• Dr Raymond Yuen, a family physician for more than 30 years, died of Covid-19 complications on Oct 9
• Patients said it is hard to find a compassionate doctor like him who cared for them sometimes like a friend
• One couple said residents living in MacPherson will be badly affected by the loss
• People who have worked with the doctor remembered him for his passion in advancing care for patients beyond just medication

SINGAPORE — Suffering from rheumatoid arthritis, Mr Kenlee Tan was at his wits' end. Cash strapped and in pain with his fingers bent and knees buckled, he was no longer able to afford treatment — steroid injections that cost him hundreds of dollars each time.

A neighbour suggested that Mr Tan, who runs a drink stall at Zion Riverside Food Centre, visit Hosanna Medical Centre, a clinic in MacPherson, just a short walk from his home.

There, Dr Raymond Yuen gave him an injection and charged him about S$100, less than what he would normally pay at other clinics. On follow-up visits, when Mr Tan said that he did not have enough money, he could pay whatever he could afford.

The doctor’s charitable ways and generous concern for his patients such as Mr Tan, 60, were well-known and it is making them feel the loss keenly now. 

Yuen, a general practitioner (GP) and family physician for more than 30 years, died of Covid-19 complications last Saturday (Oct 9). He is believed to be the first doctor here to die of the disease.

He owned and was the only doctor at Hosanna Medical Centre.

Mr Tan’s wife, Madam Julia Tay, 59, said: “Many of the elderly living here are going to be very, very badly affected. We don’t know how we are going to seek help for our medical issues anymore. We cannot find a doctor like him… (and) at this price.

“If he knows you’re living in a one-room flat, he won’t charge you.

“I do not think we are able to find another doctor as compassionate as him. He cares about you more than any money."

Mdm Tay, who also works at the drinks stall with her husband, began visiting Yuen to treat her insomnia. She said: “When he checked you, he wouldn’t only check on what (illness) you went to him for.

“Once, when he felt I was malnourished, he gave me some vitamins and told me to finish the course and told me he wouldn't charge me.

“This kind of caring doctor, I don’t think you can find elsewhere.”

Mr Tan, who has been a regular for more than 18 years at the clinic located at Block 51 Circuit Road, said: “There were many times I couldn’t afford the S$100 injections. I would tell him, ‘Doctor, I have only S$60’. He would say, ‘Okay, I charge you S$60’.”

The hawker also recalled that there was a single mother who sought treatment from Yuen over several years. As she was jobless, the doctor told her that she could pay him back whenever she secured a job.

“Eventually, she died. He never asked for a single cent,” Mr Tan said.

Mr Tan and his wife last went to the clinic two weeks ago for a routine appointment, where they said the doctor looked “good” and “healthy”.

Last Wednesday, when Mr Tan called to arrange the pickup of some medicine, he was told that it was closed due to Covid-19 exposure.

Little did the couple know that Yuen was the person who was infected.

Since news of the doctor’s death broke on Monday, tributes have poured in from patients as well as his friends and colleagues.

Yuen, who was the honorary assistant secretary at non-profit organisation 365 Cancer Prevention Education Association, also provided alternative cancer treatment at his clinic.

Teacher Lily Zhang, 50, met him in 2014 when her husband began treatment with him. They do not live in MacPherson.

Her husband, who died in 2016, was diagnosed to have kidney cancer at the end of 2013 and was told by doctors he had at most three months to live. A friend introduced them to Yuen.

Ms Zhang said: “I took unpaid leave for one year. The whole of 2014 to 2015, Hosanna was my second home. We were there every day.

“Some days, we would be there for treatment, but other days, for fellowship. The clinic, which had a dedicated area for cancer patients, became a place for us to gather with friends, to play the guitar, to sing some songs.

“We celebrated each other’s birthdays and I cooked there. It was a positive environment for us.”

Ms Zhang described those two-and-a-half years as being filled with “beautiful moments”.

“Dr Yuen was always patient with us, encouraging us. Because of him, we found a support group in each other,” she said.

“He never thought of us as just patients. He saw us as friends. He spent a lot of time listening to us and explaining to us what was going on whenever we received some bad results. We could call him at any time, no matter how late.”

Ms Zhang remained close to Yuen who even attended her wedding when she remarried last year.

She last saw him in his clinic last month before taking a trip to the United Kingdom to accompany her daughter who was beginning her studies there.

Ms Zhang, who attended his funeral over video-conferencing channel Zoom, said: “I just couldn’t believe it because he’s always been healthy. He’s never been sick.”

Another MacPherson resident, retiree Susan Kwan, 51, told TODAY that her mother used to visit Hosanna Medical Centre and felt comfortable communicating with Yuen because he could speak Cantonese, having been born in Hong Kong.

He was also able to understand well geriatric pain, or pain experienced by elders, and could address her mother’s concerns, she said.

She also noted that he was open to other forms of treatment that would bring comfort to cancer patients who were in pain, such as administering intravenous drips where necessary.

PASSIONATE ABOUT PATIENT CARE

Mr Ben Chua, 56, who is executive director of 365 Cancer Prevention Society and had worked closely with Yuen for eight years since joining in 2013, said: “He had this strong passion for cancer patients. He just had this love and passion… Every time we asked him for help, he was more than willing.”

Mr Chua said that he would meet Yuen once every quarter of the year at board meetings and they would have lunch together from time to time to talk about other ongoing projects. Yuen had been a member of the society since 2004, he said.

The doctor was always “vocal”, Mr Chua added, recalling that at a board meeting in 2014, Yuen proposed that the society set up a day activity centre, at a time when Singapore did not have such a facility for cancer patients.

“I last spoke to him in August because we tried to arrange a lunch meeting but he was unvaccinated… Frankly, I was quite surprised because I was wondering why, as a GP, he wasn’t (vaccinated).”

Yuen was partially vaccinated against Covid-19 with a non-messenger ribonucleic acid vaccine and had no known medical conditions.

Mr Jeffrey Tan, 58, founder and chief executive officer of alkaline water system company AOX, had known Yuen for more than 10 years. The doctor was a medical adviser for his company.

“He would provide my customers who have chronic diseases with a one-time free consultation.

“He had a very strong belief system in that the ‘future medicine’ is actually not to take any medication but to know how to take care of yourself so that you don't fall sick, so that we don't have to be dependent on medication.”

The CEO added: “Knowing him for the last 10 years, he was one person who would go out of his way to help a friend. He would go an extra mile to help someone.”

Associate Professor Lim Kah Meng, chairman of the programmes and services committee of the 365 Cancer Prevention Society, first met Yuen in 2013.

“We also worked on development of cancer nutritional supplements as well as published a paper where we did a successful validation trial of injectable vitamin C on nine cancer patients in Singapore. 

“(I feel a) sense of great loss… Just wish to complete his unfulfilled wish to find better medical solutions for cancer patients,” Assoc Prof Lim said.