Dr Ang Swee Chai. Born in Penang, raised in Singapore, studied at the University of Singapore, then studied in London. She is now a widow. The widow of the late Francis Khoo, alleged Marxist conspirator. Here is her eulogy dedicated to her late husband. A moving story of true love. Remembering Francis Khoo Kah Siang, alleged Euro-Communist security threat
There is another passion and love which Dr Ang has, which is noted worldwide. The Palestinian cause. She gave up a lucrative medical career in London to work as a volunteer to help Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. This was to change her life forever.
Dr Ang Swee Chai – Surgeon With A Mission (PDF) Excerpt below starts on page 5.
PAT: Many people who are reading this interview may not be familiar with your book and your work. Can you tell us what it is like, someone who is trained in the University of Singapore, going into what essentially was then a war zone in Lebanon? What were some of the adjustments you had to make? What were some of the mind shifts that you had to make?
DR ANG: The number one issue was my own mindset because I was brought up all along to fear Arabs and to hate terrorism, and I thought all Arabs were terrorists. Although I grew up in Singapore with Muslims, I never got to know them properly. When I found myself working in a refugee camp, for the first few days, I kept asking myself, “Are these people really Palestinians?” Because they are such wonderful people, they are so generous and such lovely people – they cannot be Arabs, not to mention Palestinians.
It took a lot of adjusting for me. I really learnt about the Palestinian people first-hand when I worked in their hospital, which was called Gaza Hospital and was built by the Palestinian refugees in Lebanon and named after the Gaza Strip in the Occupied Palestinian Territories kilometers away. At that time, Lebanon had 350,000 Palestinian refugees. They were some of the people who had fled historical Palestine when Israel was formed and these people were put in tents and they grew up as refugees. They demolished their own tents and they built houses in their townships or refugee camps. They tried to remember the places they came from by calling their institutions after places in Palestine, like Ramallah Maternity Clinic, Nazareth and Gaza Hospital. Pauline Cutting, a very famous British doctor, part of Medical Aid for Palestinians and Susie Wighton, a Scottish nurse, worked in a hospital called Haifa Hospital. By default, I found myself in charge of the orthopaedic department at Gaza Hospital. In 1982, I did not think I was really good at it at all, you see – but I was all they had − most of their doctors were either imprisoned or killed, or in hiding.
And then came the massacre of Sabra and Shatila, where many Palestinians were killed. I think more than 3,000 people were killed and they were completely defenseless. They trusted their security and their lives to the hands of the multinational peacekeeping forces that did not protect them. Even right now, there is a debate as to who did it. I will not go into that. I went to Jerusalem to testify to the Kahan Israeli tribunal and it came to a very interesting conclusion, beyond the breadth of this interview.
During that period of the massacre, I spent three days and three nights operating in a basement shelter, which was converted into two operating theatres. Pierre, a Norwegian surgeon, and I were operating and operating and then on the last day, when we were ordered out of the basement, we saw so many people dead and that was heartbreaking….
The Kahan Commission of Inquiry (in Jerusalem, hence, her book titled “From Beirut to Jerusalem”), was noted world wide. Dr Ang’s testimony gave the world an insight to the atrocities committed by Israel during the Sabra and Shatila Massacre, which claimed 3000 innocent Lebanese Palestinian lives. If not for this then young, brave woman, the world would not have known the genocide committed.
Dr Ang at a makeshift tent at the 2005 Pakistan Earthquake
Pic taken from http://www.sma.org.sg/sma_news/3810/Feature.pdf
Dr Ang’s fight for the Palestinian Cause did not end there. Till today, she continues to fight for Palestinians. Here is one of her speeches in London recently. This is about the siege in Gaza.
Gaza Flotilla Massacre: London Demo – Dr Ang Swee Chai [inminds]
However, whenever you fight for the Palestinian cause, the Zionist Lappydogs will always try to discredit you. Here is BBC’s interview with Dr Ang. Note the condescending tone of the interviewer, trying to discredit Dr Ang’s work.
HARDtalk with Dr Swee Ang Part 1.wmv
1:15 min – Dr Ang grew up in a very Zionist environment (ie Singapore!). In fact, in Church, “we all” (ie the congregation) celebrated the Six Day War Israel won against the Arabs. But in 1982, when Lebanon was bombed to bits (by Israel), she began to wonder. That’s when she decided give up her lucrative job in London and volunteered to help out in Beirut.
2:10 min – Dr Ang worked in a basement because of years of bombardment, the operating theatre had to be underground. She noticed that many of the wounded were elderly and very young children. She also heard horror stories from the victims themselves.
3:05 min – Interviewer comments that the bombardment by Israel was because the refugee camps hosted PLO, which was seen as a terrorist organisation then. Dr Ang replies that it was not just that. Because after the PLO evacuated 3 weeks before the massacre (of Sabra and Shatila), she discovered that the refugees have been under siege for the last 4 generations.
4:00 min – Dr Ang gave her testimony in the Kahan Commision of Inquiry (the inquiry on the Massacre of Sabra and Shatila) that led to the resignation of Defence Minister Ariel Sharon (no conviction? … but he returned as PM from 2001 to 2006! – hypocritical on part of Israel, no?). Dr Ang highlights that the common Israeli people are in fact against killing Palestinians and 400,000 Israelis demonstrated to have the commission.
9:15 min – Interviewer questions Dr Ang that she talks about how young girls armed themselves with bombs and charged at enemy tanks, which the papers call them suicide bombers while the Palestinians called them martyrs – so what does Dr Ang calls them?
Dr Ang says this is a difficult question because some of them were her nurses she trained (medically). She wished they didn’t have to do that – to defend their people. What else could they do?
Interviewer presses on to ask if suicide bombing is justified.
Then at 11:35 min, watch Dr Ang hits the nail on the head – “Is there another way?….Maybe…if NATO defended them, then they won’t have to do it..”
Part 2
HARDtalk with Dr Swee Ang Part 2.wmv
Lappydog of Israel, BBC, continues to attempt to discredit Dr Ang.
My Comments -
Dr Ang has recently lost the love of her life – her husband. She was willing to marry him even though she knew the ISA was after him. In fact, she married him so that she could be his link to the outside world should he be arrested and detained by the ISD.
As it turned out, her husband managed to escape when he fled to England. Thinking that the ISA won’t be after her, she stayed – and was detained for a few days.
But she bears no malice against the Singapore govt. Instead, she works for the Palestinian cause – a passion she loves as much as her late husband.
Dr Ang could have earned big bucks in England as an Orthopaedic Surgeon. Instead, she gives up all that wealth to fight for a group of Palestinians the world abandons. And worse, fighting for Palestinians makes you a political target of the Zionists too.
If there is any woman who should be recognised as the Woman of the Century, it has to be Dr Ang Swee Chai. Pity the likes of Feminist groups AWARE totally missed her world known works.
