Death has always been a taboo topic in Singapore. With our ageing population rising as well as Health Minister Ong Ye Kung’s plans to increase the proportion of people dying at home or in palliative care settings instead of hospitals, is it time we begin talking more openly about our end-of-life plans?

In this episode, host and Associate Director at the Institute of Policy Studies Liang Kaixin chats with guests Dr Chong Poh Heng, Medical Director at HCA Hospice Limited and Tay Jia Ying, an end-of-life doula and Founder of Happy Ever After. They discuss the concept of what a good death means, the changes needed to allow more people to spend their final moments at home and when people should begin thinking of their end-of-life plans.

Read more about palliative care in Singapore:
CNA (2 July 2022): IN FOCUS: Dying at home may seem ideal to many, but it's not always straightforward
The Straits Times (2 June 2022): MOH to boost palliative care at home, better support caregivers

About our guests:

Chong Poh Heng

Medical Director

HCA Hospice Limited

Dr Chong is Vice Chair of Singapore Hospice Council and Medical Director at HCA Hospice Limited. He founded Star PALS (Paediatric Advanced Life Support), a specialist paediatric palliative care service under HCA Hospice in 2012. 

He advocates in his field nationally as chairperson of the paediatric and young adults Advanced Care Planning (ACP) task force, and internationally at Asia Pacific Hospice Network (APHN) Paediatric Palliative Care Special Interest Group respectively.  

Dr Chong received the Healthcare Humanity Award in 2015, and won the Leader of Good (adult category) at the President's Volunteerism and Philanthropy Award ceremony in 2021.

Tay Jia Ying

Founder

Happy Ever After

Jia Ying started her exploration into end-of-life work in 2013 through her involvement as a producer with Both Sides, Now, an arts-based community engagement project on end-of-life issues. After seven years working with the community, she founded Happy Ever After in 2021 to connect directly with individuals to support them and their loved ones in navigating the complexities of life and death, love and loss, hopes and fears, laughter and tears.

She is a certified end-of-life doula with The Dying Year, and a certified Respecting Choices 1st Steps Advance Care Planning facilitator. She is also a member of the National End-of-life Doula Alliance (NEDA), and is NEDA proficient.

On Diversity is a podcast inspired by the Institute of Policy Studies Managing Diversities research programme. In each episode, we chat with guests to explore what diversity means to them, the changes they are making, and the changes they hope to see in an increasingly fragmented society.

More from On Diversity
Season 3 Episode 6: Social Worker Burnout with Louis Ng, MP for Nee Soon GRC and Cindy Ng-Tay, Director of Home at Children’s Aid Society
Season 3 Episode 5: Leaving the Law Profession with Andrew Chan, Partner at Allen & Gledhill LLP and Michelle Yeo, Of Counsel at LVM Law Chambers LLC
Season 3 Episode 4: Racism at Work with Dharesheni Nedumaran, Head of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, APAC, at Mediabrands and Shamil Zainuddin, Research Associate at IPS Social Lab
Season 3 Episode 3: Ableism at Work with Cassandra Chiu, a vision impaired counsellor and advocate for PWDs, and Justin Lee, Senior Research Fellow at IPS
Season 3 Episode 2: Ageism at Work with Heng Chee How, Deputy Secretary-General of the National Trade Union Congress (NTUC), and Associate Professor Helen Ko of the Master & PhD in Gerontology Programmes at the Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS)
Season 3 Episode 1: Sexism at Work, with Corinna Lim, Executive Director of the Association of Women for Action and Research (AWARE) and Simran Toor, Chief Executive Officer at SG Her Empowerment Limited (SHE) 
Season 2 Episode 9: Youth Mental Health, with Dr Jacqueline Tilley, Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychology at the National Institute of Education (NIE) and Asher Low, Founder of Limitless
Season 2 Episode 8: What Makes Us Singaporean, with Matthew Matthews, Principal Research Fellow of IPS and Head of IPS Social Lab, and Oon Shu An, Singaporean actress and host

