Goodbye, Dr Leong

On 5 September 2018, we bade farewell to a man who had been an integral part of KWSH for more than half a century when our Honorary Chairman Dr Leong Heng Keng passed away at the age of 89.

Dr Leong Heng Keng (1929 to 2018) served on the Board of Directors of KWSH for 52 years. He was appointed as a Board member in 1966 and became the Chairman in 1985. In 2011, he stepped down as Chairman but even at the age of 83, he continued to serve the Hospital as our Honorary Chairman & Board Advisor, providing valuable guidance to KWSH’s Board members and staff.

In his years with the Hospital, he had been instrumental in many milestone developments of the Hospital. For instance, it was under his leadership that the Hospital started a specialised traditional Chinese medicine clinic in 2005. Another standout among his contributions was the appeal for the government to allow KWSH to remain at our Serangoon Road site when our initial land lease expired in 2010. Dr Leong played a key role in the appeal, leading the team which rallied for the authorities to grant us the approval.

With the government eventually giving the nod, Kwong Wai Shiu subsequently decided to embark on a major redevelopment in order to transform ourselves into a leading community healthcare hub. Worried about the Hospital’s finances for the redevelopment, Dr Leong led by example and donated $1.2m to KWSH, hoping that his humble act can encourage more people to step forward to support our redevelopment project.

Dr Leong’s father, the late Mr Leung Yun Chee, was also a former Chairman of the Hospital while Dr Leong’s brother and two sons are our current Board members. Besides serving KWSH with distinction over three generations, the family’s business, LKF Medical, which manufactures the world famous Axe Brand medicated oil, is also a keen supporter and generous donor of KWSH, having donated substantially to us through the years.

The Kwong Wai Shiu family is deeply saddened by the passing of our former Chairman, Dr Leong Heng Keng. The affable Dr Leong will always remain in our hearts and our deepest condolence goes to his family.