-grade malignant lymphoma and went for chemotherapy. In April 1993, doctors said his lymphoma was in complete remission.
On Saturday night, Mr Lee spoke before 350 guests at the Fullerton Hotel, where the SMA held its 50th anniversary dinner.
In his citation, SMA president Chong Yeh Woei said Mr Lee always kept a 'close watch' on health issues.
One instance was when Mr Lee chaired a 1992 ministerial committee that published a White Paper on affordable health care. This became Singapore's blueprint for its approach to health care for the next 16 years.
Public spending on health care has also risen 'significantly' since Mr Lee became Prime Minister in 2004, said Dr Chong. He added that policy changes under Mr Lee's watch - including means testing - have made life easier for most Singaporeans.
In a 25-minute speech with many personal touches, Mr Lee pictured his Meet-The-People sessions with Teck Ghee residents as doctor-patient encounters:
'I have learnt the importance of good bedside manners and found that even when I cannot solve my residents' problems, lending a patient listening ear will often help them unburden themselves and feel better.
'For MPs, like doctors, must not only try to cure - and in fact not all cases can be cured - but must always care.' Read the full story in The Sunday Times today.
</TR><!-- headline one : start --><TR>Top medical honour for PM <!--10 min-->
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>PM pays personal tribute to doctors as he is made honorary member of SMA </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Kor Kian Beng
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width=330>
</TD><TD width=10>
PM Lee received the Singapore Medical Association's honorary membership at the association's 50th anniversary dinner last night. -- ST PHOTO: LAU FOOK KONG
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"-->
ON A night when he received the highest accolade from the medical profession, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong paid tribute to doctors for keeping him alive.
<TABLE width=200 align=left valign="top"><TBODY><TR><TD class=padr8><!-- Vodcast --><!-- Background Story --><STYLE type=text/css> #related .quote {background-color:#E7F7FF; padding:8px;margin:0px 0px 5px 0px;} #related .quote .headline {font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:10px;font-weight:bold; border-bottom:3px double #007BFF; color:#036; text-transform:uppercase; padding-bottom:5px;} #related .quote .text {font-size:11px;color:#036;padding:5px 0px;} </STYLE>Doctors must comfort and care, says PM
In the last 50 years, Singapore's health-care standards have been totally transformed. But a lot of credit must also go to our medical professionals. Your professionalism, dedication and patient labours have benefited generations of Singaporeans, all of whom will need medical care at some point of their lives.
I am honoured and very happy to become an honorary member of the Singapore Medical Association. I am not a doctor, but I know many doctors. My first wife was a doctor, and so are my sister, cousin and two of my uncles. I know doctors as colleagues in Cabinet and Parliament, and have also worked with many doctors on our health-care system. I have been treated by a succession of doctors at various times, and but for their good judgment and conscientious care, I might not be here tonight.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>'I have been treated by a succession of doctors at various times and, but for their good judgment and conscientious care, I might not be here tonight,' he said, when the Singapore Medical Association (SMA) made him an honorary member.
In November 1992, he was diagnosed with intermediate-grade malignant lymphoma and went for chemotherapy. In April 1993, doctors said his lymphoma was in complete remission.
On Saturday night, Mr Lee spoke before 350 guests at the Fullerton Hotel, where the SMA held its 50th anniversary dinner.
In his citation, SMA president Chong Yeh Woei said Mr Lee always kept a 'close watch' on health issues.
One instance was when Mr Lee chaired a 1992 ministerial committee that published a White Paper on affordable health care. This became Singapore's blueprint for its approach to health care for the next 16 years.
Public spending on health care has also risen 'significantly' since Mr Lee became Prime Minister in 2004, said Dr Chong. He added that policy changes under Mr Lee's watch - including means testing - have made life easier for most Singaporeans.
In a 25-minute speech with many personal touches, Mr Lee pictured his Meet-The-People sessions with Teck Ghee residents as doctor-patient encounters:
'I have learnt the importance of good bedside manners and found that even when I cannot solve my residents' problems, lending a patient listening ear will often help them unburden themselves and feel better.
'For MPs, like doctors, must not only try to cure - and in fact not all cases can be cured - but must always care.' Read the full story in The Sunday Times today.
