SINGAPORE: Food guru KF Seetoh paid tribute to the country’s health workers in a Jan 5 (Friday) Facebook post, calling them “the soldiers that make Singapore, apparently, the ‘bluest’ nation,” referring to Singapore being deemed a “blue zone,” one of the places on earth where people live the longest.
For the Makansutra founder, however, in Singapore, the credit for people living longer and healthier should not go to “our healthy and low-stress lifestyle” but to healthcare workers.
“Singapore ranks among the world’s healthiest, happiest, and longest-lived places on the planet,” reads the Blue Zones website. The concept was made popular in a Netflix documentary from August last year.
Mr Seetoh went on to tell the story of when he visited a photographer Francis Ong, who had been his boss at The Straits Times, at Ward 36 in Sengkang Hospital. During his visit, Mr Seetoh had been “joking, cheering and tempting” Mr Ong “with fish head curry dunked with prata if he gets well quick.”
During this visit, he saw the hospital staff’s dedication and hard work.
“From the corner of my eye, I noticed a patient across was getting off his bed for the loo. He looked pretty able, had his hands on the rails and just as one foot was on the floor, two nurses, took no chances, dashed across to him, literally running for his life… held him and escorted him there. I was too taken aback to notice and name the nurses. I was in awe.”
Mr Seetoh, who saluted all of Singapore’s healthcare workers in his post, also wrote, “I know not everyone gets this service and attention but it’s hard when the beds are full and the medical and nursing positions are not. So before those job vacancies get longer, please show your appreciation for them before word spreads worldwide we aren’t taking them seriously and they shun this land for better jobs elsewhere.”
Many commenters wholeheartedly agreed with Mr Seetoh and shared their own experiences with healthcare workers.
“I know what you mean. I was very well taken care of when I was in ICU and in the ward. Also saw how well they took care of every patient. Forever grateful, never forget,” wrote one.
“Kudos to them for their dedication and loving care for the patients under their charges. It isn’t easy as they have to deal with all sorts of patient personalities and temperaments,” chimed in another. /TISG