Dr Edwin begins his days at the Lakeside Family Medicine Clinic by checking in on his staff and patients.
Illness and poverty are like twins, Master Cheng Yen once said. Many fall ill because of poverty, and even the wealthy may face financial hardship when they come down with an illness. It was this realisation that compelled her to set up the Buddhist Tzu Chi Hospital in Taiwan, which today stands as a beacon of hope for those who require access to healthcare. Guided by a similar aspiration to bridge unmet healthcare needs, Tzu-Chi Foundation (Singapore) has been revving up its efforts and initiatives under its Mission of Medicine.
From a single Free Clinic in Chinatown, today its services run the gamut, from Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and western medicine to palliative care, renal dialysis care to active ageing and free dental care.
One man instrumental in establishing this intricate healthcare ecosystem is Dr Edwin Lim Boon Howe, who has dedicated over 20 years of his life to upholding Tzu Chi’s Mission of Medicine. Of Christian faith, he was introduced to Tzu Chi by his wife, who went on her own spiritual journey and ultimately embraced Buddhism.
Dr Edwin wears multiple hats at Tzu Chi. As Medical Consultant at the Lakeside Family Medicine Clinic (LFMC), he often begins his day walking the ground, interacting with walk-in patients and staff, occasionally providing consult to patients with prior appointments, or attending to the complex social needs of other patients. When the LFMC was first awarded to Tzu Chi in 2016 under a collaboration with Jurong Health Services Pte Ltd, he drafted the open tender submission, and then oversaw its renovation and established its systems and operations.
Beyond his clinical duties, his decades of experience underpin his ability to identify healthcare gaps in Singapore. In his capacity as Head of Medical Services, Dr Edwin often secures government funding and establish facilities that address these gaps. The running of the Foundation’s health-related facilities — namely SEEN, Food Farmacy, Renal Dialysis Centre, Community Dental Centre, Buddhist Tzu Chi TCM Free Clinics, Home Care and Palliative Care Services and LFMC — falls under his purview.
Yet Dr Edwin’s relationship with Tzu Chi began long before he assumed these full-time roles. He first joined as a volunteer doctor under the Tzu Chi International Medical Association (TIMA), embarking on overseas medical missions to Bintan and Batam to provide medical aid to rural communities. When Tzu Chi launched its first Free Clinic in 2004 in Chinatown, he served as one of the volunteer resident doctors. That clinic played a pivotal role in supporting the Government’s efforts to bring flu vaccinations to the masses and regularly set up a health screening presence at neighbourhood community centres.
As Tzu Chi's medical services expanded, Dr Edwin became even more intimately involved with the Foundation. He recalled, “At the Tzu Chi Free Health Screening Centre which opened in 2010, nurses would perform the initial screening tests. I would come in on Saturdays to read the results and write the diagnoses.” Dr Edwin eventually transitioned from volunteer to staff member in May 2011.
Finding his purpose in life
Before joining Tzu Chi, Dr Edwin was a highflyer living a dream many Singaporeans idealise. He helmed his own private practice as a General Practitioner (GP). With his innate kindness, compassion, gratitude, and integrity, he quickly endeared himself to his patients, who became loyal to him. “I journeyed with my patients as they grew up and started their own families.”
Despite the enviable income and autonomy of being his own boss, something felt amiss. Healthcare is often reactive, with patients consulting a GP only when they fall sick. As a result, GPs rarely have the opportunity to be part of a patient’s overall wellness journey. “The doctor–patient interactions often felt rushed and transactional. I felt there should be more to life. I could not imagine myself cooped up in a small clinic for decades until I grew old. I thought, ‘There must be something more I can do, something on a bigger scale.’”
2025 marks 21 years of Dr Edwin’s dedicated service with Tzu Chi.
As such, with his longer-term career prospects still nebulous, he relinquished his private practice and undertook locum work. A stint at Orange Valley Nursing Home turned into a full-time opportunity, and as Medical Director, he was a key person in expanding its presence from two to six branches. “During this time, I learnt that cheerfulness, smiles and kindness were the best way to win the residents’ hearts and get their cooperation. Making their day also made my day.”
Then came the opportunity to head Tzu Chi’s medical services, and Dr Edwin took it up, defying conventional pursuits of wealth. “One lasting impression I have is his decision to leave a promising and potentially lucrative private medical career to serve full-time in Tzu Chi — a charity organisation that could not offer comparable financial rewards,” said Dr Eugene Tang, lead of TIMA's dental team and fellow veteran TIMA volunteer. “That single act spoke volumes about his values and sense of purpose. It wasn’t a grand announcement, just a quiet transition made with deep conviction. He continues to serve in this capacity to this day, leading by example and never seeking the spotlight.”
