Different paths, one calling: Top award for three nursing leaders

Ms Clarice Wee pursued her childhood dream of becoming a nurse against the wishes of her parents. Ms Cindy Chua stumbled into nursing after dropping out of junior college, while Ms Yvonne Yap learnt to care for others when tagging along with her mother to do community work.

- Judith Tan

On July 25, the trio were recipients of the President's Award for Nurses, Singapore's highest accolade for the profession. They received the award from President Tharman Shanmugaratnam at a ceremony at Gardens by the Bay.

Ms Wee, 39, assistant director of nursing at Ng Teng Fong General Hospital (NTFGH), had declared at the age of seven that she wanted to be a nurse.

A decade later, her dream did not die when she graduated from secondary school.

But her parents, who were rooted in the banking and finance world, were not supportive of her ambition.

"They did not want me to suffer the long nights and the hard work as a nurse. They made a pact with me, that I had to study at a junior college (first), hoping I would change my mind," she told The Straits Times.

It was only when Ms Wee graduated in 2006 with a Bachelor of Nursing degree from La Trobe University in Melbourne that her parents realised that she was passionate about her choice of career.

"They actually said it was good to have a nurse in the family," she said, with a laugh.