Medical Tourism: A Rising Industry

John Perez | j.perez@nus.edu.sg
theridge news
A NUSSU Publication

Singapore has proven itself as a fantastic tourist destination. A clean and safe environment coupled with a superior infrastructure and cultural diversity, it has attracted many visitors worldwide.

Of late, however, it is the collaboration between Singapore’s medical and t industries that is taking the country by storm. Positioning itself as a medical tourism hub, Singapore now serves close to 200,000 foreign patients every year, said Express Health Management.

Medical tourism defined

Defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as “the crossing of national boundaries to obtain medical services and health care,” medical tourism has been on a popularity rise for many reasons.

Firstly, medical procedures can be cheaper by up to 50 percent in Singapore. A heart valve replacement in the United States costs $60,000 while one done in Singapore is only $12,500, according to Focus Singapore.

The second reason is efficiency. Countries like Canada have waiting lists stretching to 16 weeks for non-emergency surgeries such as cataract removals. In contrast, most medical tourism packages here include immediate visits to doctors.

But speed and savings are not the sole reasons for the increasing popularity of medical tourism. Many people simply want the best healthcare possible.

“My uncle comes to Singapore for his kidney dialyses because of the country’s excellent healthcare,” said Ryan Wee, a second-year Engineering student.

The National University Hospital as part of the medical tourism industry

Given the rising popularity of the medical tourism industry, it is no surprise that the National University of Singapore sees her fair share of medical tourists.

In fact, the National University Hospital has an International Patient Liaison Centre to cater to any foreigners who fly over for medical purposes.

In addition to the usual offerings of healthcare services, NUH also provides accommodations, airport pick-ups, language translation, flight reservation and visa extension services, all of which are part of a range of additional services that the hospital offers to its visitors.

Living by its philosophy to provide seamless, accessible, effective and affordable care, there are special phone lines created to cater to the foreign visitors from countries such as the Philippines, Vietnam and China.
To make their visitors feel welcome and taken care of, advertisements, brochures are printed in over four different languages. And with the extra miles NUH goes for its visitors, it has built up a strong track record amongst its foreign patients.

In 2007, Vietnamese Mr. Phuong Khanh, was admitted for blood clots in his brain as well as cardiovascular problems. Vietnamese hospitals referred him immediately to the NUH as his age made surgery more difficult. The procedure went well and Phuong Khanh recovered.

“My father is really grateful to Professor Lee and all the other doctors and nurses at NUH because he has been treated so well. Everything was explained clearly and it made us confident. Even the nurses made sure he understood what he has to do to keep healthy,” said his daughter when asked about NUH’s medical services.

Another notable case is that of Mr. Alain Chaloux who suffered back pains for six years.

Tired of the long medical waiting list in his home country of Canada, he flew to Singapore and was able to meet with a doctor within a few hours of his arrival. He was treated swiftly and efficiently and is now sure that the pains are now behind him.

“Everything was perfect from the time we got off the plane in Singapore. Professor Wong explained everything to us, which made us feel confident and the nurses took excellent care of him,” his sister Ms. Julie Chaloux said.

“We will certainly recommend Singapore to anyone frustrated with the long wait for medical care in Canada,” she added.

Spotlight on Singapore

At present, Singapore’s annual revenue for medical tourism alone is three billion US dollars every year.

Three government agencies, the Economic Development Board, the Singapore Tourism Board, and the International Enterprise Singapore, have been quick to pick up on the trend. And capitalize on the growing medical tourism industry.

There are now about a dozen internationally accredited hospitals in Singapore, with many equipping themselves with international patient centres.

Singapore’s efforts to establish itself as a medical hub have paid off as the WHO ranked Singapore the sixth best health system in the world. In addition, Singapore has made a name for herself internationally in the fields of cardiology, ophthalmology, oncology, and dental services.

In this regard, Singapore’s Parkway Hospitals lead the country in its efforts to develop the medical tourism industry.

Three of its hospitals, Mount Elizabeth Hospital, Gleneagles Hospital and East Shore Hospital, were among the early few healthcare service providers to receive the ISO-9002 International Quality certification in the Asian region.
But medical credentials are not the sole focus of the Singapore government. The tourism aspect is an integral factor as well.

