Amy Tan is a mother of two in Singapore who blogs at dearhumblet.com.

In a blog post dated March 12, 2019, she wrote an impactful reflection that questions preconceived notions some Singaporeans have — in this case, relating to hospitals here.

When her eight-month-old son, who goes by the nickname "Singlet", was hospitalised for a stomach tract infection, he was admitted into a C-class ward.

Singlet could not stay in the B-class ward, she explained, as he has a heart condition that prevents him from getting any sort of insurance.

And in the waiting room, Tan overheard a wife saying to her husband,

“Later the nurse ask you, just choose A ward. Subsidised ward a lot of bad influence. The parents let the kids watch TV all day long. They give formula milk to their babies and many of them don’t speak English properly.”

In response, Tan wrote a response based on her own experience staying in the C-class ward.

Cried through the night from hunger pangs

When Singlet cried through the night from hunger pangs (he had to fast) and Tan couldn't go further than five paces from the bed because her child was hooked up to a heart rate monitor and an IV drip, she said that none of the other patients in the ward glared at her or complained.

Around midnight, a father who was also accompanying his child in the ward even bought Tan a drink from the convenience store downstairs.

At 4am, she wrote, another mum asked Tan if she needed help, even though she herself appeared equally exhausted.

And the next day, yet another mum presented a toy she had bought for Singlet.

Kindness & generosity of parents in C-class

Over the next three days, Tan got to know some of the other parents and their children's conditions, with one particularly distressing case of a two-and-a-half-month-old baby suffering from a prolonged illness that required a sample extracted from their spinal cord.

Despite their own difficulties, however, these families continued to extend their kindness and generosity towards other patients like Tan's child:

"It was because of these kind parents and grandparents in this so-called subsidised ward that I could make it through the night. There was absolutely nothing subsidised in their kindness or generosity towards us, I can vouch for that."

She ended off by asking the wealthy to accord everyone due respect, no matter which ward they may be able to afford.

"Please do not assume we are second-class Singaporeans, or human beings for that matter, simply because we are in a subsidised ward."

You can read her full blog post here.

Top image via Adhy Savala/Unsplash and Amy Tan