Hearing from the Helpline: “I feel lost in this big city”
We hear from Jyothi, HealthServe’s Crisis Helpline Specialist, as she recounts her story with Vihaan (not his real name), a migrant brother who came down with chicken pox one day after starting work in Singapore. “As a Crisis Helpline Specialist, I encounter a wide range of cases, each with unique challenges and needs. […]
Life After a Work Injury: Surviving the impact of a 250kg fan falling onto my legs
“When I woke up, I found my legs wrapped in bandages. I thought I might have lost them forever.” Imagine waking up in an ICU, unable to feel your legs. This was the ordeal 31-year-old Pandi faced a year ago, after a 250kg fan hit his legs in a fan repair service gone […]
Migrant Volunteer: I want to give back as I have received
Access to healthcare remains an unfulfilled need for many low-wage migrant workers in Singapore. This World Health Day, we feature our migrant friend Imon, a former client who has stepped up as HealthServe’s volunteer. Today, Imon is a peer leader who takes pride and joy in engaging and educating his migrant brothers about […]
HealthServe Co-Founder Dr Goh: Imagine a World Without NGOs
By Yang Guangyu, HealthServe intern & student of NUS Master of Social Sciences in Communication What lies ahead for non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in Singapore and beyond? This World NGO Day*, we catch up with our visionary co-founder Dr Goh Wei Leong on his motivations, learnings as well as aspirations for the sector. “Have […]
Hopes of a Hero
Malek has been working in Singapore for almost ten years. Malek started coming to HealthServe at the beginning of this year when he was facing gastric problems. His friends had strongly recommended the affordable healthcare services that HealthServe offers, and since then, Malek has been coming here whenever he faces any medical issues. […]
Resilience Through Adversity
“It felt like my life was falling apart.” “But everything is in control now,” shared Shah*. Like many migrant workers, Shah first came to Singapore to work in hopes of providing a better life for his family of six back in Bangladesh. Soon after he started work in 2007, a string of unfortunate […]
The Different Hats We Wear ft. Dhinesh
Dhinesh first reached out to HealthServe for assistance when he was unemployed. He visited HealthServe to undergo medical check-ups, and that was when he was diagnosed with hematuria (blood in the urine). “HealthServe has been really helpful to me, especially with my medical expenses and issues,” Dhinesh shared. Dhinesh works in a factory […]
The Different Hats We Wear ft. Ahemad Monsur
When most of us have called it a day, Ahemad’s shift begins. At 8pm daily, he clocks into Changi Airport Terminal 2 for his 10-hour work shift. As part of the renovation team giving the terminal a facelift, his job scope consists mostly of demolition work. At the break of dawn, he returns […]
The Different Hats We Wear ft. Ali Jamat
The skyscrapers that surround us; the condominiums that some of us call home; the MRT stations that we pass through everyday – these are just some structures that Ali has supported in constructing as an excavator operator in Singapore over the years. Working a daily 10-hour shift that begins at 6am, his key […]
Heroes of Our Time: Mr Pu
“应该是和平共生,和平相处,没有谁歧视谁” (‘There is no need for discrimination, we should live together peacefully and work together’ in English), Mr Pu explains that while he has not personally experienced any discrimination in Singapore, he has seen negative comments about migrant workers online about how they are stealing jobs away from locals. Mr Pu came to […]
Heroes of Our Time: Mr Tamil
“When drawing, lonely or not also no issue, times passes with a snap of the finger” In early 2020, Tamil, a young indian from Tamilnadu began to find his daily routine of working and sleeping very boring. He bought a sketchbook to start drawing in his free time as he remembered enjoying it […]
Seeking Affordable Healthcare
“I was very upset” recalls Rona, when he had to choose between paying for dental treatment and sending money back home to his family in April this year. He visited the dentist before dormitories went into lockdown this year. Rona was told that treatment for this toothache will cost $200-$300 and says he […]
Intervention to help with H’s ear discomfort
After experiencing discomfort in his left ear in April 2020, H* sought treatment at an external clinic. However, the pain recurred in August and that was when he came to HealthServe’s Geylang clinic on a friend’s recommendation. His condition affected his hearing and also caused pain when he was exposed to loud sounds. […]
Mr Congeniality
With an amicable face that is more often than not lit up with a smile, A* has been dubbed “Mr Congeniality” by some members of the HealthServe team. After hearing about HealthServe’s clinic from a friend after experiencing gastric pain, A* visited our Geylang clinic in April 2020. Subsequently, he has been at […]
Getting better with help and support
X* was in Singapore for just slightly over a year, but his journey hasn’t been easy by any means. Shortly after arriving in Singapore in July 2019, he tells us he sustained a serious injury after falling from the back of a moving vehicle while working in the waste management sector. He struck […]