Khoo Oon Teik (Dr) (b. 30 March 1921, Penang, Malaysia–5 March 2012, Singapore) was a doctor and the founder of the National Kidney Foundation (NKF) in Singapore.1 Called the “Father of nephrology in Singapore”, he established the first renal dialysis unit, as well as the intensive care and coronary care units, at the Singapore General Hospital (SGH) in the 1960s.2
Education and early life
Khoo was born in Penang and studied at the Anglo-Chinese School there. In 1937, he was admitted to the King Edward VII College of Medicine in Singapore.3 His studies were interrupted when the Japanese invaded Malaya and Singapore.4
During the Battle of Singapore, Khoo was responsible for deploying senior medical students to operating theatres at SGH. He worked in Penang as a medical officer after the British surrendered, and was later sent by the Japanese to the railway being constructed between Burma and Siam.5
When the war ended, Khoo worked as a nutritional officer under the British Military Administration before resuming his studies at the college. In 1947, he was conferred the Licentiate in Medicine and Surgery.6 Khoo was then appointed tutor in clinical medicine, and later became chief clinical assistant to Gordon A. Ransome (Professor), founder and first Master of the Academy of Medicine, Singapore.7
Together with Ernest Monteiro (Professor), Khoo started the Skin and Leprosy Clinic at SGH in 1948.8
In 1952, Khoo attained his Master of Medicine from the University of Malaya.9
Medical career
Khoo became a member of the Royal College of Physicians in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1952, and then a fellow in 1966. He was admitted as a member to the Royal Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons in Glasgow in 1953.10
Khoo became director of SGH’s renal unit in 1961.11 In 1964, he helped start SGH’s first intensive care unit, followed by its first coronary care unit in 1967.12 Then in 1971, he became head of SGH’s Medical Unit II.13
In 1965, Khoo was appointed professor of clinical medicine at the University of Singapore – now National University of Singapore (NUS).14 He subsequently served as chairman of NUS’s department of medicine.15
In addition, Khoo was a founder member and Master (1964–66) of the Academy of Medicine and the Association of Physicians of Malaya. He was also a founder of the Singapore Dermatological Society and served as its president from 1960 to 1975.16
Concerned with social issues such as alcoholism, drug addiction, ageing and the lack of hospitals for the dying,17 Khoo helped set up Alcoholics Anonymous in Singapore in the 1950s and the Drug Dependence Clinic in 1971.18 A Methodist, Khoo was also chairman and later president of the International Congress of Christian Physicians.19 He retired in 1979.20
Establishing the National Kidney Foundation
In the late 1950s, Khoo’s brother, Khoo Oon Eng (Reverend), died of kidney failure after much suffering.21 The experience motivated Khoo to establish Singapore’s first renal dialysis and transplant unit at SGH in 1969. He started the unit in an attic at the hospital, together with fellow doctors Gwee Ah Leng, Lim Cheng Hong and Lee Yong Kiat.22 Then on 29 March 1970, the renal unit at the University of Singapore’s department of clinical medicine was opened by the university’s then deputy vice-chancellor, Reginald Quahe.23
In the 1960s, around 200 people died from kidney failure each year, and Khoo realised that many could not afford the cost of dialysis.24 In 1969, Khoo and a group of volunteers organised a film premiere to raise funds to make dialysis available to renal patients under the auspices of the NKF.25
Khoo founded NKF in 1969 as a society under the Societies Act.26 He established the foundation as a societal help scheme for needy kidney patients.27 On 7 April 1969, the NKF was inaugurated by then President Yusof Ishak.28