Along with many medical tourism packages come offers for hotel stays as well as recommendations for recreation and shopping. Many of Singapore’s landmarks, like the Merlion or Sentosa, are also heavily advertised to prospective patients.

It is apparent that the phenomenon has penetrated various sectors of Singapore society and as technology, medicine and international connectivity continue to evolve, it can only grow further in popularity. Medical tourism continues to be a symbol of growth, opportunities and the sharing of skills and resources across national boundaries.

When the Student Becomes the Teacher

Fabius Chen | fabiuschen@nus.edu.sg
theridge news
A NUSSU Publication

In conjunction with Teachers’ Day, theridge speaks to three individuals who have experienced being both student and teacher – at the same time. They share some of the challenges they have faced, their most memorable moments and some of the important lessons they have learnt whilst assuming both roles simultaneously.

photo credit: Ou Meimin

Ms. Ou Meimin

Having won the Department of Communications and New Media’s Excellent Teaching Assistant Award in her first full year on the job, there is little doubt that Ms. Ou Meimin is revelling in her dual role as student and teacher.

Currently in her third year as a teaching assistant, she is also working on her thesis, which investigates the level of information disclosure of Singaporean youth on Facebook and whether parents teach their children about online privacy protection.

According to her, one important lesson she has learnt is that for most of the part, education is a two-way street.

“We, the teaching staff, also get to learn a lot from our students in the course of our interaction,” she said.

“This in turn gives me a better appreciation of classroom dynamics when I’m in one of my graduate classes.”

Having said that, managing both roles often leaves her longing for more time, especially when there are only so many hours in a day.

She quipped, “I catch myself wishing that there are more than 24 hours in a day, especially when students start e-mailing me more often as project deadlines – which coincide with crunch time for my own papers – draw near.”

“Colleagues tell me that I do not have to respond to all my correspondence right away but even if I choose to sleep on it, the e-mails and the work will still be there.”

All things considered, however, her experience as a teaching assistant has left Ou pondering a career in teaching full-time.

“There’s a great sense of fulfillment at the end of each semester when I see the progress of my students from their first tutorial to the end of the module.

“Also, the interaction with students and the exchange of ideas on teaching and learning with my colleagues is definitely an attractive option,” she concluded.

photo credit: Ang Hui Fang Andie

Ms. Ang Hui Fang Andie (on the left in picture)

Teaching her first class at the age of 23, one observation Ms. Ang Hui Fang Andie made was that “some of the students were the same age as me.”

And observations are something she should be rather proficient at, considering her Masters project – gathering ecological information on the banded leaf monkey – is based largely on field observation work.

“That semester was especially significant as it was my first time as a teaching assistant but everything still went pretty smoothly,” she shared.

Now in the second year of her Masters programme with the Department of Biological Sciences, Ang acknowledged that the most difficult part of being both a student and a teacher is managing one’s time.

She said, “I have to balance the work of a student, which involves attending lectures, studying and going out into the field, with that of a teacher, where I have to read up on topics beforehand and planning how to teach a lesson effectively.

“I do not wish to compromise any aspect of my field work or my teaching and so, being able to manage my time well is crucial.”

What she does enjoy, on the other hand, is being safe in the knowledge that her efforts are not for naught.

“I take pride in knowing that at the end of each practical session, the students have learnt something interesting and that they appreciate the help I have afforded them,” she stressed.

She also believes that being both a student and a teacher at the same time gives one a much greater of appreciation of the intricacies of each role.

“You begin to understand what both parties expect out of each class,” she explained.

“There is a misconception that teachers have to be able to answer any question but it is actually more beneficial when there is an exchange of ideas through the posing of questions and discussion of possible answers.”

photo credit: Chia Meng Tat Jack

Mr. Chia Meng Tat Jack

Having been awarded the Harvard-Yenching Institute Fellowship, Mr. Chia Meng Tat Jack will be leaving for Harvard University in September to study East Asian history.

