Back in 2008, Ms Ng Lay Suan experienced firsthand the compassion of palliative care. Deeply moved by the tender care and comfort shown to her late father and her family through one of their most difficult times, she made a quiet promise to herself: one day, she would return as a volunteer to give back the same kindness that carried her through.
The years that followed her father’s passing were not easy. She faced her own battle with cancer while keeping up with the demands of raising her child, but that promise never left her heart. In 2015, seven years after her father’s passing, she joined Dover Park Hospice as a volunteer.
Now in her ninth year of service, Ms Ng is a familiar face that brings both heart and ingenuity to the patients she serves. On weekday mornings, she can often be found in Day Care, taking kopi orders during “Lim Kopi” sessions. With her engineering background, she even designed a receipt label system to make food and drink orders easier for patients and staff.
For her, volunteering is more than duty — it is a way of honouring her father. Every now and then, she remembers him fondly as a night-shift taxi driver with a mischievous streak, waking the family at 3am for late-night durian feasts. “Volunteering at Dover Park Hospice brings me closer to the good memories of my father during his stay here,” she shares.
In every cup of kopi served, every small act of care, Ms Ng honours both her father’s legacy and the kindness her family once received through their hardest days.