NKF collaborated with various government organisations, hospitals, as well as religious and community organisations, as Khoo believed in working with different segments of the community to form a resilient network for kidney patients.29 He was also a strong advocate of public funding for dialysis treatment programmes and rehabilitation of kidney patients.30 By 1999, about 1,600 kidney patients – two-thirds of all kidney patients – were receiving subsidised treatments.31
Khoo chaired the NKF until 1995, when he had to retire after a stroke and an operation to remove a cyst in his brain.32
After the NKF corruption scandal in 2005 involving then Chief Executive Officer T. T. Durai, there were calls from the public to have the name of NKF changed.33 However, the government resisted these calls as it wanted Khoo’s “legacy of selfless volunteerism to live on”.34
Legacy
In 2009, Khoo was called the father of dialysis treatment in Singapore by then Minister for Health Khaw Boon Wan.35 Khoo has also been credited with promoting medical excellence by initiating specialisation in doctors’ training during his 32 years at SGH and NUS.36 He helped to start off some specialities in cardiology, endocrinology and metabolism, gastroenterology, dermatology and nephrology at the National University Hospital.37
In honour of Khoo, the Khoo Oon Teik Professorship in Nephrology was set up by NUS in 1999 to carry out research on kidney disease, expand clinical and laboratory programmes, and engage world-class experts to assist and advise local doctors in the field.38 It had an initial endowment of S$6 million, of which S$4.5 million were from the government and S$1.5 million from NKF.39
Death
Khoo had been in poor health since 1995 when he underwent an operation to remove a brain cyst. In February 2012, he suffered epileptic seizures and organ failure; he died at 1.30 am on 5 March 2012 at SGH.40
Family
Wife: Adeline Khoo41
Sons: Christopher Khoo, Wilfred Khoo, Walter Khoo, Arnold Khoo42
Author
Alvin Chua
References
1. Koh, T., et al. (Eds.). (2006). Singapore: The encyclopedia. Singapore: Editions Didier Millet in association with the National Heritage Board, p. 279. (Call no.: RSING 959.57003 SIN-[HIS]); Lee, E. J. C., & Chew, C. H. (2012, May). Obituary: Dr Khoo Oon Teik (1921–2012). Annals of the Academy of Medicine, Singapore, 41(5). Retrieved 2016, August 7 from Annals Academy of Medicine Singapore website: http://www.annals.edu.sg/pdf/41VolNo5May2012/V41N5p234.pdf; Tan, T. (2012, March 6). Singapore’s kidney health pioneer dies. The Straits Times, p. 4. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
2. Lee, E. J. C., & Chew, C. H. (2012, May). Obituary: Dr Khoo Oon Teik (1921–2012). Annals of the Academy of Medicine, Singapore, 41(5). Retrieved 2016, August 7 from Annals Academy of Medicine Singapore website: http://www.annals.edu.sg/pdf/41VolNo5May2012/V41N5p234.pdf; Tan, T. (2012, March 6). Singapore’s kidney health pioneer dies. The Straits Times, p. 4. Retrieved from NewspaperSG; Suryadinata, L. (2012). Southeast Asian personalities of Chinese descent: A biographical dictionary (Vol. 2). Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, p. 416. (Call no.: RSING 959.004951 SOU)
3. Koh, T., et al. (Eds.). (2006). Singapore: The encyclopedia. Singapore: Editions Didier Millet in association with the National Heritage Board, p. 279. (Call no.: RSING 959.57003 SIN-[HIS]); Suryadinata, L. (2012). Southeast Asian personalities of Chinese descent: A biographical dictionary (Vol. 2). Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, p. 415. (Call no.: RSING 959.004951 SOU)
4. Lee, E. J. C., & Chew, C. H. (2012, May). Obituary: Dr Khoo Oon Teik (1921–2012). Annals of the Academy of Medicine, Singapore, 41(5). Retrieved 2016, August 7 from Annals Academy of Medicine Singapore website: http://www.annals.edu.sg/pdf/41VolNo5May2012/V41N5p234.pdf
5. Koh, T., et al. (Eds.). (2006). Singapore: The encyclopedia. Singapore: Editions Didier Millet in association with the National Heritage Board, p. 279. (Call no.: RSING 959.57003 SIN-[HIS]); Tan, T. (2012, March 6). Singapore’s kidney health pioneer dies. The Straits Times, p. 4. Retrieved from NewspaperSG; Suryadinata, L. (2012). Southeast Asian personalities of Chinese descent: A biographical dictionary (Vol. 2). Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, p. 415. (Call no.: RSING 959.004951 SOU)
