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A Few Good Men: Tan Cheng Bock & Ong Teng Cheong
- Thread starter sense
- Start date
Sin Min Daily –20 Oct 2008 (Lim Chu Kang series)
In 1971, Former Member of Parliament,Dr Tan Cheng Bock (68 years old,) gave up the opportunity to practise medicine in the private sector and went on to set up his clinic in the village.
When asked the reason for doing so,Dr Tan said he believed that as a medical doctor he should put to good use what he had studied.
“Working as a doctor in the private setup treating patients with flu and cough symptoms will not have given me the same satisfaction.”
Dr Tan opened his clinic at 292 Lim Chu Kang Road,a vacant shop house,with the help of a friend’s brother. As the clinic was located at the junction of Lim Chu Kang Road and Ama Keng Road,the clinic was named “Ama Keng Clinic”.
“When I bought my wife there,her first reaction was “Are you sure you want to run your clinic here? The place is so rural.” But I told her it was an ideal location.”
Those days Dr Tan had to drive for one hour daily from Margaret Drive,where he lived,to his clinic at Lim Chu Kang. The clinic had three nurses to assist him.
He reminisced that the clinic was usually crowded with patients with about 70 to 100 patients visiting the clinic daily. This kept him very busy. Sometimes he could only leave the clinic after 10 pm at night after seeing the last patient and by the time he reached home it would be 11 pm.
“I had given no thought about how much money to make. Sometimes I would receive items such as chickens,eggs and durians from the villagers. I remembered one patient gave me a whole pig. My friends and I roasted the pig and we had a roasted pig feast.”
Dr Tan mentioned that,as a village doctor,the greatest challenge was to be able to handle situations that would include ferrying very sick patients to the hospitals,as help was not readily available.
Dr Tan was well loved by the villagers at Lim Chu Kang and when he relocated his clinic to Jurong West after 10 over years there,the residents at Lim Chu Kang still visited him at his new clinic.
There was once a dad brought his baby to Dr Tan for treatment of asthma and when he had no money to pay for the medical fee,he gave his wedding ring to Dr Tan. Dr Tan refused to accept it and gave the dad a good scolding. “I told him to bring his kid for treatment whenever the kid was ill. This lasted 10 over years and I had never charged him for the medical fees.”
About 10 Years ago,a young man visited Dr Tan’s clinic one fine day and brought along with him a hamper for Dr Tan. Dr Tan could recognise him immediately as the baby whom he gave free treatment to. Dr Tan says “the young man told him that his mum had insisted he sent the hamper to me. This was the only one gift I had accepted since I became a member of parliament in 1980. This is the joy of a doctor.”
In the 1970s,parts of Lim Chu Kang were used by the Singapore Arm Forces as military bases. During durian seasons,villagers who entered these restricted area to pick durians could sometimes found themselves injured by bullet shots.
Dr Tan Cheng Bock recalled “many villagers would frequent the grounds near the riffle range area to collect empty bullet shells. These empty cartridges were made of copper and could be sold for money. These villagers would risk their lives to collect the bullet cartridges after each practice shooting session.
Dr Tan vividly remembered an accident that happened in the 1970s. A married couple,the wife was pregnant,while looking for empty shell cartridges,chanced upon an unexploded bomb left behind by the Second World War. Ignorance of the danger,they accidentally detonated the bomb and were killed.
“The explosion took the lives of the couple and their unborn child. They were survived by two young sons,a very tragic incident.”
During the Second World War,the Japanese troops in Malaysia made their advances southwards and landed in Lim Chu Kang. This explains why bombs were found there.”
As a village doctor in Lim Chu Kang,Dr Tan had treated many different types of wounds which include bite wounds caused by monkeys,crocodiles,snakes,and bee stings as well.
“Anything can happen at the village. Villagers sometimes fought with each other using parangs and when they were injured,I would help to stitch the wounds.”
Filled with fond memories,Dr Tan recalled that those days Ama Keng Temple would organise many festive activities. One of the activities would see temple devotees walking barefoot on burning coals,similar to those performed by the Hindu devotees during Thaipusam.
“I remembered during those occasions we would see young men walking barefoot on the burning cools,and,within seconds,some would run across the road and straight into my clinic with burn injuries on their two feet. I would tease them that they were trying to be heroes and disobeyed the rules. There were usually one or two such cases each year.”
source
1. http://www.tanchengbock.org/lim-chu-kang/sin-min-daily-20-oct-2008-yio-chu-kang-series-1-of-3
2. http://www.tanchengbock.org/lim-chu-kang/sin-min-daily-21-oct-2008-yio-chu-kang-series-2-of-3
In 1971, Former Member of Parliament,Dr Tan Cheng Bock (68 years old,) gave up the opportunity to practise medicine in the private sector and went on to set up his clinic in the village.
