SPEECH BY MR ONG YE KUNG, MINISTER FOR HEALTH, AT THE VIRTUAL 2021 HEALTHCARE SCHOLARSHIPS AWARD CEREMONY, 28 JULY 2021

Distinguished Guests,

Scholarship Recipients, 

Parents,

Ladies and Gentlemen, 

      I am delighted to join you this afternoon at the 2021 Healthcare Scholarships Award Ceremony. My heartiest congratulations to all 164 scholarship recipients. 

2.    We are awarding the healthcare scholarships today amidst a global pandemic crisis. Last Thursday, we had to dial back our social distancing posture to Phase 2 (Heightened Alert).  For many, this means no more dining in restaurants.  Many people are naturally very upset.  F&B operators are in despair.  It has been a very difficult time for them. 

3.    The Multi-Ministry Taskforce explained why the move was necessary.  It was not because of the KTV Clusters, but a far bigger one – five times as large – which is the Jurong Fishery Port cluster.  And the Jurong Fishery Port cluster is still growing.  Yesterday it registered another 36 more infections, whereas the KTV cluster registered two.  

4.    But there is a deeper underlying reason why we had to throttle back to Phase 2 (Heightened Alert), which we have not explained in a very detailed way in public, and that is to protect our healthcare system. 

5.    The Jurong Fishery Port cluster was spawning clusters in many markets, which have to be closed.  There is a risk that it transmits far and wide in our community, especially to seniors who frequent the markets.  A quarter of them remain unvaccinated and they are at risk of falling very ill if they are infected with COVID-19.  

6.    Against this risk, we look at our hospital capacity for COVID-19 patients.  Since the beginning of the pandemic last year, Singapore has prepared various bed types in the hospitals and community to manage COVID-19 patients. For ICU beds, which are required for the critically ill COVID-19 patients, we can open up to around 1,000 such beds if needed. Today, even though we have only a handful of ICU beds are occupied by COVID-19 patients, we have already opened up close to 70 beds, which is double from two weeks ago and we are preparing to open up more ICU beds these few weeks.  

7.    For isolation type beds in our hospitals, we have we have already ramped up about 1,000 beds, just for COVID-19 patients and about 80% of these beds are currently occupied for COVID-19 patients, including those under investigations for suspected COVID-19 infection.  If number of COVID-19 hospitalisation goes up further, we will need to discharge more patients to community care facilities, repurpose more beds for COVID-19 operations, and even defer care and scale back beds for patients with non-COVID conditions. Thus, the odds of a large surge in cases are stacked against us: we knew that when a cluster grows uncontrollably, infection numbers would double every seven to ten days, which meant that hospital beds could fill up in a week. Beyond that, we could be overwhelmed. 

8.    This has happened in many countries around the world.  Hospitals could not take in patients anymore.  Very sick people had to be turned away, or lie along the corridors.  Hospitals ran out of oxygen.  Doctors had to choose who lives and who dies.  That is why, in a pandemic like this, we protect our healthcare system robustly.  We cannot let a human tragedy like this happen in Singapore. 

9.    Throughout the pandemic, the integrity of our healthcare system weighs heavily on our minds, and anchors many of our public health decisions.  It is a life and death consideration.  That is how important our healthcare system is.  And that is where all of you will be working in. 

10.    It is a difficult time for all healthcare workers.  Many have not had a proper rest for the past 20 months.  But it is also times like this that you see a profession’s true colours – how they unite, dedicate to their cause, take care of their patients, of each other.  

11.    As you spend more years in your career, you will realise that what makes you stay in a workplace or vocation is not just the pay or work-life balance (both of which are important), but these intangibles – pride, professionalism, teamwork, courage and camaraderie.  If that is what you are looking for, congratulations to you for choosing the right profession!

12.    Let me relate the backgrounds of three of our scholarship recipients today.  First is Ms Tang Li Ern.  She comes from a family of healthcare professionals. Her mother works as a Clinic Coordinator, and her elder sister is a Staff Nurse. When the pandemic struck, she was inspired by how brave and steadfast her family members were, and the difference they made to the lives of others.  During her internship at Raffles Medical, Li Ern joined a hospital team to set up Antigen Rapid Testing in the polytechnics and universities. Li Ern will be receiving the Healthcare Merit Award to study Diagnostic Radiography at the Singapore Institute of Technology.  

13.    Another recipient is Mr Yap Zhe Wei.  Four years ago, Zhe Wei lost his father, who was the family’s sole bread winner, to a heart attack. The family went through a difficult period and received help from various community organisations. Today, Zhe Wei is paying it forward, and is actively involved in community projects. Through his engagements with the elderly, he realised that many face difficulties performing simple tasks. 

14.    Zhe Wei is one of our mid-term Community Care Scholars, and is studying Physiotherapy at the Singapore Institute of Technology. MOHH launched this scholarship in 2020, recognizing the need for us to shift healthcare away from acute hospital beds, into the community, in forms such as health promotion, preventive medicine and chronic disease management.  

15.   A third recipient is an in-service scholar – Ms Nurulhuda Idris Angullia. After graduating from ITE, Nurulhuda joined Changi General Hospital as an Enrolled Nurse, before heading to Farrer Park Hospital to take up a position as a Senior Enrolled Nurse. She is currently pursuing her nursing diploma at Nanyang Polytechnic. 

16.    She has recently decided to focus on community nursing.  This is after she had attended a course at one of the community hospitals, where she saw how community nurses play an important role in helping elderly patients recover and stay healthy. Nurulhuda has been awarded the Community Nursing Scholarship, and will have the opportunity to enrol in SIT’s nursing degree programme after graduating from NYP. 

17.    I tell these three stories, to illustrate the diversity amongst the scholarship recipients today.  You come from different backgrounds, and are going into different areas of expertise, contributing to different parts of the healthcare system.  

18.    We have former students from ITE, Polytechnics and Junior Colleges.  We have  younger scholars who are fresh out of school, and also mid-career ones like Nurulhuda.  It is very important that scholarships are not just for the very young.  All of us need to continue to learn throughout our lives and careers, hone our skills and knowledge, and reinvent ourselves from time to time, and we will support you to do so. 

19.    Congratulations once again, and I wish you a fulfilling and challenging career ahead.