6. Koh, T., et al. (Eds.). (2006). Singapore: The encyclopedia. Singapore: Editions Didier Millet in association with the National Heritage Board, p. 279. (Call no.: RSING 959.57003 SIN-[HIS]); Suryadinata, L. (2012). Southeast Asian personalities of Chinese descent: A biographical dictionary (Vol. 2). Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, p. 415. (Call no.: RSING 959.004951 SOU)
7. Koh, T., et al. (Eds.). (2006). Singapore: The encyclopedia. Singapore: Editions Didier Millet in association with the National Heritage Board, p. 279. (Call no.: RSING 959.57003 SIN-[HIS]); Suryadinata, L. (2012). Southeast Asian personalities of Chinese descent: A biographical dictionary (Vol. 2). Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, p. 415. (Call no.: RSING 959.004951 SOU); Academy of Medicine, Singapore. (2017). History. Retrieved 2017, April 25 from Academy of Medicine, Singapore website: http://ams.edu.sg/about-us/history
8. Tan, T. (2012, March 6). Singapore’s kidney health pioneer dies. The Straits Times, p. 4. Retrieved from NewspaperSG; Suryadinata, L. (2012). Southeast Asian personalities of Chinese descent: A biographical dictionary (Vol. 2). Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, pp. 415–416. (Call no.: RSING 959.004951 SOU)
9. Koh, T., et al. (Eds.). (2006). Singapore: The encyclopedia. Singapore: Editions Didier Millet in association with the National Heritage Board, p. 279. (Call no.: RSING 959.57003 SIN-[HIS])
10. Koh, T., et al. (Eds.). (2006). Singapore: The encyclopedia. Singapore: Editions Didier Millet in association with the National Heritage Board, p. 279. (Call no.: RSING 959.57003 SIN-[HIS]); Suryadinata, L. (2012). Southeast Asian personalities of Chinese descent: A biographical dictionary (Vol. 2). Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, p. 416. (Call no.: RSING 959.004951 SOU)
11. Tan, T. (2012, March 6). Singapore’s kidney health pioneer dies. The Straits Times, p. 4. Retrieved from NewspaperSG; Suryadinata, L. (2012). Southeast Asian personalities of Chinese descent: A biographical dictionary (Vol. 2). Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, pp. 415–416. (Call no.: RSING 959.004951 SOU)
12. Lee, E. J. C., & Chew, C. H. (2012, May). Obituary: Dr Khoo Oon Teik (1921–2012). Annals of the Academy of Medicine, Singapore, 41(5). Retrieved 2016, August 7 from Annals Academy of Medicine Singapore website: http://www.annals.edu.sg/pdf/41VolNo5May2012/V41N5p234.pdf; Suryadinata, L. (2012). Southeast Asian personalities of Chinese descent: A biographical dictionary (Vol. 2). Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, p. 416. (Call no.: RSING 959.004951 SOU)
13. Koh, T., et al. (Eds.). (2006). Singapore: The encyclopedia. Singapore: Editions Didier Millet in association with the National Heritage Board, p. 279. (Call no.: RSING 959.57003 SIN-[HIS])
14. Koh, T., et al. (Eds.). (2006). Singapore: The encyclopedia. Singapore: Editions Didier Millet in association with the National Heritage Board, p. 279. (Call no.: RSING 959.57003 SIN-[HIS]); Lee, E. J. C., & Chew, C. H. (2012, May). Obituary: Dr Khoo Oon Teik (1921–2012). Annals of the Academy of Medicine, Singapore, 41(5). Retrieved 2016, August 7 from Annals Academy of Medicine Singapore website: http://www.annals.edu.sg/pdf/41VolNo5May2012/V41N5p234.pdf; Prof. Khoo takes over from Monteiro at S’pore U. (1965, October 30). The Straits Times, p. 5. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
15. Koh, T., et al. (Eds.). (2006). Singapore: The encyclopedia. Singapore: Editions Didier Millet in association with the National Heritage Board, p. 279. (Call no.: RSING 959.57003 SIN-[HIS]); Cheong, S. (1977, February 15). Build hospitals for the dying call. The Straits Times, p. 9. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
