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{{Short description|Orthopedic surgeon}}

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{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2019}}
{{Infobox person
{{Infobox person
| name = Ang Swee Chai
| name = Ang Swee Chai
| birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1948}}<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.swhf.sg/profiles/ang-swee-chai/ |title=Ang Swee Chai /Singapore Women's Hall of Fame |work=Singapore Women's Hall of Fame |date=2014-03-03 |accessdate=2019-07-29 }}</ref>
| image = Dr Ang Swee Chai .jpg
| caption = Ang Swee Chai in the refugee camp in Beirut in 1985.
| birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1948}}<ref name="hall of fame">{{cite web |url=https://www.swhf.sg/profiles/ang-swee-chai/ |title=Ang Swee Chai /Singapore Women's Hall of Fame |work=Singapore Women's Hall of Fame |date=2014-03-03 |access-date=2019-07-29 }}</ref>
| birth_place = [[Penang]], [[Malaysia]]
| birth_place = [[Colony of Penang]]
| citizenship = British, Singaporean<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/re-entry-issue-for-singaporean-with-uk-passport |title=Re-entry issue for Singaporean with UK passport |work=The Straits Times |location=Singapore |date=2016-03-16 |accessdate=2019-07-29 }}</ref>
| citizenship = British<ref>{{cite news |last1=Wong |first1=Kim Hoh |title=‘Gaza makes me cry every day’: Humanitarian Ang Swee Chai is devoted to helping Palestinians |url=https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/gaza-makes-me-cry-every-day-humanitarian-ang-swee-chai-is-devoted-to-helping-palestinians |access-date=7 April 2024 |work=The Straits Times |publisher=Singapore Press Holdings |date=7 April 2024 |language=en}} {{subscription required|s}}</ref>
}}
}}


'''Ang Swee Chai''' ({{zh|c=洪瑞钗}}) is an orthopedic surgeon and author. She is a co-founder of the charity [[Medical Aid for Palestinians]].
⚫
'''Ang Swee Chai''' is an orthopedic surgeon and co-founder of the charity Medical Aid for Palestinians.She was a witness to the [[Sabra and Shatila massacre|Sabra-Shatila]] during the [[1982 Lebanon War|Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982]]. <ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://theindependentinsight.com/2019/06/21/ang-swee-chai-from-christian-zionist-to-palestinian-activist-book-review/|title=Ang Swee Chai – From Christian Zionist to Palestinian Activist – Book Review|website=theindependentinsight.com|access-date=2019-07-25}}</ref> She and two other hospital staff testified to [[Kahan Commission|Israeli Kahan Commission]] on the Sabra and Shatila massacre on September 1982.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/11/02/world/doctors-testify-about-massacre.html|title=Doctors Testify About Massacre|last=Farrell|first=William E.|date=1982-11-02|work=The New York Times|access-date=2019-07-25|last2=Times|first2=Special to The New York|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>


==Life==
⚫
With her husband, Francis Khoo, and some friends, Ang helped to form the British charity, Medical Aid for Palestinians,<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.sma.org.sg/sma_news/3810/Feature.pdf|title=Dr Ang Swee Chai - Surgeon With A Mission|last=Dr Toh Han Chong, Editor and A/Prof Paul Ananth Tambyah|publisher=Singapore Medical Association|year=2006|isbn=|location=Singapore|pages=10}}</ref> following the 1982 massacres. In 1987, President [[Yasser Arafat]] awarded Ang the [[Star of Palestine]], the highest award for service to the Palestinian people.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2016/11/02/palestinian-plight-not-a-religious-issue-but-a-humanitarian-one-says-social-activist/|title=Palestinian plight not a religious issue but a humanitarian one, says social activist|website=The Star Online|last=Bedi|first=Rashvinjeet S.|access-date=2019-07-25}}</ref>
Ang was born in [[Penang]], Malaysia but raised in [[Singapore]]. She attended Kwong Avenue Primary School, [[Raffles Girls' School (Secondary)|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.<ref name="hall of fame"/>

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.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://jademag.com/zh/2019/03/08/internationalwomendayvk/ |title=38妇女节：舍身为教育、生命付出的奇女子！|date=8 March 2019|work= JadeMag}}</ref> She trained to be an orthopaedic surgeon in Britain, where she obtained her [[FRCS (Eng)]] and completed her training in [[Newcastle upon Tyne|Newcastle]]. She later became the first female consultant orthopaedic surgeon at [[St Bartholomew's Hospital]] in London.<ref name="hall of fame"/>

