Yes, to many of his patients, he was more than just Dr. Eric Kwek Soon Kiat; he was a doctor whom had gone the extra miles for them, a doctor whom they could have a heart to heart talk on many issues other than their medical conditions, and a doctor whom wasn’t rushing his patients out of his consultation room so that he could see more patients and fatten his wallet. Dr. Kwek was a good doctor but most importantly … he was a friend to many of them and chances are he will always be a friend to them even when he is no longer around now. Fond memories of his acts of kindness, his patience and sincerity will always touch the hearts of his many patients or rather friends.
I have the habit of sharing lessons, as what a dear friend of mine put it, with family and friends through email. I am not sure if they read the email 100% of the time because I rarely get a reply from them. It has always thrilled and delighted me to get replies once in a while. However, I was both happy and sad when I received a reply from this dear friend about a week ago. He was the one who shared the story of Dr. Kwek with me.
Although I did not know Dr. Kwek personally, reading the testimonials of his patients still saddened me. In a tribute to him, I learned how he had walked the extra miles. He was called up late in one evening by this patient’s sister and yet he turned up at the hospital’s A & E department just to visit this patient. They made a detour to his clinic later, at close to midnight, so that he could give this patients some jabs. A simple act like this could have been just a routine and norm for Dr. Kwek. However, for this patient, this simple act of kindness and concern meant a great deal and touched his life.
In my reply to this dear friend, I said, “It is very rare these days to find a good doctor who is not more interested in his/her pocket than his/her patient.” I hope Dr. Kwek story could serve as an inspiration to doctors and aspiring doctors. Just as the revenue is important to you (you and your family need to survive too, in order for you to have a peace of mind to help others), your patients are equally, if not more important as they have entrusted their lives to you.
From the video on Kindness by Amy Krouse Rosenthal which I had share in my last post, Amy asked, “What constitutes a life worthy of being remembered? How do you want to be remembered? Big questions to consider! A life worthy of being remembered will differ from individual to individual as one explores deeply within oneself. And how do one wants to be remembered? That could be a tricky question as how others remember us may not always be how we have wanted them to remember us.
Perhaps the question we need to consider is “What is/are the important things, the priorities, in our life 10, 20 or 30 years down the road?” It seemed that what were important to Dr. Kwek had naturally become the way of how people are remembering him now. The story of Dr. Eric Kwek Soon Kiat has enlightened me and straightened out my perspective. He had reminded me of the priorities in life.
To leave you with something my dear friend said, “Life has different plans for each of us, may all of us finish it without regrets.”
Do you have a story of a doctor who has also touched your life? Perhaps you would like to share it with us? Maybe you can walk an extra mile and send the doctor a ‘Thank you’ note.
“Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love.” - Lao Tzu
—————————-
The “Rebuild Haiti” Better World Book Drive
Announcing the Rebuild Haiti Better World Book Drive! Better World Book is running a nation-wide book drive to raise funds for education in Haiti and they need your help to support a long-term effort to rebuild Haiti’s education system. By sending books, you can help fund their Haiti non-profit literacy partner, Plan USA. So dust off those great books you’re never going to read again, and do some good with them…
Ways You Can Help:
1. Send Books. Books can be sent to:
Better World Books
Attn: Help Haiti
55740 Currant Rd.
Mishawaka, IN 46545
Please send only books in good condition. Note: Book donations are not tax deductible.
1. You send books to Better World Books at the address above.
2. The books donated will be sold on their global network of marketplaces including BetterWorldBooks.com.
3. 50% of the net sales are donated to Plan USA, earmarked for the Haiti education rebuilding effort.
About Plan USA:
Plan USA is Better World Book new non-profit literacy partner. Funds raised through the Rebuild Haiti Better World Book Drive will be applied exclusively to education in Haiti.
Plan USA has been working in Haiti since 1973. They were recently selected by the Haitian government to implement the country’s education restoration effort alongside the Ministry of Education, UN agencies, local and international NGO partners.
Better World has made an initial donation of $10,000 to the Plan USA effort to rebuild Haiti. You can learn more about Plan USA at: http://www.planusa.org/
Like what Barbara de Angelis said, “Love and kindness are never wasted. They always make a difference.” Let us do what we can to help the Haitian to restore their education system.
