Chitchat Sheares - The Article

Papsmearer said:

WKW was like a little school boy, met him a few times. He loved to attend SAF live firing demos and we used to put them on for him. I never seen even one President come out for a SAF live firing exercise before, but he did so numerous times. He liked all this army stuff, wanted to check out the tanks and what not. Like a school boy. Nice man, did not have any airs around him. But I never trust anyone who was the editor of SHit Times before.

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ckmpd said:

WKW could be truly appreciative of the SAF and, unlike other Presidents, wanted to know more abt the SAF

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ckmpd said:

Because he is not a pap crony

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Narong Wongwan said:

WKW was also some distant relative of old fart.
But I Guess old fart was jealous of him for being so popular and well liked.
Heard old fart had created the executive presidency for himself but unexpected public backlash forced him to announce he did not covet the job. Must be feeling sore due to that

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scroobal said:

Here is the 11th and 12th thing you did not know about Sheares.

11th - He refused to carry out his last term over issues with the old man. Speaker of Parliament Dr Yeoh Ghim Seng carried out his duties for months.

12th - He had a wandering eye for women and was notorious for it. By his second term, he was bored attending functions and insisted that someone close to him and usually from the medical fraternity be invited and seated next to him. He got fed up making small talk with people he had not clue about. With his friend seated next to him, he would look around and rank women attending by their beauty, body shape and posterior. His friend if not inclined had to endure listening to his ranking and if it is a medical doctor he would go into anatomy of the ranked women. I guess he was human after all.



http://mothership.sg/2016/12/10-thi...-and-has-a-medical-procedure-named-after-him/

10 things to know about Benjamin Sheares, because he has 5 medical degrees and a medical procedure named after him
December 28, 2016
He liked to leave his teaspoon in his teacup too.

Henedick Chng
706
Last month (Nov. 2016), Members of Parliament (MPs) passed the Bill to amend Singapore’s Constitution, which effected changes to our Elected Presidency (EP).

77 Members of Parliament (MPs) gave their approval, while all six MPs from the opposition Workers’ Party (WP) voted “no”.

A mechanism, known as the Hiatus-triggered model, was introduced to ensure that we will have an EP from a minority community, if there hasn’t been one from that community in a while (30 years to be exact).

Among Singapore’s smallest minority communities are the Eurasians.
To give you a better idea of how small the community is, under our CMIO (better known as the Chinese, Malay, Indian and Others) model that lists the various ethnic communities from largest to smallest, Eurasians fall under Others.

While we now know that the next Presidential Election (PE) will be likely reserved for candidates from the Malay Community, it may be some time before the PE is reserved for Eurasian candidates.

Singapore’s last Eurasian president, Benjamin Sheares, was the country’s second president in its history. A medical doctor by profession, he was elected by Parliament and served three terms as Head of State, beginning from 1971 and passing away during his third term in office on May 12, 1981.

Here are 10 things to know about Sheares.

1. His family called him Ben or Bennie.

Born on August 12, 1907, Sheares was the second of six children in a Eurasian family. Known affectionately as Ben or Bennie, Sheares spent his childhood often playing at Pierce Reservoir, where his father worked as a technical supervisor for the colonial government’s Public Works Department.

2. He once made his sister swallow a coin.

According to Sheares’ biography written by his son, JHH Sheares, Sheares’ favourite childhood game was playing doctor, while his sister, Alice, would play the patient. There was an occasion when a six-year-old Sheares took his game too far and made Alice swallow a coin, which was supposed to simulate a medical “pill” in their role-play.

3. He came from a humble family who could not afford his medical education.

While he harboured ambitions to become a doctor, his family could hardly afford his education, even though they placed a high premium on education. In fact, his mother had wanted him to work as a clerk to support his family, after he had completed his Senior Cambridge Examinations (equivalent to the O-Levels). Fortunately, Sheares’ determination to study medicine saw him win one of only three scholarships given out by the King Edward VII College of Medicine (present day NUS).

4. He eventually held five medical degrees, and is known today as the father of Obstetrics and Gynaecology in Singapore.

Not many normal folk can claim to have that many professional qualifications, but Sheares did. He also had a long list of achievements in the medical field, particularly in his specialised area of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (O&G).

During his career, he was the first Singaporean to have a paper published in the well-respected Journal of the British Medical Association in 1940, the first Singaporean to become a Member of the UK’s Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists in 1948, and the first Singaporean to be appointed as a medical professor in 1951.

These were no mean feats in colonial Singapore, where Singaporeans would be marginalised in favour of the British.
5. He pioneered O&G surgical procedures, such as the “Sheares Procedure”, and was internationally renowned as a doctor.

Sheares pioneered the Lower Segment Caesarian Section and the operation known internationally as the “Sheares Procedure”, which involves the construction of the vagina to correct the absence of one in females due to birth defects.

He was also a prolific medical researcher, having published many of his research and gaining international renown in the process.

6. He oversaw KK Hospital’s (KKH) development into the institution that it is today.

At the end of the Japanese Occupation in 1945, KKH was converted into an O&G Hospital on Sheares’ recommendation to the colonial authorities. This paved the way for KKH’s development into a world-renowned institution, which saw it set a world record in 1966 for delivering the most number of newborn babies within a single hospital that year.

Sheares would stay with KKH till 1960, when he retired and went into private practice. He continued serving as an honorary consultant, nonetheless.

7. For a doctor, he had neat handwriting.

JHH Sheares’ biography of his father recorded that when Sheares was President, Sheares would make neatly handwritten personal notes of the background of the Heads of State who were visiting Singapore.