While indeed there are sacrifices, Dr Edwin has weighed them against the rewards to working in an NGO. Singapore’s medical infrastructure may be world class, but there remain gaps. “Vulnerable seniors and seniors with special needs have always been at the forefront of my concerns. My former private clinic at Sims Drive was frequented by many elderly folks, and the first Tzu Chi Free Clinic in Chinatown catered mainly to disadvantaged seniors. They often shared that, while their medical needs were capably managed at other centres, they longed to be better heard and supported in coping with chronic illnesses and disabilities.”
What’s more, his time as a TIMA volunteer opened his eyes to the concept of humanistic healthcare. Whereas in the private sector he would be bound by key performance indicators such as efficiency and profit margins, working in an NGO allows Dr Edwin and his team to devote their time and resources to a single patient, prioritising the full restore of his health while managing factors such as cost effectiveness and productivity.
Such a set-up allows them to sow a culture of compassionate relief on top of clinical relief, tactfully layering on intangibles such as psycho-socio-spiritual support through counselling, activities, and befriending. By harnessing the collective benevolence of the medical team and volunteers, compassion becomes an organised and tangible part of patient care.
“‘To cure sometimes, to relieve often, but to comfort always’ — that is the Hippocratic oath we physicians take. Incidentally, it echoes Tzu Chi’s Mission of Medicine of ‘Heal the person, heal the sickness, and heal the heart’. One of the main reasons that sealed my decision to join Tzu Chi was because I identified deeply with its humanistic approach to medical care. This was a chance for me to scaffold a platform where like-minded healthcare professionals can manifest, embrace and influence this culture, as well as for more needy seniors to experience it.”
Great ideas spark from simple conversations
Given his soft spot for the elderly, it is no wonder that one of Dr Edwin’s earliest visions for Tzu Chi was setting up a nursing home. “Having a nursing home would afford us the chance to serve and care for a captive pool of patients on a daily basis.” Yet the idea did not take off, as the Government stipulated that publicly funded institutions could not serve solely vegetarian food. The nursing home plan was therefore shelved.
But when one door closed, another opened. Dr Edwin met several medical students from the National University of Singapore who were performing health screenings for residents in rental blocks. He brought TIMA’s team of doctors and nurses to provide support. “This initiative ran for a few months before the Agency for Integrated Care got wind of what we were doing, and it encouraged us to expand our home care service. I wrote a proposal to set up our home care arm, with the vision that it would be led by staff rather than volunteers.” Over time, the service grew to include palliative care, which was again borne out of the overarching vision to close the loop of comprehensive and continued care.
Dr Edwin interacting with a patient at the LFMC, where he is stationed. (Photo by Donn Tan)
Singapore is poised to become a super aged society in 2026, with more than one in five individuals expected to be 65 years and older. Tzu Chi has long prepared for this silver tsunami. Seeking to shift the focus upstream and encourage Singapore’s elderly to adopt healthier lifestyles, Dr Edwin grabbed at the opportunity to run two Senior Activity Centres offered by the Ministry Of Health in 2018. Back then, he envisioned that they could serve as an engagement and enabling node for seniors living in the vicinity, with Tzu Chi community volunteers pitching in.
His skills in developing proposals and securing government support contributed to the establishment of SEENs at Bukit Batok and Nanyang, which were a precursor of sorts to the nationwide Active Ageing Centres (AACs) that eventually came to being. At the AACs, seniors can exercise and participate in group activities, strengthening both their physical and mental well-being while staving off illnesses and loneliness.
And it is not just the residents who strive, but Tzu Chi staff as well. SEEN has become a home where many passionate individuals can shine, such as Nidhi Gupta, a former teacher returning to work after a 20-year career gap and Joo Yeow Sing, an ex-hawker who came out of retirement to care for seniors. Just like Dr Edwin, their acts of compassion have touched many lives, and earned them Humanity Healthcare Awards.
Another key component of Tzu Chi’s preventive healthcare ecosystem is Food Farmacy, Singapore’s first space to promote the “Food as Medicine” concept. In this homely setting, participants can attend culinary classes and seminars to learn about the evidence-based Whole Food Plant-Based Diet. “We wanted to show Singaporeans that by eating right, by consuming high-quality, nutritious foods, they can build their health and avoid falling sick in the first place.”
This fully equipped facility did not emerge from grandiose notions of bettering the world, but from a simple conversation with a fellow doctor under his tutelage, Dr Ho Xin Qin. “She was very interested in scaling the Foundation’s ongoing 21-Day Healthier Me Challenge. She wanted to make the concept of healthy eating more accessible to the communities.” A chance encounter with Dr Tan Weng Mooi, Director, Head (Integrated Health Promotion), MOH Office of Health Transformation, led to a discussion with Member of Parliament for Yio Chu Kang Single Member Constituency, Mr Yip Hon Weng, and Tzu Chi was granted space at Blk 121 Ang Mo Kio Ave 3 to run Food Farmacy.
