The Fourth Book Written by Sian Chay Chairman – Toh Soon Huat Shares his Sentiments on Charity in His Newly Published Book
The Fourth Book Written by Sian Chay Chairman
Toh Soon Huat Shares his Sentiments on Charity in His Newly Published Book
Monday, 19th November 2018
by Zaobao/ Hong Yi Jun
Charity is not just about helping others, but also about leaving a long-lasting memory for oneself.
Toh Soon Huat, Chairman of Sian Chay Medical Institution, published his fourth book “Treasure Life and Gratitude to Life”. On 17th November, Chairman Toh met over 150 readers at the book launch at the National Library and shared the sentiment of his dedication to charity for the last 10 years.
He said, “It does not matter how much you contribute to charity. It does not matter if you support to build a bridge, a school or the establishment of a Sian Chay branch, it does not matter if your donation is $10 or $100,000, your contribution to the bridge, the school or the Sian Chay branch will be always remembered and the beautiful memory will be preserved for a long time.
Planned to migrate to Australia before taking up chairmanship at Sian Chay.
The book includes what Toh Soon Huat observed, read and learn in his life and work. He hopes to compile his sentiment and experiences into a book as a medium to convey kindness and share the true thoughts of life with more people.
Since he divested his shareholding in Novena Holdings in 2009, Toh Soon Huat devoted himself fulltime to charity work. What many people did not know was that he once thought about leaving everything behind and migrating to Australia. He changed his mind at the last moment because the then Chairman of Sian Chay, Mr Teo Kim Chuan told him that the Board would decide to close down the century-old medical institution if he declined to take over the chairmanship of Sian Chay.
He said, “When I realized that Sian Chay Medical Institution was a platform that could save many lives, I was more convinced in promoting the medical services of Sian Chay and contributing funds. Since then, Sian Chay has become an inherent responsibility on my shoulders. ”
Toh Soon Huat said, “Helping one person is equivalent to helping the whole family.” Sian Chay wants to ease the financial burden of the patients and their family by providing free TCM consultation and low cost medicine for the needy and elderly.
Sian Chay Medical Institution currently has 15 branches, serving over 1,200 patient visits daily. In the past four years (2014 to 2017), it served a total of 980,000 patient visits and dispensed 1.81 million dosages of prescriptions.
To raise funds for the treatment of low-income patients, Toh Soon Huat organizes exhibitions and concerts by linking education, arts and humanities with charity, so that more people are aware of Sian Chay and are attracted to participate in the charity cause. For example, Sian Chay will hold a charity concert by the world’s top Er Hu Master George Gao at the Esplanade Concert Hall on 25th November.
Toh Soon Huat did not forget to thank many good friends for supporting Sian Chay. He said, “Some Directors and friends at Sian Chay are like my brothers, such as Derek Goh, Teo Ngiang Heng, Ang Chin Koon and etc. They not only support me spiritually, but also donate a lot of money to Sian Chay.”
Among them, Teo Ngiang Heng, CEO of Teo Heng KTV Studio, makes annual donation to Sian Chay regardless of business profitability. Even when his business was in difficulty, Derek Goh still offered to help in whatever way he could. Last year, Toh Soon Huat decided to skip the pledged donation $100,000 by the CK Group because their HQ building caught fire and suffered a big loss of $20,000,000. But Mr Ang Chin Koon, the Founder of CK Group, insisted that “Do not worry about the fire losses. The donation has been pledged.”
Toh Soon Huat said that it is all about love from these friends and many kindhearted people to support Sian Chay generously and help hundreds of thousands of needy people . “Their kindness and compassio