But even as he prepares to embark on this exciting new challenge, the 27-year-old – who graduated with a B.A. (Hons) from the Department of History in 2007 and completed his MA thesis earlier this year – has fond memories of his time as a teaching assistant in NUS.

Over the course of three semesters, he taught two modules: HY2229/SSA2204 – Nation-Building in Singapore and GEM2005/HY2243 – Film and History; whilst working on his Masters thesis at the same time.

Looking back on the experience, he stressed that it was as rewarding as it was challenging.

“The biggest challenge was time management,” he said.

“It wasn’t easy juggling my time between my courses, research, writing and teaching responsibilities.

“However, I am very grateful to have had the privilege of teaching many outstanding students who have, in turn, also taught me many things.”

According to Chia, his love for teaching was cultivated by those who taught him in his younger days.

He explained, “I’ve been fortunate enough to have wonderful and inspiring teachers throughout my education.

“It makes me realise just how important teachers are and therefore, when I take on the role of a teacher, I will give my best to my students.”

His best was enough for one of his students who described him as “a very effective tutor who is able to bring a seemingly ‘dead’ subject like history to life” – a comment which he singled out as one of his most memorable teaching experiences.

“I was very touched when I read this comment,” he said.

“I certainly hope I can continue to ‘bring history to life’ and inspire more student to fall in love with the discipline.”

Singapore Writers Festival 2009

24th October – 1st November

Tay Huizhen | benediction.jay@gmail.com
theridge transmedia
A NUSSU Publication

What comes to mind on mention of dimly-lit rooms, fluffy pillows, together with soft lighting and equally soft music playing in the background? What does it suggest or stoke the imagination, of snuggling up with?

Why, a good book of course!

The bi-annual Singapore Writers Festival is back this year, with a somewhat suggestive theme of ‘UNderCovers’. Make no mistake though, connotations of the intimate are strictly along academic lines and are meant to project the idea of a more inclusive approach taken by hosts The Arts House in conjunction with the National Arts Council (NAC).

Over the week-long event, expect to see over a hundred authors, an exclusive string of book launches as well as an interesting focus on Malaysian Literature in a unique extension of 2007’s theme of ‘Crossings’. Malaysian cartoonist Lat will be present, alongside Singapore’s first full-time manga artist Wee Tian Beng. Take a peek also, into the emerging works of young writers like Shamini Flint and Wena Poon.

Engage first-hand in works as wide-ranging as a novel about an East Timorese resistance fighter’s experience, Spanish children literature and the works of a local librarian that are anything but humble.

‘Little Lit!’ – a series of children-specific programmes, alongside novel pre-event programmes such as July’s 144-hour Reading Marathon at the National Library and The Proletariat Poetry Factory at Raffles City are all part of a dense line-up for a wider audience.

Aside from customary meet-the-author sessions, a multi-disciplinary approach also introduces film screenings, visual art exhibitions and workshops for aspiring writers. In addition, authors of the novel-to-film adaptations, Dai Sijie’s [“Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress” (2002)] and John Boyne, [“Boy in Striped Pajamas” (2008)] will both be making special appearances at the festival.

Aptly in lieu of Halloween is a considerable volume of horror and thriller fiction as part of the festival highlights. For a uniquely Singaporean take however, look no further than a panel discussion eerily entitled ‘Dissecting the Merlion’. Eight writers of diverse literary backgrounds, including Ng Yi-Sheng and Alfian Sa’at will re-ignite epic debates and lingering issues surrounding the uniquely Singaporean icon.

If you have not already caught a glimpse of literary superstar Neil Gaiman of “The Sandman” series fame during his previous visits to sunny Singapore, then this would be the perfect time to do so as well. On this trip, he will collaborate with The Dresden Dolls’ Amanda Palmer in a highly-anticipated reading of their macabre new photo book, ‘Who Killed Amanda Palmer’.

With literary luminaries like 2008 Man Booker Prize winner Mohammed Hanif (author of “A Case of Exploding Mangoes”), renowned Japanese screenwriter, novelist and playwright Taichi Yamada (author of “Strangers”) and NUS’ very own Emeritus Professor Edwin Thumboo gracing the festivities, this year’s Singapore Writers Festival looks set to be an exciting one with something for everyone.

