Dr Tan Lai Yong and his family left their comfortable Singaporean lifestyles
to work with the poor in rural areas in the province of Yunnan, China.
There, he joined a community development team, working in remote villages
to care for orphans, disabled children and for those affected by leprosy.
During his 14 years in China, Lai Yong established a medical program in
rural Yunnan with the aim of providing basic doctoring and midwifery
training to practising barefoot doctors. Lai Yong also participated in
village water and sanitation projects, arranging for the plantation of
thousands of pine, leguminous and walnut trees in villages facing
deforestation. He was given the Friendship Award for Foreign Experts by
the Chinese Premier Wen Jia Bao and was voted by the people of Yunnan to
be 'A Good Citizen of Kunming.' He used the talk to share with our audience that they need not be a passive observer but become active
participants for doing good. While it is easy to revert to a traditional assumption that only the wealthy can make a difference, he was able to offer several examples proving otherwise.
Upon graduation from NUS in 1985, Dr Tan Lai Yong worked as a doctor in Singapore. In 1996, he and his wife, and one year old daughter moved to Yunnan, China, and joined a community development team, working with the poverty affected in remote villages, caring for orphans, disabled children and leprosy affected.In his 15 years on Yunnan, he had to cycle about 30 km daily, create innovative ways to teach health and hygiene to the different Minority Ethnic groups and villages, plan for “surgery camps” for cleft palate babies and other disabled people, and also initiated tree planting (eg walnut) efforts that led to thousands of trees being planted to help raise farm income and also reduce soil erosion. As part of the China National Day celebrations in 2004, Lai Yong was given the Friendship Award for Foreign Experts at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, an event that was graced by Premier Wen Jia Bao.
This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at [ Ссылка ]
