He hopes Medifund will be extended to help middle-income patients pay for expensive drugs. At the moment it is meant for only the very poor. The Government has said it is looking into it.

Dr Ang urges Singaporeans to buy medical insurance. He also advises patients to go through the contracts carefully to ensure that they have adequate coverage.

He suggests that those buying insurance get their family doctors to go through the medical aspects of insurance agreements. He also advocates early screening so that cancer can be caught in its early stages. Treatment will not only be less harrowing but also cheaper.

Mr Woo agrees. Besides insurance, he urges his friends to go for cancer tests and not wait for symptoms to appear.

He knows that having suffered stage IV lung cancer, he will never be completely 'cured' of it. After all, 95 per cent of advanced cancer patients experience a recurrence within five years.

'I know it can come back,' he says, adding that he hopes to see son Kelvin, 31, who is engaged in medical research overseas, settle down and have children.

He does not intend to give in to cancer. 'I'll fight it all the way. If there's something to try and I can afford it, I'll give it a go.'

This article was first published in The Straits Times.