While his initial vision of a nursing home did not materialise, Tzu Chi’s disparate facilities collectively form a microcosm of it. Each focuses on different aspects of care, addressing varied needs, but together forms a holistic network that supports the overall health and well-being of the community.
And Tzu Chi’s care extends beyond the four walls of its facilities. With support from TIMA’s volunteer dentists, the Community Dental Centre brings dental services to the residents of Ren Ci Nursing Home and Kwong Wai Shiu Hospital, as well as offers home-based dental care for individuals facing mobility issues.
Another serendipitous opportunity arose when the Ministry of Social and Family Development approached the Foundation for a place to accommodate rough sleepers. Dr Edwin jumped in with the idea of providing regular free health screenings for them at their sleeping places.
“Our aim is to provide more equity and make less essential but no less important medical services more attainable for the underserved segment of Singapore,” he said.
In recognition of his unstinting contributions, Dr Edwin received the Healthcare Humanity Award in 2018. (Photo by Chan May Ching)
A doctor's life lessons
Even while shouldering the demands of his role, Dr Edwin still makes time to volunteer with TIMA. Giving back to society is a value deeply ingrained in him. His father passed away from liver cancer when he was sixteen, while he was sitting for his GCE O-Level examinations. Shortly after his convocation, his mother succumbed to lung cancer, never getting the chance to watch him blossom into the doctor she had long hoped he would become. Shaped by the premature demises of his parents and the care they received, Dr Edwin took an interest in palliative care early on in his professional life. As a young medical officer, he volunteered with the then Hospice Care Association (now HCA Hospice), carrying an on-call bag and pager as he made palliative home visits under the guidance of its founder, Dr Anne Merriman.
As a doctor, coming face to face with pain, suffering, and death is inevitable. Volunteering in rural villages with TIMA wrenches him from his comfort zone — from working in air-conditioned clinics with a steady supply of medicine and equipment, he now must navigate dimly lit, resource-scarce environments. One visit with a Sri Lankan patient remains etched in his memory. “He had terminal cancer of the tongue. When he opened his mouth, flies would buzz around it. There was little we could do for him, except prescribe painkillers. The local Tzu Chi team cared for him until he passed.” Such experiences have not only made him appreciate the privileges he has at home, but also strengthened his resolve to serve.
Caring for Venerable Master Sek Hui Kee, Pao Kwan Foh Tang’s former chief abbess, for two years until her passing in 2023, also left a profound impact on Dr Edwin. “I witnessed how illness, disability, and death are great levellers. When one nears the end of life, one must learn to relinquish position, possessions, and pride to allow carers to provide effective care.”
Through this experience, he learnt an invaluable lesson: Carers must act with empathy and do their utmost to safeguard the dignity of those in their care, regardless of their social statuses. It is with this mindset that he approaches difficult patient cases. From a breast cancer patient who left a lump to fester and emit a foul smell, to an elephantiasis sufferer who wrapped his open sores in newspapers, one cannot help but wonder how they could let their illnesses worsen. But Dr Edwin takes a more empathetic view. “Some patients avoid seeking help out of embarrassment, while others simply cannot find the time amidst their busy schedules. When they do come to us, we focus not on what could have been, but on guiding them on their next step.”
Undaunted by mess and dirt, Dr Edwin and his wife helped to tidy up the house of a Tzu Chi beneficiary. (Photo by Ng Paik Eng)
And in acts that truly reflect his empathy, Dr Edwin is not afraid to hunker down and clean the homes of Tzu Chi beneficiaries, a practice quite unheard of among doctors. He also encourages his fellow TIMA members to do the same. “By decluttering their houses, we first and foremost help the homeowners. What’s more, it builds camaraderie. Doctors, nurses, pharmacists, dentists, dental assistants, TCM physicians — all roll up their sleeves, and demonstrate that they can also contribute in non-professional ways.”
Thanks to a decades-spanning career, Dr Edwin has touched countless lives. “I often run into former patients, their family members, or volunteers, who come up to thank me for what I have done or for how I have cared for them or their loved ones. Such encounters remind me to always be mindful and tread with kindness, compassion and wisdom, as just as you may unknowingly touch someone with an action, you may also unwittingly hurt someone.”
Despite already playing a pivotal role in expanding Tzu Chi’s healthcare ecosystem, Dr Edwin continues to uphold the Mission of Medicine, showing no signs of resting on his laurels. He eyes the opening of an inpatient hospice care facility, allowing Tzu Chi volunteers to care for patients and give them a dignified end-of-life experience. “Once the opportunity presents itself, I will seize it.”
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