Ang swee chai biography channel

Poignant best describes the year 1948. It began with the assassination of Indian pacifist leader Mahatma Gandhi by an extremist. Midway through, our Tanahair was rocked by what would be the start of a guerrilla war between the military forces of the Federation of Malaya and communists that would become known as the Malayan Emergency or Darurat Tanah Melayu. Happening almost concurrently 8,000km away in the Middle East was what is now referred to as the Nakba.

Nakba, Arabic for “catastrophe”, is, by and large, a foreign word whose deep meaning and tragic significance are lost on most people. After all, the displacement and expulsion of Palestinians as a result of the Arab-Israeli War, which erupted on May 15, is still seen by many as “not our problem”. But for Dr Ang Swee Chai, born in October that same year, the event has become inextricably part of her — and her very reason to live.

The awakening

“How can I forget that I was born in the year of the Nakba? It is as old as I am and yet it is still ongoing,” says Ang, 76. This long-serving trauma and orthopaedic surgeon with Britain’s National Health Service (NHS) has devoted the last four decades to juggling her love and care for patients together with humanitarian work in what is arguably the most dangerous parts of the Middle East — the restive zones in Lebanon and Palestine.

Tiny and bird-like, she is just under five feet tall. We chatted over video call from her home in East London and arranged to meet near Covent Garden a few weeks later. To those curious about her headscarf, she wears it not for religious reasons, but because she lost most of her hair while battling breast cancer.

Born in Ayer Itam, Penang, Ang grew up in Singapore from the age of 10 months after her father secured a job there. “My parents, both journalists, met during WWII in Outram Road prison. They were resisting the Japanese occupation. Mum started out as a teacher but spent most of her time organising protests. She survived the

Dr Swee Ang Image: ICN/JS

Consultant orthopaedic surgeon, author and founder of Medical Aid for Palestinians, Dr Swee Ang Chai writes: On this Christmas morning, I was thinking about what Christmas means to all of us who are deeply shaken and broken by the brutal massive killing of innocent lives in Gaza and the total destruction of homes and all institutions for human survival like hospitals, schools, generators, churches, mosques, universities, farms with the denial of food, water and electricity. Gaza is being laid waste and her children murdered - at least 20,000 in two months with 9,000 children - with others taken prisoners to be tortured and killed.

We are angry and helpless and despondent. Yet we know we cannot despair and must do whatever we can to support the Palestinians.

Last night at Midnight Mass, my priest called for prayers for Gaza. In fact he has been doing this at every single Mass since October. He believes it is the right thing to do, and continues to use his pulpit telling and reminding his parish to do so. Two weeks ago I was in Egypt trying to work out how to get into Gaza. I failed and came back to look after my NHS patients. But I tried. We go to demonstrations and shout at our Government, write to them insisting they call for a ceasefire, we also failed so far, but we will carry on.

I dare not have the courage to ask God where He is in the midst of the continuing brutallity against a defenceless people who had suffered continuously for 75 years. Every 10 minutes a Palestinian child in Gaza is killed by bombs either directly or buried under the rubble. Now infectious diseases like hepatitis A and all forms of gastro-enteritis have broken out in Southern Gaza where 1.9 million displaced Gazans are forced to live in a space half the size of the Isle of Wight - with scarcity of food to eat, no water to drink and wash, hospitals destroyed and with 35,000 wounded by the wanton bombardment m