HE HAD only five days in Myanmar but, within that short span of time, renowned cardiologist Leslie Lam and his team accomplished a great deal.
They conducted eight complex sugeries, including angioplasty and stenting, and set up a new cardiology unit in a hospital catering only to monks.
The 65-year-old consultant at The Cardiac Centre in Mount Elizabeth Medical Centre has been visiting Myanmar with his other cardiologist friends since 1991 to render help to the local medical fraternity, in terms of training and equipment.
In 2005, the heart specialist was conferred the Honorary Fellowship title by his alma mater - the University College Dublin in Ireland. Adding on to his already long list of professional achievements, Dr Lam is also currently serving as Honorary Consultant to health ministries in Seychelles and Brunei.
Just on Sunday, Dr Lam returned from his latest trip to Myanmar, where he helped out at a charitable hospital for monks - Jivitadana Sangha Hospital in Yangon - for the first time.
What made it more memorable was that it was also his first collaboration with Venerable Shi Fa Zhao of the Buddha Tooth Relic Monastery in Chinatown, who donated medical equipment worth $218,688.
"This amount doesn't sound very much in Singapore, but you must remember the earning power (in Myanmar) is so low, it will take them many, many years to earn this sort of money," Dr Lam said.
To illustrate his point, Dr Lam explained that the equipment they donated would "cost the average top US doctor $138 to $207 a month".
While the veteran volunteer, who has helped in Vietnam and Brunei, was hardly surprised to see 30 patients in one day, he was startled by the health condition of the monks.
"I thought monks, being on a vegetarian diet, should not have coronary heart disease, but I was so shocked to see so many of them with severe coronary heart disease," he said with disbelief.
Dr Lam, a firm believer in giving back to society, is already planning his next trip there in four months' time.
"They keep on inviting us to go, that's the most important thing. They feel that they benefit from us going," he said.
While there may be many who would welcome him and his team, some detractors like the Voice of America (VOA) - the official external radio and television broadcasting service of the United States federal government - have questioned the intent of his endeavours.
The VOA had criticised the volunteers for the aid they delivered in Myanmar, as it felt that by treating patients there, Dr Lam and his team were helping to prop up the Myanmar military regime.
Despite the criticisms, the spritely grandfather of a four-year-old girl said he will continue his work until Myanmar's "economy improves", hopefully "in two to three years' time".
Dr Lam is not one to mix politics with medicine.
He said: "I will treat Osama bin Laden just as I will treat George Bush.
"Doctors should never try to be judges. It's not our job."