When asked the reason for doing so,Dr Tan said he believed that as a medical doctor he should put to good use what he had studied.
“Working as a doctor in the private setup treating patients with flu and cough symptoms will not have given me the same satisfaction.”
Dr Tan opened his clinic at 292 Lim Chu Kang Road,a vacant shop house,with the help of a friend’s brother. As the clinic was located at the junction of Lim Chu Kang Road and Ama Keng Road,the clinic was named “Ama Keng Clinic”.
“When I bought my wife there,her first reaction was “Are you sure you want to run your clinic here? The place is so rural.” But I told her it was an ideal location.”
Those days Dr Tan had to drive for one hour daily from Margaret Drive,where he lived,to his clinic at Lim Chu Kang. The clinic had three nurses to assist him.
He reminisced that the clinic was usually crowded with patients with about 70 to 100 patients visiting the clinic daily. This kept him very busy. Sometimes he could only leave the clinic after 10 pm at night after seeing the last patient and by the time he reached home it would be 11 pm.
“I had given no thought about how much money to make. Sometimes I would receive items such as chickens,eggs and durians from the villagers. I remembered one patient gave me a whole pig. My friends and I roasted the pig and we had a roasted pig feast.”
Dr Tan mentioned that,as a village doctor,the greatest challenge was to be able to handle situations that would include ferrying very sick patients to the hospitals,as help was not readily available.
Dr Tan was well loved by the villagers at Lim Chu Kang and when he relocated his clinic to Jurong West after 10 over years there,the residents at Lim Chu Kang still visited him at his new clinic.
There was once a dad brought his baby to Dr Tan for treatment of asthma and when he had no money to pay for the medical fee,he gave his wedding ring to Dr Tan. Dr Tan refused to accept it and gave the dad a good scolding. “I told him to bring his kid for treatment whenever the kid was ill. This lasted 10 over years and I had never charged him for the medical fees.”
About 10 Years ago,a young man visited Dr Tan’s clinic one fine day and brought along with him a hamper for Dr Tan. Dr Tan could recognise him immediately as the baby whom he gave free treatment to. Dr Tan says “the young man told him that his mum had insisted he sent the hamper to me. This was the only one gift I had accepted since I became a member of parliament in 1980. This is the joy of a doctor.”
In the 1970s,parts of Lim Chu Kang were used by the Singapore Arm Forces as military bases. During durian seasons,villagers who entered these restricted area to pick durians could sometimes found themselves injured by bullet shots.
Dr Tan Cheng Bock recalled “many villagers would frequent the grounds near the riffle range area to collect empty bullet shells. These empty cartridges were made of copper and could be sold for money. These villagers would risk their lives to collect the bullet cartridges after each practice shooting session.
Dr Tan vividly remembered an accident that happened in the 1970s. A married couple,the wife was pregnant,while looking for empty shell cartridges,chanced upon an unexploded bomb left behind by the Second World War. Ignorance of the danger,they accidentally detonated the bomb and were killed.
“The explosion took the lives of the couple and their unborn child. They were survived by two young sons,a very tragic incident.”
During the Second World War,the Japanese troops in Malaysia made their advances southwards and landed in Lim Chu Kang. This explains why bombs were found there.”
As a village doctor in Lim Chu Kang,Dr Tan had treated many different types of wounds which include bite wounds caused by monkeys,crocodiles,snakes,and bee stings as well.
“Anything can happen at the village. Villagers sometimes fought with each other using parangs and when they were injured,I would help to stitch the wounds.”
Filled with fond memories,Dr Tan recalled that those days Ama Keng Temple would organise many festive activities. One of the activities would see temple devotees walking barefoot on burning coals,similar to those performed by the Hindu devotees during Thaipusam.
“I remembered during those occasions we would see young men walking barefoot on the burning cools,and,within seconds,some would run across the road and straight into my clinic with burn injuries on their two feet. I would tease them that they were trying to be heroes and disobeyed the rules. There were usually one or two such cases each year.”
source
1. http://www.tanchengbock.org/lim-chu-kang/sin-min-daily-20-oct-2008-yio-chu-kang-series-1-of-3
2. http://www.tanchengbock.org/lim-chu-kang/sin-min-daily-21-oct-2008-yio-chu-kang-series-2-of-3
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