Registration for the events has already opened. For more information, please visit http://www.singaporewritersfestival.com/

Premier League Punditry

Raghuraman Uthaman | raghuramanuthaman@hotmail.com
theridge
A NUSSU Publication

theridge takes a look at the ever popular English Premier League and takes a shot at predicting how the saga plays out over the coming season!

12 weeks of agony have ended. The source of excitement and entertainment for many, over the weekends, is finally back. A whole new season of thrills and spills, of top-of-the-table clashes and relegation dogfights, of managers mouthing off at each other, of players sniping at each other, of the fastest and most physical football on the planet. Welcome to the Barclays Premier League.

The managers had 12 weeks to work their magic. In the transfer market, even non-football fans would have heard of superstar Cristiano Ronaldo’s 80 million pound move to Real Madrid. The Manchester United camp is divided on this issue, with some bemoaning the loss of their top scorer while others are glad to be rid of his prima donna ways and the opportunity for the other players to step up. However, what the Manchester United camp would probably unanimously agree on is that Carlos Tevez has turned traitor by going to Manchester City. Manchester City has earned the rancour of many a football club, poaching, or trying to poach, many of their top players (look at insert below).

What is notable about this season’s transfer activity is the marked lack of high-profile signings. In fact, it could be claimed that after Ronaldo and Manchester City’s wheeling and dealing, the most striking piece of transfer news is the loss of Xabi Alonso to Real Madrid (which has, for your information, spent a total of US $375 million this summer). Whether that has an impact on the quality of football, and the vaunted global appeal of the Premier League, remains to be seen.

The season proper finally kicked off over the weekend of the 15th of August. Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United all kicked off their season with wins; Arsenal’s being a superlative 6-1 demolition of hated rivals Everton at Goodison Park. Manchester City, despite being completely dominated, eked out a 2-0 win over Blackburn Rovers, getting to a good start in achieving their lofty ambitions. Liverpool and Aston Villa lost their games to Tottenham and Wigan respectively, lacklustre displays costing them the opportunity to get their first 3 points on the board. Newly-promoted Burnley lost 0-2 to Stoke, last year’s newcomers.

Did the first weekend change my prediction? Not really.

9 months to go. The writer apologises in advance if any of the predictions turn out to be horribly wrong at the end of the season. All in a bit of fun, really. Enjoy your football, and may the best team win!

Top Four.

They have experience, they have ambition, and they have top-class managers who have seen everything. Expect Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United to be battling it out for honours come January, but it may well turn out to be a two-horse race by April.

Europa League.

Manchester City have invested heavily, but the spine of the side is not yet settled and the squad looks top heavy; they will not last the season. Expect them to join Tottenham and Aston Villa in the fight for the Europa League next season.

Relegation battle.

Newly promoted Birmingham seems to have the mettle to stay up, manager Alex McLeish having done well in close-season to prepare his team for the rigours of the Premier League.Wolverhampton and Burnley look like they’re going to go straight back down, however. Portsmouth is most likely to join them; they spent most of the 2nd half of last season in freefall and haven’t really done anything to significantly strengthen.

Golden Boot.

Golden Boot to be between Didier Drogba, Wayne Rooney and Fernando Torres. Barring injury, Torres has the edge over the other two due to the system Liverpool employs which requires the centre-forward to be the main source of goals, in contrast to the systems which Manchester United and Chelsea employ which heavily involve the midfield players as well.

First manager sacked.

Carlo Ancelotti is surely somewhere near the top of the list of managers who are likely to be sacked – this is no reflection on his ability but rather the demands of owner Roman Abramovich. However, Phil Brown is my prediction to face the sack first. After their fantastic start to last season, Hull City just could not get their act together and the manager was blamed. He regularly makes a fool of himself in front of the cameras and microphones and has turned into a somewhat reviled figure. He’s still in the hot seat, but Hull might very well be looking at a new manager soon.

Fair Play league.