This is the month of Christmas. If you have read a post I did on Christmas last year, you would know that I grew up listening to the Christmas songs of Alvin and the Chipmunks. I bought the cassette tape version of A Chipmunk Christmas and I listened to the storyline every night while I dozed off to my dreamland.
The story told of Alvin whom unselfishly gave his golden harmonica to a very ill boy, Tommy, in the hope that he would get better. Isn’t this the true spirit of Christmas? A time of giving to our family and friends and especially to strangers we have never met. And yes, I do agree that the spirit of giving should be all year long and not only during Christmas.
Last year what my friend and I had done are to pool some money to buy presents for the poor children in her community. We did not have a lot of money but she and her cousins managed to buy a lot of presents. They had a great time shopping and wrapping the presents. She told me that the children were really happy to receive all those presents. And that made me very happy too. However, sad to say I would not be able to do much of that this year. How about you, what would you be doing this Christmas?
If you have no idea, maybe you would like to be involved with this great ecookbook idea from Patricia Wisdom; her creative way of helping to spread word on UNICEF. Do hop over to take a look.
Since Thanksgiving is just a few days away. I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. Let us remember to give thanks and to express our gratitudes to our family and friends. As Ella Wheeler Wilcox said,
“…blessings are like friends, I hold, who love and labor near us. We ought to raise our notes of praise while living hearts can hear us.”
It certainly makes more sense for us to give sincere appreciation to our family and friends while they are still around. Life can be really fragile and we are not always guaranteed of tomorrow. There is little room for regrets in life and we must generously lavish our family and friends with gratitude and thanks throughout the year. And perhaps, along the way, we can also reach out a helping hand to others who are in need too.
Besides expressing our gratitudes for our family and friends, we must also give thanks to the environment which has been providing unconditionally for us. And what would be a better way to give thanks to our environment than to protect it.
What are you thankful for this year? What would you be doing this Thanksgiving? Would you be doing anything special this year? Although I am not observing Thanksgiving here, it would be great to share your joy. Wishing you a Bless and Happy Thanksgiving week!
Thanksgiving by Edgar Albert Guest
Gettin’ together to smile an’ rejoice,
An’ eatin’ an’ laughin’ with folks of your choice;
An’ kissin’ the girls an’ declarin’ that they
Are growin’ more beautiful day after day;
Chattin’ an’ braggin’ a bit with the men,
Buildin’ the old family circle again;
Livin’ the wholesome an’ old-fashioned cheer,
Just for awhile at the end of the year.
Greetings fly fast as we crowd through the door
And under the old roof we gather once more
Just as we did when the youngsters were small;
Mother’s a little bit grayer, that’s all.
Father’s a little bit older, but still
Ready to romp an’ to laugh with a will.
Here we are back at the table again
Tellin’ our stories as women an’ men.
Bowed are our heads for a moment in prayer;
Oh, but we’re grateful an’ glad to be there.
Home from the east land an’ home from the west,
Home with the folks that are dearest an’ best.
Out of the sham of the cities afar
We’ve come for a time to be just what we are.
Here we can talk of ourselves an’ be frank,
Forgettin’ position an’ station an’ rank.
Give me the end of the year an’ its fun
When most of the plannin’ an’ toilin’ is done;
Bring all the wanderers home to the nest,
Let me sit down with the ones I love best,
Hear the old voices still ringin’ with song,
See the old faces unblemished by wrong,
See the old table with all of its chairs
An’ I’ll put soul in my Thanksgivin’ prayers.
————————————– Better World Books Holiday Sale $5 off orders of $30 or more, $10 off orders of $50 or more. Free shipping in the USA $3.97 Worldwide.
Join the Mailing list for Daily Love Quote in your Email now and get a Free copy of "What
is Love?"
movie.
The name and email address collected are not sold, given, or in any way disclosed to a third party. We will never give out your email address.
Subscribe
Yes, to many of his patients, he was more than just Dr. Eric Kwek Soon Kiat; he was a doctor whom had gone the extra miles for them, a doctor whom they could have a heart to heart talk on many issues other than their medical conditions, and a doctor whom wasn’t rushing his patients out of his consultation room so that he could see more patients and fatten his wallet. Dr. Kwek was a good doctor but most importantly … he was a friend to many of them and chances are he will always be a friend to them even when he is no longer around now. Fond memories of his acts of kindness, his patience and sincerity will always touch the hearts of his many patients or rather friends.
