A testimony to a mother’s vision

She is a mother who knows too well how much it took for her son to make it to medical school, and how demanding the five years ahead would be.

Mdm Tan (she declined to use her full name) decided she would help other less priviledged students in her son’s year and launched the Class of 2020 Parents’ Fund.  “A few lives are made easier by not having to worry about taking the MRT before the cut-off timing for free rides to save money, the same few lives will make a bigger impact on other lives when they graduate than I ever could on my own,” said the humble Mdm Tan.

Mdm Tan rallied the parents of her son’s schoolmates, raising awareness of the plight of the less priviledged medical students in the class. Volunteers became donors and more and more parents eventually became champions of the cause.

“I knew just a handful of the other mums of my son’s schoolmates, but felt that as long as two or three of us got started, this could snowball. So the first mum introduced the second mum, and we got to work. I felt that once we were able to raise the minimum for a fund to be established, it would be easier to approach the wider group of 2020 parents later on. But someone needed to kickstart the fund, and why not me,” shared Mdm Tan.

Another Class of 2020 parent also known as Madam Tan, was glad for the opportunity to work alongside the University to help needy students.

“I became involved after I was personally approached by a couple of fellow parents of the Class of 2020. Since then, I have become more aware of the students’ needs,” she explains.

Every year, about 200 students apply for financial assistance, a number that surpasses what the School can disburse. It is estimated that one in four medical students will face financial difficulties that will jeopardise their studies.

Both mothers are homemakers who started off wanting to help their children’s classmates. Their efforts will leave a greater impact beyond the Class of 2020 to inspire many other parents to do the same.