Mama Oon - the 104 year-old doctor of charity.

When you live up to 104 years old, you have already broken the one record that many can only hold their breath in awe. But Dr Oon Chiew Seng’s list of firsts broke even more records. 

Here’s what reporter Joyce Teo (Snr Health Correspondent) listed as her achievements: - 

“(She) was one of the first women in the region to qualify as a member of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (O&G) in 1955. She was also the first O&G specialist to start her own private practice in 1959 after leaving the then Kandang Kerbau Hospital.“

And here’s what she’s been doing after retirement.

“She retired in 1991 at the age of 75 and travelled extensively. But travel and mahjong could not fill all her time, she said. Dr Oon, who drove herself till she was 91, said in her speech that mahjong therapy is her favourite brain exercise.“

”After retiring, she worked on setting up the Apex Harmony Lodge for dementia patients in Pasir Ris and made trips to Australia to learn how dementia homes were run.”

“Singapore's first dementia home opened its doors in 1999, with Dr Oon serving as its chairman till 2012.”

That’s not all. Retirement had repurposed Dr Oon’s life for bigger things.

 

She “volunteered her time at a home for the aged sick and made services to the community her life’s theme.” She was awarded numerous accolades for her clinical and humanitarian work, which included “Lifetime Achievement Award from the Ministry of Health in 2011 and the Public Service Star in 2013.”

And yesterday, Dr Oon received “an honorary National University of Singapore (NUS) degree from President Halimah Yacob....at a ceremony held at the University Cultural Centre.”

That’s her journey after retirement, that is, more than 20 years of active participation in community, living out her legacy for humanitarian work. Her life is undeniably inspiring, and it holds up a public mirror to us (her readers and those who know her) to signal the many possibilities a life can offer. 

Now, I have no delusion to believe that such a life is common. It’s one in a million. Living to that age is already an accomplishment.. But, while such a life is uncommon, her purpose for living, living beyond self, is not.

 

Dr Oon’s tireless outreach in the community (even after retirement) is exceptional, yet her spirit is infectious, and she, to me, is like that first pioneering drop of hope and example that sends ripples of soul-nudging changes to whoever bothers to open themselves to the unpredictability of living, and its soul-enriching rewards. 

Alas, there are more than 6 billion people in this world. There are also more than 6 billion stories to tell. Each story narrates a life; some shortlived, and others have crossed that century threshold like Dr Oon. 

Each life begins with a scribe that writes his or her story. You can expect all emotions of angst and joy, pain and sorrow, hope and love in each tale. It is anything but linear, because each experience is anything but predictable. 

I was recently reading a book by author Bruce Feiler, “Life is in the Transitions - Mastering Chang at Any Age” - and he wrote this interesting observation about life’s transitions: -

“The Italians have a wonderful expression for how our lives get upended when we least expect it: lupus in fabula. Fabula means “fairy tale”. The fabula is the fantasy of our lives, the ideal version, our lives when everything is going right. Lupus means “wolf”. The lupus is the trouble, the conflict, the big, scary thing that threatens to destroy everything around it.””

Bruce said that it is alright when we “can’t get past the wolves.” 

He wrote: “And that’s okay. Because if you banish the wolf, you banish the hero. And if there’s one thing I learned: We all need to be the hero of our own story. That’s why we need fairy tales. They teach us how to allay our fears, and help us sleep at night. Which is why we keep telling them year after year, bedtime after bedtime. They turn our nightmares into dreams.” (@ pg 18-19). 

But heroes come with sacrifices, some of which seems endless. Fairy tales tend to downplay that. The happily-ever-after doesn’t spell out in big bold print the gut-wrenching travailing that comes before (or that “unhappily-ever-before”). 

Heroes pay a high price. Not with money so much as with unforeseen changes or transitions that challenge them to the core. 

For the young, it may be a breakup that consumes their world. For the old, it may be impending death that keeps them awake. For others, it may be financial ruins, reputation tarnished, hope seemingly diminished and a spirit crushed. 

Heroes are called to rise from the ashes. They are called to ignore the threatening tides, the devouring high waves, but to look for the ripples of hope that a resilient, indefatigable water droplet makes (like the overcoming life of Dr Oon). 

Heroes may not win awards the way Dr Oon did in her life. But their stories (or fairy tales) are no less inspiring to those whose lives they have made a difference. 

Heroes are busy scriptwriters, frenzy scribes, who never run out of paper or scroll, because every stumble for them, though heart wrenching, is an opportunity to plan and write out a new script to inspire a generation. 

And heroes don’t wear their underwear outside, they however put on the garment of thankfulness, the cloak of humility/contentment and the girdle of hope and inspiration. 

Mind you, every tale of this nature ends with this theme: an undaunting love for life, for every breath one takes. For every breath is never wasted, whether in tears, in pain, in joy, and in hope. 

Let me end with what the centenarian has to say about life. In a previous interview, Dr Oon said: - 

"People have asked me whether I have arrived and am satisfied with my achievements. I asked them: Arrive where? Life is not a race. To me, there is no finishing line. It is a journey which I will complete in my own time and at my own pace."

Well, to some extent, the race ends when a life heaves her last breath. That is about crossing the mortality line. But I believe what Dr Oon meant is that a journey, as long as one is breathing, has no arrival(s). Retirement is just a social construct, a technocrat’s terminology for planning an economy. 

Your life is like a river, and it should always be kept flowing so that you get the opportunity to water the lives of others, be it your spouse, your children, your friends or the society at large. And in turn, the flowing keeps you alive. 

And indeed the finishing touch to a good story with an encouraging plot always has this theme in mind: “It is a journey which I will complete in my own time and at my own pace.” Your season of growth will come - believe and work towards it. You own the pace, you write your own story. 

Happy notes taking and life scribbling then. Cheerz.