⚫
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]].<ref name=kini /><ref name=sma /> The following month, she became witness to the [[Sabra and Shatila massacre|Sabra-Shatila]] massacre during the [[1982 Lebanon War|Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://theindependentinsight.com/2019/06/21/ang-swee-chai-from-christian-zionist-to-palestinian-activist-book-review/|title=Ang Swee Chai – From Christian Zionist to Palestinian Activist – Book Review|last=Syed Mohd Khair|first=Syed Ahmad Fathi|date=21 June 2019|website=theindependentinsight.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190621160500/http://theindependentinsight.com/2019/06/21/ang-swee-chai-from-christian-zionist-to-palestinian-activist-book-review/|archive-date=21 June 2019|access-date=2019-07-25}}</ref> She and two other hospital staff testified to [[Kahan Commission|Israeli Kahan Commission]] on the Sabra and Shatila massacre in September 1982.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/11/02/world/doctors-testify-about-massacre.html|title=Doctors Testify About Massacre|last=Farrell|first=William E.|date=1982-11-02|work=The New York Times|access-date=2019-07-25|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> 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]].<ref>{{cite web|website=Scoop|title=Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Commission: Israel Guilty of Genocide|date=27 November 2013|url=https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO1311/S00367/kuala-lumpur-war-crimes-commissionisrael-guilty-of-genocide.htm}}</ref>

With her husband, Francis Khoo, and some friends, Ang helped to form the British charity, [[Medical Aid for Palestinians]], following the 1982 massacres.<ref name="sma">{{Cite journal|last1=Toh|first1=Han Chong|last2=Tambyah|first2=Paul Ananth|date=10 October 2006|title=Dr Ang Swee Chai - Surgeon With A Mission|url=https://www.sma.org.sg/sma_news/3810/Feature.pdf|journal=SMA News|location=Singapore|publisher=Singapore Medical Association|volume=38|issue=10}}</ref>

==Awards and honours==
⚫
In 1987, President [[Yasser Arafat]] awarded Ang the [[Decorations, medals and badges of Palestine#Decorations|Star of Palestine]], the highest award for service to the Palestinian people.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2016/11/02/palestinian-plight-not-a-religious-issue-but-a-humanitarian-one-says-social-activist/|title=Palestinian plight not a religious issue but a humanitarian one, says social activist|website=The Star Online|last=Bedi|first=Rashvinjeet S.|access-date=2019-07-25|date=2 November 2016}}</ref>

In 2016, Ang was inducted into the [[Singapore Women's Hall of Fame]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theonlinecitizen.com/2016/03/16/dr-ang-swee-chai-a-self-imposed-exile-faces-issue-with-ica-over-dual-citizenship/ |title=Dr Ang Swee Chai, a self-imposed exile, faces issue with ICA over dual citizenship |author=Terry Xu |date=16 March 2016 |work=The Online Citizen |access-date=27 October 2019 |archive-date=15 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191115182350/https://www.theonlinecitizen.com/2016/03/16/dr-ang-swee-chai-a-self-imposed-exile-faces-issue-with-ica-over-dual-citizenship/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> However, she could not receive the award in person in Singapore as she retained her British citizenship and refused to give up either British or Singaporean citizenships.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theonlinecitizen.com/2016/03/16/dr-ang-swee-chai-a-self-imposed-exile-faces-issue-with-ica-over-dual-citizenship/|title=Dr Ang Swee Chai, a self-imposed exile, faces issue with ICA over dual citizenship|date=2016-03-16|website=The Online Citizen|language=en-GB|access-date=2019-10-31|archive-date=15 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191115182350/https://www.theonlinecitizen.com/2016/03/16/dr-ang-swee-chai-a-self-imposed-exile-faces-issue-with-ica-over-dual-citizenship/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Singapore does not allow dual citizenship. In November 2020, Ang was officially stripped of her Singaporean citizenship after a commission of inquiry.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Wong |first1=Kim Hoh |title=‘Gaza makes me cry every day’: Humanitarian Ang Swee Chai is devoted to helping Palestinians |url=https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/gaza-makes-me-cry-every-day-humanitarian-ang-swee-chai-is-devoted-to-helping-palestinians |access-date=7 April 2024 |work=The Straits Times |publisher=Singapore Press Holdings |date=7 April 2024 |language=en}} {{subscription required|s}}</ref>

== ''Telegraph'' article ==

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]].<ref name=Lancet>{{Cite news|last=Simons|first=Jake Wallis|date=2014-09-22|title=Lancet 'hijacked in anti-Israel campaign'|language=en-GB|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/news/11112930/Lancet-hijacked-in-anti-Israel-campaign.html|access-date=2020-06-16|issn=0307-1235}}</ref> 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.”<ref name=Lancet/><ref>{{Cite news|last=Bernstein|first=David|date=|title=Leading British medical journal refuses to retract open letter on Gaza written by authors concerned that "Jews control the media, politics and banking"|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2014/09/22/leading-british-medical-journal-refuses-to-retract-open-letter-on-gaza-written-by-authors-concerned-that-jews-control-the-media-politics-and-banking/|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-06-16|newspaper=Washington Post|language=en}}</ref>