Not many know this even exists, but the winner of this league is rewarded with a place in the lucrative Europa League. The rankings in this table are determined by the number of yellow and red cards that a team accrues over the season, 1 point for a yellow and 2 for a red. The team with the lowest total wins the league. It is difficult to envisage the outcome at the top, the bottom of the table is easier to predict. Expect one from the trio of Stoke City, Bolton and Blackburn, teams with a direct physical style which relies on strength and shutting down the opposition, to be at the bottom of that table.

Flop signing.

Would you rather a player who made his move to a new club injured, or a permanently injured player who’s lived on nothing but his reputation for the past 3 years? Take your pick. Alberto Aquilani or Michael Owen.

Twitter Tweet Tweet

Lee Seng Jea | u0606602@nus.edu.sg
theridge
A NUSSU Publication

Twitter is the ultimate kay-poh’s tool. Get instant updates from your friends about what they are doing- what shoes they are wearing, who they are fancying right now, etc. This instant messaging service, which started in as late as March of 2006, has become a massive project with roughly 6 million unique visitors per month. Now, you may want to contest the actual number of users, but suffice to say it’s a substantial amount. But what has Twitter been really used for? A recent survey has shown that 40 percent of Twitter posts are pointless babble. What actually constitutes ‘babble’ is of course debatable, but stuff like ‘I just walked past a tree’ is utterly boh-liao. It is easier to think of Twitter more as ‘online gossip’ than anything else. Twitter sentences are short (limited to 140 characters) but this is hardly a problem for most users today, having been trained in the art of keeping their SMS messages within 160 characters.

One of the more famous examples of Twitter use is Ashton Kutcher’s tweets. With a whopping 3.31 million ‘followers’, he is one of the most followed people on Twitter. Followers get the latest gossip on what he’s doing and what youtube videos he’s watching. Twitter messaging has also evolved to facilitate the reading of tweets. For example, tweets with a ‘#’ followed by a name are channel tweets. They are a way of grouping certain tweets under the same topic (e.g. #iranelection, #welovethenhs). Tweets with a ‘@’ followed by a username is a ‘personal’ message although everyone who follows that Twitter user would still be able to read that message (e.g. @aplusk). These symbols (i.e. @, #) are revolutionary and have helped catapult Twitter into competition with Facebook. This is because Twitter now allows for online searches of tweets, and symbols like these help users search for real time information about virtually anything, including a friend’s life.

However, not all that is in Twitter is dirt. Much like how newspaper classifieds played a part in the cold war, Twitter has also played its part- quite a big role actually- in revolutions, protests and uprisings. Some examples are the recent Iran election, the Russia-Georgia war, and anti-communist protests in Moldova. In some cases, these tweets were the war-cries that had been silenced by the ruling government. In other cases, Twitter was used to conduct large-scale Distributed Denial of Service attacks.

In Iran, many users have used Twitter to counter covert government operations aimed at snuffing out opposition protests. A day after the initial Iranian protests, many websites were banned. However, due to the dependence of key public infrastructure on these technologies, not all services could be shut. This was where Twitter, with the help of proxies, came in. Proxies are third-party websites which relay information from one website to the user- www.agentanon.com being one such website. While you are accessing Twitter.com, the government sees you as accessing agentanon.com. Iranians used Twitter to assemble themselves, by gathering protesters despite Mir Mousavi’s (the opposition) attempts to calm protesters down to prevent unnecessary bloodshed. Indeed, Twitter became such an important tool in the protests that the US Department of State requested that Twitter delay the planned upgrade of its servers, which would involve shutting the service down, until the Iranian protests were over.

Over in Moldova, a crowd of 10,000 protesters gathered in the city centre to protest the government leadership. They had used Twitter (as well as Facebook and other real-time messaging services) to co-ordinate their efforts. Although the protests didn’t bring about any revolutionary change in the country, they did exhibit the ability of such services to mobilise large groups of people to a common cause.

