Ang Swee Chai

  1. Home
  2. Wiki

Ang Swee Chai
Ang Swee Chai in the refugee camp in Beirut in 1985.
Born1948 (age 76–77)[1]
Colony of Penang
CitizenshipBritish[2]
Spouse
Francis Khoo
​
​
(m. 1977; died 2011)​

Ang Swee Chai (Chinese: 洪瑞钗) is an orthopedic surgeon and author. She is a co-founder of the charity Medical Aid for Palestinians.

Early life and education

[edit]

Ang was born in Penang, Malaysia but raised in Singapore.[1] The family had also one son and two other daughters.[3] She attended Kwong Avenue Primary School, Raffles Girls' School, and the National University of Singapore where she studied medicine. She then received a master's degree in Occupational Medicine in 1976.[1]

Career

[edit]

Medical career

[edit]

After graduating from NUS, she worked in Singapore's public hospitals.[4] After joining her husband, Francis Khoo, in London, Ang trained to be an orthopaedic surgeon in Britain, where she obtained her FRCS (Eng) and completed her training in Newcastle. She later became the first female consultant orthopaedic surgeon at St Bartholomew's Hospital in London.[1]

Humanitarian missions

[edit]

In August 1982, Ang responded to an appeal for medical personnel from Christian Aid to treat war casualties in Lebanon and went to work at the Gaza Hospital near the Sabra and Shatila refugee camp in Beirut.[5][6] The following month, she became witness to the Sabra-Shatila massacre during the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982.[7] She and two other hospital staff testified to Israeli Kahan Commission on the Sabra and Shatila massacre in September 1982.[8] Ang would also testify to the massacre in front of the Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Commission in 2013, during a hearing that eventually found the State of Israel guilty of genocide.[9]

With her husband, Francis Khoo, and some friends, Ang helped to form the British charity, Medical Aid for Palestinians, following the 1982 massacres.[6]

In 1988, Ang made her first trip to Gaza, where she worked as an orthopaedic surgeon at the Al Ahli Arab Hospital. During her time there, she also served as an ambulance driver amid ongoing conflict.[10][11]

In 2018, Ang joined the Just Future For Palestine Flotilla, which attempted to run the blockade of the Gaza Strip by Israel, to tend to the medical needs of Palestinians there. The boat that she was on was seized by Israeli forces before it could arrive at its intended destination. She was briefly detained before being deported back to United Kingdom.[12]

In 2024, Ang returned to Lebanon to treat patients injured by what she described as "pager attacks" linked to Israeli operations. These explosive devices caused extensive trauma, including mutilated limbs, facial injuries, and brain damage. Reflecting on the spirit of her patients, she described a conversation with a man who had lost his hand but expressed no regret, saying it was the price he paid "for standing with humanity and justice in Gaza."[13]

As of 2025, Ang has worked nearly 50 years in the United Kingdom’s National Health Service (NHS), and over 43 years in support of the Palestinian people through direct medical care, advocacy, and education.[13]

Personal life

[edit]

In 1977, Ang married Singaporean human rights lawyer Francis Khoo. Two weeks after the marriage, she was briefly detained during a government crackdown on dissidents as the authority attempted to arrest her husband. She fled to London to be with her husband and they were granted asylum there.[14] Khoo died on 20 November 2011 in London of a suspected heart attack.[15]

Ang received her British passport in 1992, after applying for it in 1990 having had faced difficulties in her earlier travels to countries in Middle-East region to support or conduct humanitarian missions there as she was travelling on a refugee travel documentation. Singapore does not allow dual citizenship and would typically ask a dual-citizen to renounce one citizenship. However, she resisted renouncing her British citizenship as it would lose her her home and work in United Kingdom, and had also promised her husband that she would not give up on her Singaporean citizenship.[4][16] Her Singaporean citizenship was stripped after a committee of inquiry was held in Singapore in 2020.[4]

Awards and honours

[edit]

In 1987, President Yasser Arafat awarded Ang the Star of Palestine, the highest award for service to the Palestinian people.[17]

In 2016, Ang was inducted into the Singapore Women's Hall of Fame.[18] She was not able to receive the award in person due to the issue over her dual-citizenship at that time.[4]

In 2024, Ang received the HCS Fellow Award from Harvard Club Of Singapore.[4][19]

Talks and public engagements

[edit]

Ang has spoken publicly on numerous occasions about her experiences in war zones, the responsibilities of medical professionals in conflict, and the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Palestine. Her talks emphasize the power of compassion, justice, and small acts of resistance in the face of large-scale suffering.[citation needed]

On 6 December 2013, she delivered a TEDx talk at University College London (UCL), titled Making a Small Difference, during UCL’s first-ever TEDxWomen event. In the talk, she drew from her work in hospitals and conflict zones, particularly Palestine and Lebanon, to illustrate how seemingly small actions can have a profound impact on people’s lives. The talk received a standing ovation and was described as “refreshingly honest and incredibly moving.”[20]

