Speech by President Tony Tan at TTSH 170th Founder's Day Celebrations

Dr Amy Khor
Senior Minister of State for Health and Manpower

Professor Chee Yam Cheng
Group CEO, National Healthcare Group

Professor Philip Choo
CEO, Tan Tock Seng Hospital

Distinguished Guests

Ladies and Gentlemen

        Good evening. It is indeed a great pleasure for my wife and me to be part of Tan Tock Seng Hospital’s 170^th Anniversary Celebrations tonight.

        Established in 1844, Tan Tock Seng Hospital was Singapore’s first privately funded hospital to care for the community. Mr Tan Tock Seng, a Peranakan-Fujian businessman who found success in early Singapore, had then gathered together a few friends from the business community to make a donation of 7000 Spanish Dollars to build a Chinese Paupers’ Hospital. He tasked the hospital to take care of “the sick poor from all nations”.

        In the decades following, the hospital continued to be strongly supported by the public. The hospital stayed true to its mission of caring for the community with the help of compassionate individuals and groups, who sustained the hospital through its financial difficulties in its early years and when it had to relocate several times. Today, Tan Tock Seng Hospital works closely with various intermediate and long term care healthcare partners, including community hospitals, nursing homes, hospices and other healthcare-related Voluntary Welfare Organisations, in providing holistic care for patients.

        Many of our leading medical professionals served in the hospital. They include Dr Benjamin Chew who administered the first penicillin injection in Singapore for lung abscess and Prof E. S Monteiro who found a cure for beri-beri. Dr James Supramaniam, Dr Yeoh Seang Aun and Dr Chew Chin Hin revolutionised the treatment of tuberculosis.

Others like Dr Tham Cheok Fai in neurosurgery, Prof Feng Pao Hsii in the treatment of Lupus patients and Dr Francis Joseph Jayaratnam in Geriatrics, added to the hospital’s record of achievements.

        There are in fact many more heroes in this hospital who made invaluable contributions and sacrifices. When SARS hit Singapore in 2003, Tan Tock Seng Hospital was the designated SARS hospital to treat infected patients and contain the spread of the deadly disease. The hospital was then shunned by people who were fearful of this unknown disease. However, the resolute spirit of the hospital staff in caring for its patients soon touched many across the island. Singaporeans came together to show their support for the hospital with food deliveries, letters and other gestures of appreciation.

        Healthcare in Singapore is set to undergo much transformation in the years ahead to meet complex and evolving needs brought about by an ageing population. There is a critical need for more skilled manpower and continuous training of healthcare workers to better prepare for these healthcare needs.

        The community also has a role to play as an integral part of our healthcare system in supporting and caring for patients in the community. We must all take better charge of our own health, be active partners in the care for the sick in our families, and be engaged in community health to care for others among us.

        Therefore, I am pleased to announce the Ng Teng Fong Healthcare Innovation Programme at this evening’s celebrations. This new programme, which is established through the generous donation of $52 million from the family of the late Mr Ng Teng Fong to the Tan Tock Seng Hospital Community Fund, will go a long way in supporting training and innovation across various hospitals and institutions to bring about better healthcare delivery. Thank you very much.

        The Ng Teng Fong Healthcare Innovation Programme will fund grants and scholarships to train and upskill healthcare staff, not only from Tan Tock Seng Hospital but also from its community partners, volunteers, caregivers and patient support groups. 

The programme will also support collaboration and innovation across healthcare institutions, institutions of learning and community partners. Healthcare professionals from various disciplines and institutions, in partnership with community partners, volunteers and patients and their families will be involved in projects funded by the programme to strengthen community health and care delivery.

        The family of the late Mr Ng Teng Fong is represented this evening by Mrs Dorothy Chan. I thank the Ng Family for their kind and generous gift, which reflects compassion and care for the people – values on which the Tan Tock Seng Hospital was founded 170 years ago and the spirit still lives on. I am heartened that Tan Tock Seng Hospital continues in its mission to be the people's hospital today. I congratulate Tan Tock Seng Hospital on its 170^th Anniversary and I wish the Hospital many more years of success in its mission to care for our people.