Six Seasons

珍惜拥有的一切 当它依然还在你身边 现在才了解 已过一光年 人为何总要失去挚爱才会懂得去学会 ........(书签) ...my song

Thursday, April 08, 2010

Another True Story...No anguish, but full of sadness

I believed Yesterday's post would have made you mad...mad over that Woman....or many called her...Bitch.

But today's true story is one which has saddened me..

1995, i remembered i fell really sick...fever and with gastric pain...my mum then took me to the clinic which i had always patronized in Boon Lay...i was attended by this new doctor. who speaks extremely broken Chinese... he's Dr Eric Kwek, that was my first impression of him..

somehow he's quite 投缘 with my family, esp my mother...maybe he's a 师奶杀手 back then. Until 1997, if i am not mistaken..he opened his own clinic in Taman Jurong. From a low tide in his career to the point where his clinic started to prosper, becos of his day to day hard earned reputation. My mother, myself and my sisters never failed to patronize him when we were really sick...from service provider-customer, we gradually became friends, friends whom we can talk about all sorts of issues, sometimes even up to half hr consultations at times. When my mum passed away in 1999, he showed up at the wake to pay his last respects...looking back, as a doc, it's highly likely to face 'life and death' so frequently...how many docs actually bother or have the spare time to even attend the wake of a patient???

in 2005, i remembered on mar 25, my sisters brought me to a 24 hr clinic cos it was late at night and his clinic has closed...(we were left with no choice)... i collapsed at the clinic and had to be evacuated to NUH Accident and Emergency department in an ambulance....my sister called him up... probably it's pass 11pm (i was too sick to remember the exact timing). He turned up at the A&E just to visit me, i could hear him scolding the doctors who attended to me and he was telling them what to do because they have given me a wrong diagnosis. After i was well enough to stand and walk again on the same night (few hours after i was put on drip), my sister was instructed not to drive me home. instead we made our way to his clinic....yes..made our way to his clinic close to mid night. When all shops have closed. he went back to his clinic just for me....gave me 3 jabs so that i could recover within days.

The last time i saw him was close to Q3 2009 if i am not mistaken...

After that i was told he's on medical leave by his wife....when i asked about him, she said that he's recovering well.....

The last time we contacted was through sms when i was trying to get from him a medical report to submit to my HR....

Yesterday i called up his clinic again....to send my regards and to ask about his condition....that was the time when i was told the truth...by his clinic assistant...

Belinda: "the clinic has been sold"

Me: "what????? has Dr Kwek's condition worsened"

Belinda: "Yes"

Me: "i sort of know that he has contracted cancer (trying to sound her out)..... where is the cancer exactly???"

Belinda:"the tumor was in his heart....u know, it's impossible to remove the whole tumor by surgery..so they only managed to remove a portion of it and the rest had to be done by radiotherapy and chemotherapy...recently his condition has worsened and he gets really breathless really easily..and he is in the hospital...."

Me: "I really hope to pay him a visit.....but i'm worried that they may not want an outsider to be there..... and whether he allows me to pay him the visit"

Belinda:"i plan to visit him tmr after the clinic closes...i check for you. if we are going down and he's ok with you visiting him, i'll give you a call???"

Me:" sure! please do!! thanks"

The call did not come.....



I got this sms from my sister at 2258 hrs:














My sis: "Dr Kwek pass away liao..sad.." ---- news was from a distant relative of his who is my sis's fren














I am really sad to hear the news...and somewhat shocked...yes i expected that he might not pull through...cos it's the heart....where the tumor was... but i did not expect it to be so fast...











Dr Kwek...RIP

I will remember you...not just as a skillful doctor who managed to cure all my illnesses up to date in the shortest time possible.. I will also remember you as my friend, someone i known for 15 years...i will remember the moments when you stood up for me at the NUH A&E, i will remember how you always teased me as a 'chemical engineer' that it was ur second choice course just after medicine when u applied for uni back then, and his "ya lah...chemical engineer" when i try to reason out with him some simple medical theories ....i will remember the days when you'll always show me new gadgets which you bought for your clinic each time i consulted you because i fell sick and how excited you can get over them and busy explaining to me the theories and how good they are.....i will remember the days when there was once i fell really sick also (high fever) and you gave me 3 jabs, allowed me to rest in the spare room in your clinic until your clinic closes and even sent me back home after that.....i will remember the days when you teased me on my 'stupidity' for trying to use 青草油 to disinfect my abrasion wound which led to serious infection....i will not forget the days which you always get so excited when you talked about the musical pieces you are going to play on piano during your church events, showing me the IT gadgets to enhance your piano performance.....i will not forget the days which you will never fail to complain to me each time i patronized you, how tired you are, traveling here and there and how washed out you felt due to the lack of rest......