She has also participated in other speaking engagements, interviews, and humanitarian forums to raise awareness about medical ethics, refugee crises, and the Palestinian struggle.[citation needed]

Controversies

[edit]

On 24 September 2014, The Telegraph reported that Ang had forwarded a video entitled “CNN Goldman Sachs & the Zio Matrix” featuring Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke.[21] Ang responded by saying “I am concerned that if there is any truth in the video, that Jews control the media, politics and banking, what on earth is going on? I was worried.” [22]

Publications

[edit]
  • From Beirut to Jerusalem : a woman surgeon with the Palestinians. OCLC 123789315.
    • 从贝鲁特到耶路撒冷 (in Chinese). Translated by 林康. ISBN 9789670960050. (Chinese translation)
  • "War surgery: Field manual. H. Husum, Swee Chai Ang & E. Fosse. Penang: Third World Network, 1995. 764 pp. Price US$100 (softcover), US$ 140 (hardcover) plus postage. Available to 'Third World' countries at US$ 25 (softcover), US$ 35 (hardcover) plus postage. ISBN 983-9747-14-2". Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. 91 (3): 368. May–June 1997. doi:10.1016/S0035-9203(97)90116-4.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d "Ang Swee Chai /Singapore Women's Hall of Fame". Singapore Women's Hall of Fame. 3 March 2014. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  2. ^ Wong, Kim Hoh (7 April 2024). "'Gaza makes me cry every day': Humanitarian Ang Swee Chai is devoted to helping Palestinians". The Straits Times. Singapore Press Holdings. Retrieved 7 April 2024. (Subscription required.)
  3. ^ "Penang-born orthopaedic surgeon Dr Ang Swee Chai on lending a hand to the oppressed via Medical Aid for Palestinians". www.optionstheedge.com. Retrieved 24 August 2025.
  4. ^ a b c d e Wong, Kim Hoh (7 April 2024). "'Gaza makes me cry every day': Humanitarian Ang Swee Chai is devoted to helping Palestinians". The Straits Times. Singapore Press Holdings. Retrieved 7 April 2024. (Subscription required.)
  5. ^ 苏颖欣 (14 December 2016). "流亡40年的新加坡人——访战地医生洪瑞钗". Malaysia Kini.
  6. ^ a b Toh, Han Chong; Tambyah, Paul Ananth (10 October 2006). "Dr Ang Swee Chai - Surgeon With A Mission" (PDF). SMA News. 38 (10). Singapore: Singapore Medical Association.
  7. ^ Syed Mohd Khair, Syed Ahmad Fathi (21 June 2019). "Ang Swee Chai – From Christian Zionist to Palestinian Activist – Book Review". theindependentinsight.com. Archived from the original on 21 June 2019. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
  8. ^ Farrell, William E. (2 November 1982). "Doctors Testify About Massacre". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
  9. ^ "Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Commission: Israel Guilty of Genocide". Scoop. 27 November 2013.
  10. ^ "From Beirut to Jerusalem – Dr. Swee Chai Ang" (PDF). Freedom Flotilla Coalition. Retrieved 29 March 2025.
  11. ^ "Agenda AWANI: IWD | A women surgeon with the Palestinians". YouTube. Retrieved 29 March 2025.
  12. ^ Casandra, Wong (28 August 2018). "Singaporean doctor recounts harrowing boat mission to break Gaza blockade". Yahoo News. Retrieved 24 August 2025.
  13. ^ a b Ang, Swee Chai (5 March 2025). "Exile, Occupation, Apartheid, Ethnic Cleansing, Plausible Genocide: A Doctor's Perspective". Washington Report on Middle East Affairs.
  14. ^ "38妇女节：舍身为教育、生命付出的奇女子！". JadeMag. 8 March 2019.
  15. ^ "Lawyer who fled ISD in 1970s dies in London home". The Straits Times. 22 November 2011.
  16. ^ Xu, Terry (16 March 2016). "Dr Ang Swee Chai, a self-imposed exile, faces issue with ICA over dual citizenship". The Online Citizen. Retrieved 24 August 2025.
  17. ^ Bedi, Rashvinjeet S. (2 November 2016). "Palestinian plight not a religious issue but a humanitarian one, says social activist". The Star Online. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
  18. ^ Terry Xu (16 March 2016). "Dr Ang Swee Chai, a self-imposed exile, faces issue with ICA over dual citizenship". The Online Citizen. Archived from the original on 15 November 2019. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
  19. ^ "'You will know what to do': Ang Swee Chai's urgent message". Jom. 19 April 2024. Retrieved 24 August 2025.
  20. ^ "Making a Small Difference". YouTube. TEDx Talks. 1 August 2014. Retrieved 29 March 2025.
  21. ^ "Lancet 'hijacked in anti-Israel campaign'". The Telegraph. 22 September 2014. Retrieved 3 April 2025.
  22. ^ Bernstein, David (22 September 2014). "Leading British medical journal refuses to retract open letter on Gaza written by authors concerned that "Jews control the media, politics and banking"". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 3 April 2025.
[edit]