16. Koh, T., et al. (Eds.). (2006). Singapore: The encyclopedia. Singapore: Editions Didier Millet in association with the National Heritage Board, p. 279. (Call no.: RSING 959.57003 SIN-[HIS]); Suryadinata, L. (2012). Southeast Asian personalities of Chinese descent: A biographical dictionary (Vol. 2). Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, p. 416. (Call no.: RSING 959.004951 SOU)
17. Junkies from the upper class homes. (1973, June 25). The Straits Times, p. 1; The pitfalls of early retirement. (1979, September 9). The Straits Times, p. 6; Problem of caring for the old in S’pore in year 2000. (1975, August 24). The Straits Times, p. 7; Cheong, S. (1977, February 15). Build hospitals for the dying call. The Straits Times, p. 9. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
18. Lee, E. J. C., & Chew, C. H. (2012, May). Obituary: Dr Khoo Oon Teik (1921–2012). Annals of the Academy of Medicine, Singapore, 41(5). Retrieved 2016, August 7 from Annals Academy of Medicine Singapore website: http://www.annals.edu.sg/pdf/41VolNo5May2012/V41N5p234.pdf; Tan, T. (2012, March 6). Singapore’s kidney health pioneer dies. The Straits Times, p. 4. Retrieved from NewspaperSG; Koh, T., et al. (Eds.). (2006). Singapore: The encyclopedia. Singapore: Editions Didier Millet in association with the National Heritage Board, p. 279. (Call no.: RSING 959.57003 SIN-[HIS])
19. Koh, T., et al. (Eds.). (2006). Singapore: the encyclopedia. Singapore: Editions Didier Millet in association with the National Heritage Board, p. 279. (Call no.: RSING 959.57003 SIN-[HIS]); Suryadinata, L. (2012). Southeast Asian personalities of Chinese descent: A biographical dictionary (Vol. 2). Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, p. 416. (Call no.: RSING 959.004951 SOU)
20. Salma Khalik. (2009, April 8). NKF founder honoured for contributions. The Straits Times, p. 32. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
21. Tan, W. (1999, July 11). Tribute to the founder of NKF. The Straits Times, p. 21; Tan, T. (2012, March 6). Singapore’s kidney health pioneer dies. The Straits Times, p. 4. Retrieved from NewspaperSG; Suryadinata, L. (2012). Southeast Asian personalities of Chinese descent: A biographical dictionary (Vol. 2). Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, p. 416. (Call no.: RSING 959.004951 SOU)
22. Tan, W. (1999, July 11). Tribute to the founder of NKF. The Straits Times, p. 21; ‘We’ll put system back on track’. (2005, December 22). The Straits Times, p. 24. Retrieved from NewspaperSG; Suryadinata, L. (2012). Southeast Asian personalities of Chinese descent: A biographical dictionary (Vol. 2). Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, p. 416. (Call no.: RSING 959.004951 SOU)
23. Soh, T. K. (1970, March 29). Fresh hope of kidney cure. The Straits Times, p. 1. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
24. Salma Khalik. (2009, April 8). NKF founder honoured for contributions. The Straits Times, p. 32. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
25. NKF. (2015). Our history. Retrieved 2016, August 7 from NKF website: http://www.nkfs.org/about-nkf/background/our-history/; Suryadinata, L. (2012). Southeast Asian personalities of Chinese descent: A biographical dictionary (Vol. 2). Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, p. 416. (Call no.: RSING 959.004951 SOU); Lee, E. J. C., & Chew, C. H. (2012, May). Obituary: Dr Khoo Oon Teik (1921–2012). Annals of the Academy of Medicine, Singapore, 41(5). Retrieved 2016, August 7 from Annals Academy of Medicine Singapore website: http://www.annals.edu.sg/pdf/41VolNo5May2012/V41N5p234.pdf
26. ‘We’ll put system back on track’. (2005, December 22). The Straits Times, p. 24. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
27. Salma Khalik. (2009, April 8). NKF founder honoured for contributions. The Straits Times, p. 32. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
28. Koh, T., et al. (Eds.). (2006). Singapore: The encyclopedia. Singapore: Editions Didier Millet in association with the National Heritage Board, p. 371. (Call no.: RSING 959.57003 SIN-[HIS]); ‘We’ll put system back on track’. (2005, December 22). The Straits Times, p. 24. Retrieved from NewspaperSG; Suryadinata, L. (2012). Southeast Asian personalities of Chinese descent: A biographical dictionary (Vol. 2). Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, p. 416. (Call no.: RSING 959.004951 SOU)