Finally, you get to rest....but unfortunately, this time round, when you closed your eyes, it's for good...................








he's only 46 years old this year....even though sometimes he talks like a boy, but deep down i know that he's truly a good doctor.......he's Dr Eric Kwek Soon Kiat. My sisters and I paid our last respects to him

有人说一次告别天上就会有克星又熄灭............<离人>

21 Comments:

Anonymous PK said...

Thanks for sharing; this is the same Dr Eric Kwek I remember from before the mid-90's and earlier. We'd lost touch over the past years but your description of his friendship, dedication, sincerity, and enthusiasm brings back fond memories.

12:37 PM  
Blogger UK2010 said...

Thank you for your blog. I've been friends with Eric for 34 years. Eric was arguably my best friend not because we argued so much, but because he's always there, just like you described it.

It was a friend of Eric's who lives in Oklahoma who first saw it and drew my attention to it. I've forwarded it to Faith, Eric's wife.

God bless you!
Wong Tak Meng

5:11 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Brought tears to my eyes... Very inspiring. Thanks for sharing!

-Laughingcow

7:23 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thanks for sharing... Dr Eric Kwek is indeed a very nice and caring doctor... My son who is 20 months old now was also treated by Dr Kwek when he was sick. I was really sad when I heard the news that he passed away... Really sad... He's such a nice doctor...

Candy (DylanMum)

2:02 AM  
Anonymous Naughty Kwek said...

Hi, I am also a patient of Dr Kwek, coincidentally I am also a 'Kwek'. I know him since 2000 after I set up my hawker business with my mum at the market just besides his clinic. During these 10yrs I never fail to visit him whenever I am sick. Shortly after knowing his excellent medical skills, I brought my mum and sis along for treatment. A humbly doctor, my girlfriend, who is now my wife eventually also became his friend more than a 'doctor and patient'. He had witnessed me from a naughty boy to an adult, forming up a family and becoming a father of my 3 year old daughter. He is an educating brother, who supersedes the responsibility of a doctor. Practicing his unwavering principle more than a doctor, who never shuns losing his business revenues; yet scolded me over my wrong doings getting myself sick rather than happily seeing me fattening his wallets.

More than a year seeing him with no avail, clinic shutters down every time during my ailing visits, I read from some articles that he was diagnosed with cancer. I have always wanted to visit him giving him my morale support after so many unsuccessful attempts. Darkest moment came this morning receiving an extreme shock (which I have yet to overcome) when I called up called up his clinic to check his availability for a visit. However, heartrending news from his clinic assistant: "Dr Kwek already passed away last Thursday."

My hope to visit him unfortunately turns blind alongside a crashing blow. This day I always expected will never come to me again…
Dr Eric Kwek...RIP. Thank you so much for your care and concern during these 10 years. Your name, medical skills, care and passion in medicine will always be a leading example to all of us which will continue to live on our memories wherever you are.

6:52 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Always our best friend and doctor in Taman Jurong. We will remember you for your treatment, your lesson and your jokes.

Peh

11:55 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Just knew abt his demise from newspapers today.

I was shocked and very sad. He is the best doctor that I have ever seen. I remembered when I first visited his clinic in 1997, he's like a gangster doctor but he showed care and concern which I have never saw other doctors like him. From then on, he became my family doctor, he took good care of my family and me all this years. I could never find any other doctor that could replace him. He never fails to help my family and me, in our ailments and sickness. Over these 10 years, we shared stories about our life, our children, and so many other things. He is my friend, not just my doctor.

Rest in Peace, my friend.

8:41 PM  
Anonymous Lim's family said...

Doctor Eric became my family's doctor 10 years ago. Is very shock and sad after reading from the newspaper that he had passed away ....

I didn't expect that his condition was so bad as my family and myself keep asking the clinic nurse about him. Only later part that the nurse had broke the news to my mum that he had cancer in his heart(on 5/4/10). Same night I msg him, sending my rgds to him and hope that we will see him soon. He did reply to me and just say thank you. Now thinking back i should have asked him further if we could pay him a visit .... but is too late now ...

