My first Magazine St Joseph's Home_40th Anniversary magazine.compres | Page 13

p of staff
u
First gro
Residents taking part in Sports
high cholesterol. He later roped
in his peers Dr Philip Tan, Dr Quek
Peng Kiang and Dr Lim Poh Heng
to help out when the resident
numbers rose.
A year later in 1979, Sr
Geraldine Tan, who had not yet
joined the Canossian order then,
offered her services as a nurse
volunteer. She had just been
baptised and drove herself to the
home on her days off to help the
Sisters.
Although a Catholic home
founded on Christian values, the
Sisters never tried to convert
others to their faith. This is “the
Catholic way” says Sr Mary,
“to bring God’s love to others
through action and not through
words or by force.”
A NEW CALLING
Following the closure of the
‘death houses’ in Sago Lane
in 1961, the dying who had
little to no family support had
nowhere else to turn to in their
final hours. Meanwhile, the
hospice movement to provide
more and better care for this
group of people was growing
overseas. Inspired by what he
and his friends had witnessed,
philanthropist Dr Ee Peng Liang
wanted to do something similar in
Singapore. He found like-minded
Day
Residents learning how to broadway dance
from left: Volunteer doctors Dr Philip Tan,
Dr Quek Peng Kiang, Dr Lee Chang Long and
Dr Lim Poh Heng
Residents
home’s
in one of the
ageants
Christmas p
St Joseph’s Home | 11