29. Lee, E. J. C., & Chew, C. H. (2012, May). Obituary: Dr Khoo Oon Teik (1921–2012). Annals of the Academy of Medicine, Singapore, 41(5). Retrieved 2016, August 7 from Annals Academy of Medicine Singapore website: http://www.annals.edu.sg/pdf/41VolNo5May2012/V41N5p234.pdf; Transplant a vital part of treatment and not an experiment. (1973, June 2). The Straits Times, p. 9; Tan, W. (1999, July 11). Tribute to the founder of NKF. The Straits Times, p. 21. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
30. Peters, M. (1968, September 6). The first kidney transplant in Republic soon. The Straits Times, p. 1; ‘We’ll put system back on track’. (2005, December 22). The Straits Times, p. 24. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
31. Tan, W. (1999, July 11). Tribute to the founder of NKF. The Straits Times, p. 21. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
32. ‘We’ll put system back on track’. (2005, December 22). The Straits Times, p. 24; Tan, T. (2012, March 6). Singapore’s kidney health pioneer dies. The Straits Times, p. 4. Retrieved from NewspaperSG; Suryadinata, L. (2012). Southeast Asian personalities of Chinese descent: A biographical dictionary (Vol. 2). Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, p. 416. (Call no.: RSING 959.004951 SOU)
33. Salma Khalik. (2009, April 8). NKF founder honoured for contributions. The Straits Times, p. 32; ‘We’ll put system back on track’. (2005, December 22). The Straits Times, p. 24. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
34. Salma Khalik. (2009, April 8). NKF founder honoured for contributions. The Straits Times, p. 32. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
35. Salma Khalik. (2009, April 8). NKF founder honoured for contributions. The Straits Times, p. 32; ‘We’ll put system back on track’. (2005, December 22). The Straits Times, p. 24. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
36. Salma Khalik. (2009, April 8). NKF founder honoured for contributions. The Straits Times, p. 32. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
37. Lee, E. J. C., & Chew, C. H. (2012, May). Obituary: Dr Khoo Oon Teik (1921–2012). Annals of the Academy of Medicine, Singapore, 41(5). Retrieved 2016, August 7 from Annals Academy of Medicine Singapore website: http://www.annals.edu.sg/pdf/41VolNo5May2012/V41N5p234.pdf; Salma Khalik. (2009, April 8). NKF founder honoured for contributions. The Straits Times, p. 32. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
38. Lee, E. J. C., & Chew, C. H. (2012, May). Obituary: Dr Khoo Oon Teik (1921–2012). Annals of the Academy of Medicine, Singapore, 41(5). Retrieved 2016, August 7 from Annals Academy of Medicine Singapore website: http://www.annals.edu.sg/pdf/41VolNo5May2012/V41N5p234.pdf; Tan, W. (1999, July 11). Tribute to the founder of NKF. The Straits Times, p. 21. Retrieved from NewspaperSG; Suryadinata, L. (2012). Southeast Asian personalities of Chinese descent: A biographical dictionary (Vol. 2). Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, p. 416. (Call no.: RSING 959.004951 SOU)
39. Tan, W. (1999, July 11). Tribute to the founder of NKF. The Straits Times, p. 21. Retrieved from NewspaperSG; Suryadinata, L. (2012). Southeast Asian personalities of Chinese descent: A biographical dictionary (Vol. 2). Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, p. 416. (Call no.: RSING 959.004951 SOU)
40. Tan, T. (2012, March 6). Singapore’s kidney health pioneer dies. The Straits Times, p. 4. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
41. Tan, T. (2012, March 6). Singapore’s kidney health pioneer dies. The Straits Times, p. 4. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
42. Kevin Y. L. Tan, “Khoo Oon Teik,” in Southeast Asian Personalities of Chinese Descent (Singapore : Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2015), 416‒17.