Will forever remember his concern, medical advise and friendship.

From David and Julie

we were suppose to visit him but too bad he passed away too early.
I missed him so much since he took his sick leave but did not know that his cancer was at the last stage when he realised. It is so sad.....

From sweetie (Shanel Lim)that he always address.

Doctor Eric....RIP

8:55 PM  
Blogger mummychai said...

Thanks for sharing.

He's indeed always there...

Have you ever met a locum who says,
"call my handphone lah.. if there's anything.."
".. come back for a review..."

he puts my heart at ease each time my kids fall sick. I remembered I have to make it a point to be the first one to arrive at the clinic, to be the first one to be seen by him cos you wil have to wait for an hour if u r the 4th one...

he heals he advises, he chats, he cares ...

thank you so much for all the trainings .. I will remember forever

".. honey,barley,h2o....."

It was you who had made those tough times easy, it was you solve allthe problems I thought would never be solved.

goodbye my friend, my family doctor..

cynthia and family

12:07 AM  
Blogger harky said...

My strategy back then was:
avoid the 8.30am crowd
go at the 2pm slot if possible
for 6.30pm slot, i will make sure i am there by 6.15pm, if not i will make sure i am there just before 9 so that i am either the first or last patient...lol

8:27 AM  
Blogger mummychai said...

:) but whatever it is, we kept going back .. isnt it... It's just worth the wait.

one last thing.. to Mrs Kwek and the kids, stay strong! N to Belinda.. all the best:)

10:50 AM  
Blogger May Low said...

Thanks for sharing... He is also my family doctor which I had visited him for the past 7 years. I will also never forget his patient & dedication towards us.

12:38 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Dr Kwek is/was both a caring doctor and good friend. We never failed to chat about electronics gadgets and cars everything my wife or myself visit him at his clinic.

The last time I met him was probably mid last 2009. I visited his clinic for diarrhoea and he was still his usual self. He informed me that he had a batch of flu jab and I told to reserve 2 for my wife and myself.

When I returned for the jab, he was absent... Had the impression he was unwell...

My prayers to his family and mourn his loss as well.

Do you happen to know where is his resting place, we would like to pay our respect as well.

Kindly email me -> bish0p@earthling.net

rgds
ks

3:36 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thank you for your blog. Reading through your blog and everyone else's comments brings tears back to my eyes. I knew about his passing away from the obituary last sat, since then thoughts of him keeps coming back to my mind frequently.

I've only known Dr Kwek for 2 year, and I still remembered how sceptical I was on the first visit (it was hubby's idea to try out this doc that his colleague recommended). When I first saw him, I was like, wow look a bit like gangster leh, sure or not, dun look like doctor at all...

And the first visit ended up being something like 30mins in the consultation room... He's so easy to talk to. He systematically used his white torchlight and checked my son's ear, nose and throat (did this everytime..) And he drew the FRCP (Fever Cough Running nose and Phglem) table for me to bring back for reference.... On the second visit (for my #2 who was sick), I casually asked him about rashes, bites, that the kids seems so prone to.., my #3 baby seems to be having some, but not sure what they were and she wasn't with us at that time. His immediate response, "take a picture and mms to me. I will tell u what it is".

The FRCP table and the white torchlight were my most valuable lessons from Dr Kwek. I will definitely think of him the next time I whipped these 2 weapons out..
My 6 year old saw the newspaper article last night and was so excited to see Dr Kwek's pic. She got very excited and went round telling everyone in the house that she's been to his clinic before, and she made a comment which brought a tear to my eye, "we've not been there for a long time, the last time, he was not there, dun know why....)

ps: If you know his resting place, appreciate if you could email the information to me. Tks. chyeo78@yahoo.com.sg

CH Yeo

10:47 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Would like to pay respects to him too, please let me know if anyone know where is his resting place. Email me at hopezfloatz@gmail.com, Thanks.