Mr VK Rajan, his private secretary between May 1972-June 1976 noted he took his job conscientiously, and read up extensively, and would make personal notes neatly handwritten, of the background of the different Heads of State scheduled to visit Singapore. After meeting with a visiting dignitary, who would be astonished at President Sheares’ recall of his interests and career, he would return to his office to write down meticulous notes of what was discussed so that he would be better equipped with information.

8. He continued his role as an honorary consultant at KKH during his presidency.

Even during his terms as President, Sheares would head to KKH two mornings a week to teach, perform surgery or attend to non-fee paying patients. He only stopped doing so three months before he passed away.

9. He liked to leave his teaspoon in his teacup.

JHH Sheares notes that his father loved afternoon tea with sweet savouries.

Without any doubt that “tea” was his favourite meal because he had poor appetite and that small meal satisfied his needs and love of sweet savouries. He invariably had a banana with cheese, pisang rajah banana and Dutch Edam cheese preferred, and drank a cup of tea with some sugar judiciously and slowly stirred with a silver spoon which he insisted on leaving in the cup and not outside on the saucer.

10. He had one big regret in life.

Former British Prime Minister Sir Harold Wilson in conversation with the late President Benjamin Sheares. Source: National Archives
According to JHH Sheares, his father’s one big regret in life was being unable to serve out his final term as President to the high standards he had set for himself.

The full biography on Benjamin Sheares by JHH Sheares can be found here.

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scroobal said:

Sheares when he became President he made the Istana staff to report to his house in the morning daily to do the housework and then head to the Istana in the afternoon. He preferred to stay at home and head to the Istana Office like normal office worker.

The guy who was nice and never abused the state coffers was Wee Kim Wee. He too preferred to stay in his own home. When he was President he would interact with people such as banks, utilities, home related stuff by himself and not use his assigned Istana staff.

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Narong Wongwan said:

WKW also started/copied the culture of talking to random soldiers during his inspection of the Guards.
Previously all the prez just walk machiam like Kayu in some funeral. WKW doing it was just spontaneously refreshing and added his personal touch.

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scroobal said:

Thanks for sharing bro.

Typical of him. He was exceptional when it came to the human touch. Note that when it comes to past Presidents those that are connected politically seem to get regular mention from their associates and acolytes about some super human feats but not when it comes to Wee. His wife was also a nice person and brought great credit to the Office of President by her choice of clothes and style and very local. One could see the sincere smile and the need to do public service.

Past Presidents are offered an allowance to maintain an office. He chose a dirt cheap location but was persuaded not to take it.

What this country sorely needs is another person as close to Wee to bring the people together and which all races can identify with and not some ex PAP idiot or a politically connected person.

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scroobal said:

Thanks for sharing bro.

Typical of him. He was exceptional when it came to the human touch. Note that when it comes to past Presidents those that are connected politically seem to get regular mention from their associates and acolytes about some super human feats but not when it comes to Wee. His wife was also a nice person and brought great credit to the Office of President by her choice of clothes and style and very local. One could see the sincere smile and the need to do public service.

Past Presidents are offered an allowance to maintain an office. He chose a dirt cheap location but was persuaded not to take it.

What this country sorely needs is another person as close to Wee to bring the people together and which all races can identify with and not some ex PAP idiot or a politically connected person.

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CoffeeAhSoh said:

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Papsmearer said:

Wee Kim Wee is the cousin of Old Fart's mother Chua Jim Neo. Chua Jim Neo's
father (Old Fart's maternal grandfather), was Chua Kim Teng who was the brother of Wee Kim Wee's mother Chua Hay Luan. SO, actually, Old Fart was the second cousin of Wee Kim Wee on the mother's side.

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flatearther said:

If what you say is true, then it should be:
wikipedia.org/wiki/Cousin#First_cousins_once_removed
("Two people for whom a first cousin relationship is one generation removed. The child of one's first cousin; also the first cousin of one's parent.")

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Papsmearer said:

What i said is true, and yes, i think u are correct because they are not the same generation.

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scroobal said:

With his friend seated next to him, he would look around and rank women attending by their beauty, body shape and posterior.

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scroobal said:

Sheares pioneered the Lower Segment Caesarian Section and the operation known internationally as the “Sheares Procedure”, which involves the construction of the vagina to correct the absence of one in females due to birth defects.

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Papsmearer said:

Sheares pioneered the Lower Segment Caesarian Section and the operation known internationally as the “Sheares Procedure”, which involves the construction of the vagina to correct the absence of one in females due to birth defects.

So, he was the one who build Gay Loong's vagina?

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scroobal said:

Sheares when he became President he made the Istana staff to report to his house in the morning daily to do the housework and then head to the Istana in the afternoon. He preferred to stay at home and head to the Istana Office like normal office worker.

The guy who was nice and never abused the state coffers was Wee Kim Wee. He too preferred to stay in his own home. When he was President he would interact with people such as banks, utilities, home related stuff by himself and not use his assigned Istana staff.

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soikee said:

Bro, Old Fart had a damn myopic attitude.

When President Sheares passed on in 1981, his widow who was a very staunch follower of Chief Abbot Rev Seck Hon Choon, she immediately
invited the Grand Master to Holt Road to view the body and chant prayers.

Old Fart was terribly unhappy with Mrs Sheares for he felt that by protocol no one else, but only him could view the dead President's body first.

Thereafter until her death in an old folks home in 2012, we never heard of anything about President Sheares' widow.

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