To many of his patients, Dr. Eric Kwek Soon Kiat was more than a doctor; he was a doctor whom had gone the extra miles – 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 also like a friend to many of his patients. Fond memories of his acts of kindness, his patience and sincerity will always touch the hearts of his many patients or should I say, 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 all 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 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 other doctors and aspiring doctors. Just as the revenue is important to you, your patients are equally, if not more important as they have entrusted their lives to you. In saying that, I do not deny that survival for you and your family is also important in order for you to have a peace of mind to help others.

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 reflect upon! A life worthy of being remembered will differ from individual to individual as one explores deep 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 was 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 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.
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Photo by Parentingupstream