SINGAPORE – A doctor who regularly visited the Methodist Welfare Services (MWS) nursing home in Yew Tee to give residents Christmas presents has left a lasting gift after her passing.
The $2 million donation from the estate of the late Dr Ong Yong Wan, the founding head of haematology at Singapore General Hospital (SGH), has allowed MWS to set up an endowment fund to support its beneficiaries for years to come.
An endowment fund is a pool of donations which organisations, such as universities and charities, invest for long-term financial support. The initial sum is preserved, and only the returns are used by the organisation.
MWS is a charity and social service agency that runs family service centres, nursing homes and a residence for vulnerable girls, among other services.
The MWS Endowment Fund aims to be a platform for legacy giving, or donations planned after someone’s passing, and will accept donations starting at $250,000.
An investment committee from MWS will govern the fund, which will be used for specific programmes that do not receive funding from the Government, such as its debt-relief and savings initiative to support low-income families.
Mr Eugene Toh, chairman of MWS’ board of governance, told The Straits Times that the endowment fund gives donors an avenue to support causes close to their hearts and that align with MWS’ mission.
Examples include bursaries for disadvantaged students, which the charity does not offer today because it may be difficult to sustain through its usual fund-raising.
“With this endowment fund, because we know that there is some certainty, we’re then able to plan longer term (and) support more people in a more creative and meaningful manner,” said Mr Toh.
The donation was announced at the MWS Colours of Love charity gala on March 27 at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Marina Bay, with Dr Ong’s husband, Mr Henry Chia, 92, signing a memorandum of understanding as the executor of her estate.
Dr Ong, who died in her sleep at the age of 87 on July 25, 2025, had an illustrious career in medicine. She led Singapore’s first bone marrow transplant in 1985 and oversaw SGH’s transplant programme.
She was also the medical director of the Singapore Blood Transfusion Service, the nation’s first blood collection service, and encouraged the public to donate blood when people were hesitant to do so in the 1990s.
Mr Chia, a former senior civil servant who married Dr Ong in 1964, described his wife as a devoted doctor who gave her all to serve others.
“It always fascinated me that no matter how hard the work was, she would just do it,” said Mr Chia. “She did everything from her heart.”
Mr Henry Chia, Dr Ong Yong Wan’s husband and executor of her estate, gave a $2 million donation to social service agency Methodist Welfare Services in her memory.
ST PHOTO: ARIFFIN JAMAR
After they both retired in the 1990s, the couple went on mission trips to Vietnam, Nepal and China, where Dr Ong provided medical treatment for villagers, while Mr Chia taught Christian-based lessons.
For the past seven years, they visited the MWS nursing home in Yew Tee every December to spread Christmas cheer to its residents, and invited the Wesley Methodist Church choir along to sing to them.
Chuckling, Mr Chia said his wife always “instigated” their charitable projects but was never one to seek the limelight.
“Even some close friends didn’t know the work she did,” he said.
The couple, who had no children, owned properties both in Singapore and overseas. Despite their significant assets, Mr Chia said his wife lived frugally so their money could be used to help others.
While she was still alive, Dr Ong made plans to give away about $20 million of her estate to her relatives and various medical and charitable causes, including MWS.
Mr Chia has since sold most of their properties and plans to give the profits away according to Dr Ong’s instructions.
MWS’ Mr Toh said the funds will be invested conservatively and in a sustainable manner. Details of its returns and expenditure will be made known to donors and published in the charity’s annual report.
The charity gala also celebrated MWS’ 45th anniversary and raised about $670,000 to meet its immediate needs, such as wheelchair-accessible vehicles for its nursing home residents and therapy for young people.