==Publications==
Ang wrote a book on her experience, ''[[From Beirut to Jerusalem: A Woman Surgeon with the Palestinians]]''.<ref>{{cite journal |title= Book reviews : From Beirut to Jerusalem By SWEE CHAI ANG (London, Grafton Books, 1989)|first=Nancy |last=Murray|date=January 1, 1990 |journal= Race & Class|doi=10.1177/030639689003100307}}</ref> The book has been translated into Chinese.<ref name="kini">{{cite news |url=https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/366073 |title=流亡40年的新加坡人——访战地医生洪瑞钗|author=苏颖欣|date=14 December 2016|work=Malaysia Kini }}</ref> She also co-authored ''War Surgery: Field Manual'' with Hans Husum and [[Erik Fosse]].<ref>{{cite journal |title=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 |journal= Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene|volume =91|issue =3|date= May–June 1997|page= 368|doi=10.1016/S0035-9203(97)90116-4 }}</ref>


== References ==
== References ==
<references />
<references />


== External links==
*[https://jfp.freedomflotilla.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/From-Beirut-to-Jerusalem.pdf From Beirut to Jerusalem], by Ang Swee Chai
{{authority control}}
{{authority control}}


{{DEFAULTSORT: Ang, Swee Chai}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ang, Swee Chai}}
[[Category:1948 births]]
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{{Uncategorized|date=July 2019}}
[[Category:British orthopaedic surgeons]]

[[Category:Living people]]

[[Category:People from Penang]]
{{UK-med-bio-stub}}
[[Category:People from Singapore]]
[[Category:Raffles Girls' Secondary School alumni]]
[[Category:Singaporean expatriates in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:University of Singapore alumni]]

Latest revision as of 11:23, 15 June 2024

Ang Swee Chai
Ang Swee Chai in the refugee camp in Beirut in 1985.
Born1948 (age 75–76)[1]
Colony of Penang
CitizenshipBritish[2]

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.

Life

[edit]

Ang was born in Penang, Malaysia but raised in Singapore. 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]

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.[3] She 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]

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.[4][5] The following month, she became witness to the Sabra-Shatila massacre during the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982.[6] She and two other hospital staff testified to Israeli Kahan Commission on the Sabra and Shatila massacre in September 1982.[7] 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.[8]

With her husband, Francis Khoo, and some friends, Ang helped to form the British charity, Medical Aid for Palestinians, following the 1982 massacres.[5]

Awards and honours

[edit]

In 1987, President Yasser Arafat awarded Ang the Star of Palestine, the highest award for service to the Palestinian people.[9]

In 2016, Ang was inducted into the Singapore Women's Hall of Fame.[10] However, she could not receive the award in person in Singapore as she retained her British citizenship and refused to give up either British or Singaporean citizenships.[11] Singapore does not allow dual citizenship. In November 2020, Ang was officially stripped of her Singaporean citizenship after a commission of inquiry.[12]

Telegraph article

[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.[13] 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.”[13][14]

Publications

[edit]

Ang wrote a book on her experience, From Beirut to Jerusalem: A Woman Surgeon with the Palestinians.[15] The book has been translated into Chinese.[4] She also co-authored War Surgery: Field Manual with Hans Husum and Erik Fosse.[16]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c "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. ^ "38妇女节：舍身为教育、生命付出的奇女子！". JadeMag. 8 March 2019.
  4. ^ a b 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.
  5. ^ 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.
  6. ^ 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.
  7. ^ Farrell, William E. (2 November 1982). "Doctors Testify About Massacre". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
  8. ^ "Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Commission: Israel Guilty of Genocide". Scoop. 27 November 2013.
  9. ^ 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.
  10. ^ 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.
  11. ^ "Dr Ang Swee Chai, a self-imposed exile, faces issue with ICA over dual citizenship". The Online Citizen. 16 March 2016. Archived from the original on 15 November 2019. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
  12. ^ 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.)
  13. ^ a b Simons, Jake Wallis (22 September 2014). "Lancet 'hijacked in anti-Israel campaign'". ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
  14. ^ Bernstein, David. "Leading British medical journal refuses to retract open letter on Gaza written by authors concerned that "Jews control the media, politics and banking"". Washington Post. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
  15. ^ Murray, Nancy (1 January 1990). "Book reviews : From Beirut to Jerusalem By SWEE CHAI ANG (London, Grafton Books, 1989)". Race & Class. doi:10.1177/030639689003100307.
  16. ^ "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.
[edit]
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