Dedication

To my beloved father Lee Sai Hock @ Lee Chai Hock
(Passed away on 2 October 2008)

Seventeen years ago, you miraculously survived a major heart attack under the care of a competent and compassionate surgeon, Mr Ong Kim Kiat.

While in the hospital, you reminded me to buy mooncakes for Dr Lau Siew Kee who had rendered medical care to you in the past few years. Indeed you were fortunate to have met two kind doctors in your lifetime.

Sadly, you were caught off-guard and unprepared to die in the hospital where you were admitted for a mild fever and minor abdominal pain. You put up a good fight and almost made it to being discharged from the hospital. Being a pragmatic person, you would not want me to waste time looking for answers but to face up to the reality and accept your death.

Your untimely death was a painful experience. While I grieve over your death, I realised that everything happens for a reason. You showed me the shortcomings in our public hospital system. While fighting back my tears, I wrote a 14-page letter to the Hospital and Ministry of Health in order to benefit the other patients and also to seek closure for my grief.

In your memory, I wrote this book to empower subsidised inpatients and their family members with useful information to cope with the stressful and difficult moments in hospitals.

Posted on 9 January 2009