Charitable healthcare services provided by the Cantonese community in Singapore date back to 1867, with the establishment of Thong Chai Yee Say by seven Cantonese merchants.1 It provided free medical consultations to the poor and needy, regardless of their place of origin, who lived in the Chinese-dominant area near the Singapore River. Philanthropists helped with donations and joint management to develop this inter-dialect groups, community-led medical institution.

Thong Chai Yee Say was officially registered in 1885. In 1892, it relocated from North Canal Road to Wayang Street, known today as Eu Tong Sen Street, under the name of Thong Chai Medical Institution. There they continued their original mission of providing medical treatment and medicine.2 It was a medical institution that provided outpatient services and also engaged in medical research. Before the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce (now Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry) was officially established in 1906, the institution was also a place where merchants would hold meetings and host dignitaries, briefly serving as a temporary office for the Association.

Thong Chai Medical Institution, 1950. Reproduced with permission from SPH Media Limited.

As the number of immigrants grew in the 20th century, the philanthropic healthcare initiatives that the Chinese community established were extended to people of different dialect groups and races. These included not only Thong Chai Medical Institution, but also Sian Chay Medical Institution, Char Yong Fei Choon Free Hospital (now defunct), Kwong Wai Shiu Hospital, Chung Hwa Medical Institution, Singapore Buddhist Free Clinic, Thye Hua Kwan Moral Society, and Ngee Ann Traditional Chinese Medical Centre, among others.

Kwong Wai Shiu Hospital

The Kwong Wai Shiu Hospital, established in 1910, was the only large-scale community-led charity hospital in 20th century Singapore that allowed patients to be hospitalised. Initially known as the Kwong Wai Shiu Free Hospital, it became a landmark on Serangoon Road.3 Some also referred to it as the “Cantonese Free Hospital” or rumah miskin (Malay for “house of the poor”).

The founding of Kwong Wai Shiu Hospital was related to shifting political tides in China. Towards the end of the Qing dynasty, Singapore received a significant influx of immigrants from China. The public healthcare system could not cope with the increased pressure. During that time, the Governor of the Straits Settlements, Sir John Anderson (1858–1918), requested the help of local Cantonese businessmen to provide welfare for the rapidly growing community from Guangdong. In 1910, individuals such as Wong Ah Fook (1837–1918), Leong Man Sau (1866–1916), Yow Ngan Pan (1863–1930), Ng Sing Phang (1873–1952), Look Yan Kit (1849–1933), Choo Sun Meng, Tan Qingyun, Lam Wei Fong and Li Xingnan brought together prominent individuals4 from the Guangzhou, Huizhou and Zhaoqing communities to raise funds. They modelled Kwong Wai Shiu Hospital after a free hospital in Guangzhou. They then purchased the property left behind when Tan Tock Seng Hospital relocated away from Serangoon Road, and converted it into Kwong Wai Shiu Hospital. The hospital’s founding chairman, Wong Ah Fook, signed a 99-year contract with the government charging an annual token fee of one dollar until 2010. Kwong Wai Shiu Free Hospital officially opened in 1911, and for a century relied completely on private donations to fund its services.5

Wong Ah Fook’s signature on the contract for Kwong Wai Shiu Hospital, marking the start of a century-long journey of benefiting the people. Photograph taken in 2017. Courtesy of Lee Kok Leong.

East meets West

When Kwong Wai Shiu Hospital was established, it operated according to the laws of the time. The hospital was able to hire traditional Chinese medicine practitioners and prescribe Chinese herbal medicines. However, it also had to hire Western medical practitioners — creating a local precedent for a system where Chinese and Western medical techniques were integrated. Additionally, the hospital had to provide free childbirth services to pregnant women of Cantonese origin, and outpatient services were open to all people, regardless of origin.6

During World War II, when parts of the hospital were damaged by bombing and nearby residences were destroyed, the open spaces on the hospital grounds became a temporary graveyard. The Municipal Administration and the Department of Health allowed the hospital to continue running during the war, with Ching Kee Sun (circa 1881–1972) and Woo Mon Chew (1887–1958) serving as its chairman and vice-chairman respectively. They gradually hired more doctors and nurses, all of whom lived on the hospital premises. The Department of Health provided medicine, and funds raised by the board were used to purchase food. At that time, half of the patients in the hospital suffered from beriberi and oedema — the result of excessive consumption of tapioca while other foods were in short supply.

On 15 June 1974, Kwong Wai Shiu Free Hospital was renamed Kwong Wai Shiu Hospital. It became a community-funded hospital that was open to all. The law stipulating that only those hailing from Guangzhou, Huizhou and Zhaoqing could be hospitalised there was abolished, and from then on, the hospital admitted inpatients from every ethnic background. In 2010, when its 99-year lease was up, the hospital was allowed to continue operating in its original location as a community care hospital.7

During World War II, Kwong Wai Shiu Hospital’s garden with the octagon-shaped Huo Ran Pavilion (photographed here in 2022) was used as a temporary graveyard. Courtesy of Lee Kok Leong.