Catherine Chua S H and Jonathan Kuek Han Loong
Catherine Chua S H:
Childhood Games, Good Old Days (7 years old):
Being the only girl in a family of 7 brothers was full of fun. You name it, I play it all - marbles, skipping (till my shoe sole got big holes), catching spiders, and more fun with climbing trees. Every kid will make an appointment to challenge each other. Big brother used to tell me “you go play 5 stones with girl down the next door.” I cried because I don't know how to play it.
Growing Up In The Farm:
Everyone in the family had to contribute to the farm (vegetables, chicken, duck, pigs, rubber plantation) - at 8 years old, I learnt how to cook on a big brick stove - no gas, no electricity, but using fire wood. The store was too big for me, so I will put the pot in first then add water for the rice. A few times I forgot and mum will give me a good scolding. To light the house for the night, we used kerosene lamp and it lasted till 8pm. Entertainment was Radiofussion in Hokkien, Teochew or Cantonese and my pet was a chicken and hobby was gardening. It was fun.
A New Secondary School:
SJC my new school was far from the farm. The only way to get out of the farm was walk, cycle or arrange private car. So it was a privilege to use private car to go to school. Every journey was bumpy to go through the ‘man-made road’, muddy during raining days. The car packed 7 kids to different schools. It was really crowded, but this was the only means to get to school. When driver was sick, we missed school, all of us were very happy.
My First Job - Nursing School:
Imagine a bunch of 80 teenagers gathered at the school of nursing, Outram Road Hospital. We were noisy and mischievous. PTS is the term for Preliminary Training School batch. But we turn them to ‘Paid To Study’ as we spent 3 months in training. ‘Paid To Suffer’ ‘ Paid to Slough’. Words like Complete Rest In Bed was ‘Can Run Into Bathroom’. We had so much fun learning types of beds, how to make beds with envelope corners, test urine for sugar, taking temperature, pulse and respiration all manually with a second hand nursing watch.
A New Chapter Of Nursing:
It was like a call for me to do psychiatric nursing after spending some time in the operating theatre. A different skill sets that I have to use myself as a therapeutic tool for the recovery of patients. Yes, a big challenge as I faced resentment when posted to a male domain ward. I was literally chased out of the ward by a male patient when I tried to make his bed. With much interaction he accepted the female nurses in his ward. Farming was most of the patient's past, hence we started farming, growing produce like tapioca, lady fingers, papaya, etc enough for sales. Patients were very happy. But land was much needed, hence by 1993, the patients were moved to the new hospital - with many challenges, patients were reluctant to move.
Jonathan Kuek Han Loong:
Start Of My Volunteering Journey:
My journey first crossed with Catherine’s when I started as a volunteer at the Institute of Mental Health where she serves as its volunteer manager. When I first arrived at the hospital, I was a young arrogant kid who wanted to make a difference in my own ways without fully understanding the context of the work I'd be doing. Consequently, Catherine and I clashed often but over time, we saw the passions of the other and how we shared a common goal to make the hospital and Singapore a better place for people with mental health issues to live in. This shared dream help our bond and become strong partners in our goal.
Matchsticks Of IMH:
Having found a place where I belonged, I set out to change the volunteering environment of the hospital and thus started the Matchsticks of IMH from which I then went on to build the largest youth volunteering unit to this day. Over the years, we have had more than 800 unique youth volunteers join us in serving the residents of the hospital. Through the Matchsticks, we have also managed to raise awareness of mental health issues in Singapore and also created a safe space for anyone interested in serving the mental health community to come and be a part of.
NDP 2017:
One of my more memorable moments as a volunteer was writing in to the Prime Minister in 2017 to invite him to grace our National Day celebrations for the patients of the hospital. While he responded and was encouraging of our effort, he could not make it for the event but linked us with Ms. Low Yen Ling who kindly joined us for the celebrations. As a group without any media presence or internal connections, we were moved to have someone from Parliament attend our humble party to celebrate the nation’s birthday with us.
Total Wellness Initiative Singapore:
With all the experiences of my time with the hospital and the stressors from the pandemic, I started the Total Wellness Initiative Singapore in 2021 to encourage people to be more proactive with their well-being. Wellness needs to be considered from a holistic perspective and each person has their own unique needs. Our hope is that by adopting a more preventive stance, we will reduce the prevalence of mental illness in society and help everyone live a higher quality of life.
PHD And Beyond!:
As my studies drew to an end, I hope to be able to continue contributing and inspiring future generations who are passionate about mental health issues. There is no health without mental health. To take care of our wellbeing, we also need to be more proactive and preventive with our mental health. The pandemic has shown us the importance of our well-being and we now get a chance to rewrite the narrative of what being well really means.