The information in this article is valid as at 25 June 2014 and correct as far as we are able to ascertain from our sources. It is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete history of the subject. Please contact the Library for further reading materials on the topic.
The information on this page and any images that appear here may be used for private research and study purposes only. They may not be copied, altered or amended in any way without first gaining the permission of the copyright holder.
Lee Cheng Yan, also known as Lee Cheng Yam, (b. 1841, Malacca, Straits Settlements–d. 18 May 1911, Singapore), was a merchant and philanthropist. He was one of the founders of the Straits Steamship Company (part of Keppel Corporation today), and helped start a number of schools in Singapore. ...
Wong Meng Voon (b. 27 July 1937, Perak, Malaya–), pen name Meng Yi, is one of Singapore’s most well-known Chinese authors. Most known for his mini-fiction, Wong actively promotes the Chinese mini-novel genre to the world through his creative writings and critical studies. ...
Loke Yew (??) (b. 9 October 1845, Xinhui, Jiangmen, Guangdong, China–d. 24 February 1917, Kuala Lumpur, Malaya) was an influential tycoon in British Malaya. Through tin mining and revenue farming, Loke amassed a vast fortune and became one of the richest men in Malaya....
Wang Gungwu (b. 9 October 1930, Surabaya, Indonesia–) is an internationally renowned historian famed for his scholarship on the history of the Chinese diaspora in Southeast Asia, as well as the history and civilisation of China and Southeast Asia. In his illustrious academic career, Wang has held eminent appointments in...
Yamamoto Otokichi (b. 1817, Onoura, Japan–d. 18 January 1867, Singapore), also known as John Matthew Ottoson or Lin Ah Tao, is recognised as the first Japanese resident in Singapore. Otokichi and his family were fully based in Singapore by 1862, and remained there until his death in 1867. Otokichi was...
Iranian twin sisters, Laleh and Ladan Bijani, were the world’s first adult Siamese twins to undergo surgical separation. The 52-hour marathon operation began on 6 July 2003 at Raffles Hospital in Singapore. However, 29-year-old twins, who were born conjoined at their heads, did not survive the operation, dying within 90...
The Straits Settlements Association was founded in London by a group of ex-Straits Settlements residents on 31 January 1868. The association, which mainly comprised members from the mercantile community, aimed to safeguard the commercial and political interests of the Straits Settlements through representations to the British government. John Crawfurd was...
The Singapore Cord Blood Bank (SCBB) was officially opened by then Minister for Health Khaw Boon Wan on 28 September 2005. The accredited public cord blood bank was set up in response to the demand from paediatricians and haematologists to increase the number of cord blood units available for unrelated...
Richard Eu Yee Ming (b. 29 October 1947, Hong Kong–) is the chairman of Eu Yan Sang International Ltd., a healthcare company that focuses on traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). He is the man behind the transformation of Eu Yan Sang from a TCM business into a modern company that provides...
William Lim Siew Wai (b. 19 July 1932, Hong Kong–) is an architect, urban theorist and activist. The Singapore citizen has been involved in the design of many iconic buildings in the country, including the former Singapore Conference Hall and Trade Union House (now known as the Singapore Conference Hall)...