Death has always been a taboo topic in Singapore. With our ageing population rising as well as Health Minister Ong Ye Kung’s plans to increase the proportion of people dying at home or in palliative care settings instead of hospitals, is it time we begin talking more openly about our end-of-life plans?
In this episode, host and Associate Director at the Institute of Policy Studies Liang Kaixin chats with guests Dr Chong Poh Heng, Medical Director at HCA Hospice Limited and Tay Jia Ying, an end-of-life doula and Founder of Happy Ever After. They discuss the concept of what a good death means, the changes needed to allow more people to spend their final moments at home and when people should begin thinking of their end-of-life plans.
Read more about palliative care in Singapore:
<ul>
<li>CNA (2 July 2022): <a href="https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/dying-hospital-home-hospice-2784856">IN FOCUS: Dying at home may seem ideal to many, but it's not always straightforward</a></li>
<li>The Straits Times (2 June 2022): <a href="https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/health/boost-for-palliative-care-fewer-people-to-die-in-hospitals-by-2027-ong-ye-kung">MOH to boost palliative care at home, better support caregivers</a></li>
</ul>
About our guests:
Chong Poh Heng
Medical Director
HCA Hospice Limited
Dr Chong is Vice Chair of Singapore Hospice Council and Medical Director at HCA Hospice Limited. He founded Star PALS (Paediatric Advanced Life Support), a specialist paediatric palliative care service under HCA Hospice in 2012. 
He advocates in his field nationally as chairperson of the paediatric and young adults Advanced Care Planning (ACP) task force, and internationally at Asia Pacific Hospice Network (APHN) Paediatric Palliative Care Special Interest Group respectively.  
Dr Chong received the Healthcare Humanity Award in 2015, and won the Leader of Good (adult category) at the President's Volunteerism and Philanthropy Award ceremony in 2021.
Tay Jia Ying
Founder
Happy Ever After
Jia Ying started her exploration into end-of-life work in 2013 through her involvement as a producer with Both Sides, Now, an arts-based community engagement project on end-of-life issues. After seven years working with the community, she founded Happy Ever After in 2021 to connect directly with individuals to support them and their loved ones in navigating the complexities of life and death, love and loss, hopes and fears, laughter and tears.
She is a certified end-of-life doula with The Dying Year, and a certified Respecting Choices 1st Steps Advance Care Planning facilitator. She is also a member of the National End-of-life Doula Alliance (NEDA), and is NEDA proficient.
On Diversity is a podcast inspired by the Institute of Policy Studies Managing Diversities research programme. In each episode, we chat with guests to explore what diversity means to them, the changes they are making, and the changes they hope to see in an increasingly fragmented society.
More from On Diversity
<ul>
<li><a href="https://ipscommons.sg/podcasts_uri/ips-on-diversity-podcast-s3e6-social-worker-burnout/">Season 3 Episode 6: Social Worker Burnout with Louis Ng, MP for Nee Soon GRC and Cindy Ng-Tay, Director of Home at Children’s Aid Society</a></li>
<li><a href="https://ipscommons.sg/podcasts_uri/ips-on-diversity-podcast-s3e5-leaving-the-law-profession/">Season 3 Episode 5: Leaving the Law Profession with Andrew Chan, Partner at Allen &amp; Gledhill LLP and Michelle Yeo, Of Counsel at LVM Law Chambers LLC</a></li>
<li><a href="https://ipscommons.sg/podcasts_uri/ips-on-diversity-podcast-s3e4-racism-at-work/">Season 3 Episode 4: Racism at Work with Dharesheni Nedumaran, Head of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, APAC, at Mediabrands and Shamil Zainuddin, Research Associate at IPS Social Lab</a></li>
<li><a href="https://ipscommons.sg/podcasts_uri/ips-on-diversity-podcast-s3e3-ableism-at-work/">Season 3 Episode 3: Ableism at Work with Cassandra Chiu, a vision impaired counsellor and advocate for PWDs, and Justin Lee, Senior Research Fellow at IPS</a></li>
<li><a href="https://ipscommons.sg/podcasts_uri/ips-on-diversity-podcast-s3e2-ageism-at-work/">Season 3 Episode 2: Ageism at Work with Heng Chee How, Deputy Secretary-General of the National Trade Union Congress (NTUC), and Associate Professor Helen Ko of the Master &amp; PhD in Gerontology Programmes at the Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS)</a></li>
<li><a href="https://ipscommons.sg/podcasts_uri/ips-on-diversity-podcast-s3e1-sexism-at-work/">Season 3 Episode 1: Sexism at Work, with Corinna Lim, Executive Director of the Association of Women for Action and Research (AWARE) and Simran Toor, Chief Executive Officer at SG Her Empowerment Limited (SHE) </a></li>
<li><a href="https://ipscommons.sg/ips-on-diversity-podcast-s2e9-youth-mental-health/">Season 2 Episode 9: Youth Mental Health, with Dr Jacqueline Tilley, Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychology at the National Institute of Education (NIE) and Asher Low, Founder of Limitless</a></li>
<li><a href="https://ipscommons.sg/ips-on-diversity-podcast-s2e8-what-makes-us-singaporean/">Season 2 Episode 8: What Makes Us Singaporean, with Matthew Matthews, Principal Research Fellow of IPS and Head of IPS Social Lab, and Oon Shu An, Singaporean actress and host</a></li>
</ul>

"On Diversity" is a podcast series of new insights and fresh discussions, inspired by IPS’ Managing Diversities research programme.

In each episode, IPS Associate Director Liang Kaixin will chat with guests to explore what diversity means to them, the changes they are making and the changes they hope to see in an increasingly fragmented society.

On Diversity features new episodes every week.

"On Diversity" is a podcast series of new insights and fresh discussions, inspired by IPS’ Managing Diversities research programme.
In each episode, IPS Associate Director Liang Kaixin will chat with guests to explore what diversity means to them, the changes they are making and the changes they hope to see in an increasingly fragmented society.
On Diversity features new episodes every week.

IPS On Diversity Podcast

"On Diversity" is a podcast series of new insights and fresh discussions, inspired by IPS’ Managing Diversities research programme. In each episode, IPS Associate Director Liang Kaixin will chat with guests to explore what diversity means to them, the changes they are making and the changes they hope to see in an increasingly fragmented society. On Diversity features new episodes every week.

"On Diversity" is a podcast series of new insights and fresh discussions, inspired by IPS’ Managing Diversities research programme. In each episode, IPS Associate Director Liang Kaixin will chat with guests to explore what diversity means to them, the changes they are making and the changes they hope to see in an increasingly fragmented society. On Diversity features new episodes every week.

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