Another use (or misuse some might say) of Twitter is to co-ordinate Denial of Service attacks. A Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack is when large groups of computers connect to a single server simultaneously, thus jamming the server temporarily. Sounds like greek? In real life, a DDoS would be equivalent to 100,000 people storming into Old Chang Kee to buy Curry’O. Imagine if every one of those people agreed beforehand to talkcock and waste the poor employee’s time. It would then be impossible for genuine customers to buy Curry’O until the DDoS was over. Now on the internet, getting 100,000 computers to co-ordinate an attack is pretty simple. Remember that cute screensaver you downloaded? It probably contains a small piece of software which does that. That was what happened during the war between Russia and Georgia last year. The Internet in Georgia was down after having been DDoSed by Russian hackers. It sounds very Cold-War-ish, but it does happen.

Undeniably, Twitter has become an extremely popular and increasingly powerful tool on the internet. The ability to send and receive tweets in real-time is an advantage in critical moments such as during a protest or war. At the same time, Twitter passes on the latest gossip to users- making rumours spread faster than kay-pohs could ever manage.

Liver – Live or Let Die

Goh Bang Rui
theridge
A NUSSU Publication

When the simple two-syllable word “liver” enters your hearing zone , you will most probably start to imagine vivid images of the livers in human bodies or perhaps how amazing our homo sapiens’ livers can regenerate after being intoxicated and ravaged by our incessant alcoholic abuse. Then again, if you are to cease the wild imagination for a moment, perhaps the idea of liver being a tantalizing food item may appear momentarily in our minds. Does the exquisite dish “Foie Gras” or “Fat Liver” in French strike a chord? Perhaps. Maybe. How about an even more common item like cod liver oil? I believe most of you out there do at a certain point consume this dietary supplement.

Well, unknowingly, animals’ livers have been silently integrated into our daily consumption habits. Animals’ livers are rich in iron and vitamin A. As we know it, it may not been obvious when we are selecting our dishes to fill our ever-hungry stomachs in between the never-ending lessons. However, if NUS decides to bring in the famous dish “Foie Gras” into our canteens, will it be well received? Let us hear from some of our students.

Nazeehah Taib, Year 1 Student of Faculty Arts of Social Sciences

“I would try it, just to get the taste of it. If it’s nice, maybe I’ll continue buying it.”

Toh Jia Yi, Year 1 Student of Faculty Arts of Social Sciences

“The price must be right, around 5 to 6 dollars. If it’s too pricey, students may not be able to afford it and will deter them from patronizing the store.”

Well, from the welcoming responses so far, it seems perhaps the awaited delicacy may be an option to consider for our lovely vendors in NUS canteens. However, another point worthy of concern is perhaps the economical feasibility of the “fat liver”. Imagine us as paying customers forking out the Singapore green bills, yet tasting only miserable dwarf pieces of the legendary Foie Gras. I can safely assure you that it is for certain this experience is to be concluded as an one-off event, never to be repeated. Thus, to balance portion size and price scale is another feat to be taken up with caution.

So, it is true that humans do eat almost everything ranging from the fishes’ livers, especially the more common cods, to even that of a polar bear. Fancy me eating a polar bear’s liver. How exotic will that be? I can already picture the rise in blood pressure from the animal activists who manage to glance at this article. But fear not, before I even attempt to feed a tiny piece of the gigantic size liver into my mouth, I have to consider this troubling fact. As I have mentioned earlier, animals’ livers are rich in iron and vitamin A. However, we homo sapiens also need to moderate our intake of vitamins and iron. Consumption of the exotic polar bear’s liver may very well lead to my unfortunate death. Why so? Polar bear’s liver contains an exceedingly high amount of vitamin A. When consumed by the human body, the large dosage of vitamin A will turn out to be deadly or even lethal, leading to a severe disorder named hypervitaminosis A. Distinct signs of this acute toxicity include nausea and vomiting, headache, dizziness, blurred vision, loss of muscular coordination and death in severe cases… As such, shall I proceed to consume this seemingly delicious delicacy? Perhaps not then since I do want to live longer than that ill-fated polar bear.

Thus, livers can be a fantastic dish that drives people nuts over it or can be a seemingly innocent poison that shortens our very lifespan. So next time, you come across a familiar dish that resembles an animal’s liver, maybe you should check the nutrition facts of the dish before placing that juicy piece of morsel into the mouth.