1:22 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

I was shocked and only got the news today 20/04/2010, Dr Eric Kwek Soon Kiat has passed away on 08/04/2010. The news was from my ex-colleague, who is from the motor car industries.(Life is so short). I came to know Dr Eric Kwek during my late army reservist when he was my camp unit HQ14SIB Medical Officer (MO) in Selarang Camp from 1998. From there, he told me, he run a clinic in Taman Jurong. I have visited him at his clinic at Taman Jurong shopping centre. I always remembered him, he love cars and is a car enthusiast. He too like to share with me his funny electronic things whenever I visited him . In around 2000, I have served him several times when he visited Komoco Hyundai showroom to see some cars. At that time, I was still a car salesman there. He was always very soft spoken, helpful and a caring doctor. It was Sad, he just left us so sudden and I didn't got the chance to pay my last respect and attend his funeral or wake. Same here, I could never find any other Doctor that can replace him.
RIP Dr Eric Kwek, you will always remembered for a being caring doctor and my friend always.
PS : Anyone who know where is his resting place is ? please kindly e-mail me at petertan6228@gmail.com
I would like to pay my respects to him. Appreciated and Thank you. Peter Tan

6:11 AM  
Anonymous Naughty Kwek said...

Anyone who know where is his resting place?
Email me too. kwek_stanley@yahoo.com.sg

12:45 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Hi Can i know the resting place as well as i would like to pay my respect. Please do email me at b694@hotmail.com. thanks.

12:49 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thank you for sharing.
If anyone know his resting place, please email me.
Truly, I want to pay my respect.
my email is ngls2000@yahoo.com

Louis Ng

10:56 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I first visited Dr Kwek after receiving a recommendation from my Israeli friend who lived in Taman Jurong (hmm..his fame is far and wide). I thought I just had fever and backache, but after skillful diagnosis, he told me i had kidney infection. I ended up in hospital eventually and recovered within the week; if not for him, it would likely have gone undetected and I would have been much worse

I had never met such a brilliant doctor, he really reminded me of the doctor in "House". He appeared very pleased when I told him that, and said he was like House in that he played the piano too.

What was most unusual was that he called me twice within the week to check if my fever had subsided. Now reading all the other posts, it seemed totally in character for such a caring doctor. At that time, I even found it creepy because no doctor had called me before. Truly, can anyone name a doctor who would bother to follow up voluntarily? I can't name any.

At that time, I was very glad that I had found such a brilliant doctor and would think of visiting him whenever there were puzzling symptoms. I brought my husband back and we had the great honour of getting another consultation again. I said great honour because we never saw him again. We went back last July but he was not around

When we went last week, we were truly shocked to learn that he had passed away. My husband said that he had seemed to be a high flyer at SGH and perhaps it was because of his sickness that he chose to open a simple clinic in our ulu Taman Jurong. If that was indeed the case, I just want to tell Mrs Kwek and his children that it was our great gain to have had the chance of having Dr Kwek here.

I feel greatly saddened at his passing, and a strange sense of loss. After reading all these posts, I also feel surprise that such a great and wonderful doctor could have lived amongst us unknown for so long. I think Dr Kwek should be held up as an inspiration for the medical profession, and for all of us.

May God bless his family with the peace that passes all understanding.

Rebecca

3:30 AM  
Blogger kate said...

I read through all the tributes and had been much encouraged that Eric who has been a long lost friend for many years had indeed ran a good race and bring honour and glory to the name of God.

I knew Eric during his teenage years. I vaguely remembered him as an old boy of St Andrews and later he went to Hwa Chong. (I hope I remember correctly).

I was a young believer from TKGS then in 1979. My mum has forbidden me to go to church and the only way I could get to know God and had fellowship with other believers was through Campus Crusade for Christ. It was through leadership camps that I got to know Eric. During the camps, you really see how loved to play the piano and used his musical talent to serve God.

There was one occasion I remembered he needed to get a white long sleeve shirt for one of his performances and a few of us accompanied him to get his shirt. He is pretty task-oriented. He went straight into the store, go to the shirt area and grab what he needed. He does not waste much time.

The last time I met Eric was the the bus-stop in 1882. He had a crew cut and was joking about having faster heat loss from his head. Indeed, his glowing face with his charming grin showing his clean white teeth had left me with an everlasting impression of him.

Since then, our path had not crossed. Tonight, I suddenly thought of him and chanced upon this site and to learn of his great deeds as a good doctor who truly cares for his patient. He may have passed on but I take consolation that he is now home with my Lord and Saviour.

Eric, sorry that my good byes come so late. Thanks for being a good role model for all of us who follow Christ. Thanks for beautiful memories. Till we meet again.

May our dear Lord bless your wife and children. They must have been so proud of you too.

Katie Sai

12:37 AM  

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