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Electric Laundry Land
The e-laundry system that saves 674 man hours every month
Breaking the sound barrier Overcoming hearing loss with a ‘do more and learn more’ attitude
Helping our patients stay out of hospitals Nurses at the forefront of efforts to return patients to the community
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Breaking the sound barrier
Healthcare Assistant Alice Teo overcomes hearing loss to excel in her job and clinch the May Day Award.
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Helping our patients stay out of hospitals Nurses at the forefront of efforts to return patients to the community
Electric Laundry Land The e-laundry system that saves 674 man hours every month
in every issue 10 12 13 18 19 20
quality pulse spree in action campus buzz cross culture your 2nd take the last page
contents
LIFE at SGH Campus | Jul/Aug 2014
e r u feat
Helping our patients stay out of hospitals Our Care Coordinators work with patients, caregivers and partners in the community.
Advisor Tan-Huang Shuo Mei Contributors Caleb Low, Matthew Han, Vanessa Peters, Jennifer Wee, Michelle Scully, Goh Sai Luan Distribution Helen Yang On the Cover Suratmi Sarengat, Liao Kehua and Rachel Towle are among the nurses who help patients return to the community on page 3. ----------Life@SGH Campus is published every two months in print and online by the SGH Communications Department
We discharge our patients when their conditions have been stabilised and they are well enough to leave. But many of them do not have the right support at home or in the community to help them to keep recovering. Often, their conditions deteriorate rapidly and they are re-admitted to our hospital. We have to help these patients stay out of hospital, so that we can care for other patients who have more complicated or acute conditions.
A group of our nurses has been at the forefront of efforts to identify these patients who can be supported by services in the community. The service is set to grow as the government allots priority to this aspect of care. As we adopt a Regional Health System framework, we will be working even more closely with care partners such as family physicians or community care providers to provide patients with appropriate care in the right setting.
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Helping our patients stay out of hospitals Full time community nurse Nurse Clinician Suratmi Sarengat attends mostly to needy patients who are discharged with surgical wounds, urinary catheters or nasogastric feeding.
She is part of a team of fulltime nurses that provides the service free to needy patients. It is a joint community project launched in 2010 by SingHealth and the unions to address unmet needs. “A typical patient is elderly with diabetic ulcers and surgical wounds that need monitoring. Without adequate care at home, he would become a longstayer or be re-admitted frequently. We identify these patients and support them after discharge.” “I make weekly telephone calls and two home visits in a month to assess his status and home situation. I will then draw up a care plan with his caregivers and train them to attend to his needs. After 3 months, we will link him to providers in the community to continue his care.” She recalls a deaf and mute patient, 70, who could only lip read Mandarin. “It was really challenging communicating with him.” Working with his 80-yearold brother, she monitored his medication, mobility and taught them to care for his foot wound. With
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the help of a Home Nursing Foundation nurse, his mobility improved and his wound was healing well within two months. “I am most motivated when patients take responsibility for themselves and adhere to my treatment advice and are living independently in the community.”
Multi-disciplinary Family Medicine (From left) SSN Wong San See and NC Lee Chen Na
Nurse Clinician Lee Chen Na is part of the Family Medicine team that helps patients transit from hospital under the Transitional Home Care service. “We care for patients who are house-bound, chairbound or bed-bound and have limitation to access care in hospital, for three months. “We monitor out patients through telephone calls and regular home visits with the Physicians. Our Medical Social Workers (MSWs), Occupational Therapists and Physiotherapists will work with them if needed.
LIFE at SGH Campus | Jul/Aug 2014
“We also link the patient up with community services for day care or rehabilitation, meal delivery, transportation etc, working closely with partners such as Thye Hua Kwan, Home Nursing Foundation and Tsao Foundation.” “An MSW and I visited a patient, 86, with multiple chronic conditions. We discussed end-of-life care with the family, and our doctor advised home hospice care. We introduced them to the hospice, and continued to follow up with calls. The family was very appreciative.” The Family Medicine team also offers the Integrated Care Clinical Service. It runs as a virtual ward, providing post-discharge surveillance of high-risk patients, with two or more readmissions in 90 days. Like NC Lee Chen Na, Senior Staff Nurse Wong San See stresses the importance of working in a multidisciplinary team. “There was an elderly patient with a feeding tube. Our MSW helped him and his wife get help with their bills. We contacted various social services to help them with their appointments, deliver meals and visit them.” “We aim to engage, educate and empower patients and their families to take charge of their own health,” NC Lee and SSN Wong share.
National effort
Staff Nurse Lisa Ang and Senior Staff Nurse Liao Kehua are Care Coordinators under a national programme by the Agency for Integrated Care, rolled out in acute and community hospitals. Posted to both medical and surgical wards, they tend to patients who are older than 60 years, and are at high risk of re-admission, falls and not able to live independently. Working closely with MSWs, they help link patients with social services such as meal
deliveries, check on medication, and train caregivers. They may perform procedures if the need arises. SN Lisa Ang stresses that patient education is a large part of their role. “There was a diabetic patient whose granddaughter let her consume candies and sweet drinks, to let her grandmother enjoy the simple pleasures of life. I had to explain to her how diet and lifestyle affect the disease and suggest different things she could do for her grandmother.” SSN Liao Kehua agrees with SN Ang on education. “We routinely discuss patients’ care with family members, and answer any fears or questions they might have.” She recalls an amputee whose remaining foot was infected, and had to be amputated as well. In addition, he had poor eyesight, developed dementia and had no full-time caregiver. It was very challenging to locate a day care centre that would accept him but in the end, the team was able to find one.
Patient Navigators To support patients with complex and chronic conditions, SingHealth is training staff to be Patient Navigators. Working with the healthcare team, they will assist patients to get appropriate care across the continuum. The aim is to reduce readmission and their length of stay. We have trained the first group of 33 nurses, with plans for 400 by 2018.
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up close
Breaking the sound barrier
Alice Teo, 53, entered the workforce for the first time 6 years ago. Her ‘do more and learn more’ attitude and willingness to learn enabled the health assistant to overcome her hearing loss to excel in her job and clinch the May Day Award this year. every night. I decided to get help and was referred to Prof Abhilash Balakrishnan, Dept of Otolaryngology at SGH, who fitted me with a hearing aid for my left ear. How did you end up working at SGH? In 2008, my kids urged me to go out and start working. I signed up with an agency, specifying I wanted to join the healthcare industry as I wanted to help people. Initially, I was sent to the Emergency Department at SGH but the sight of blood made me queasy. So I was offered a job with the Otolaryngology department where I had been treated three years earlier!
Can you share your experience with hearing loss? I first noticed I had trouble hearing voices from phone calls in 2005. The hearing got worse. Whenever
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I watched television, I had to turn the volume up high. People had to shout for me to hear them. My favourite word was ‘Huh?’ Most scary were the dizzy spells I had
What was your experience with the department? I started by doing simple portering and despatch work, mainly
LIFE at SGH Campus | Jul/Aug 2014
“Alice felt that she had to work harder than her peers and her persistence got her a permanent offer at SGH.” — JANIE GOH, Alice's supervisor
handling patients’ case sheets. My supervisor observed I was performing above my required duties and a year later, upgraded me to assist the doctors in the clinics. At first, having to learn the many procedures, some of which were complicated, stressed me. I panicked and thought of leaving. However, my supervisor gave me a lot of encouragement and I decided to continue. I learnt on the job, especially from my colleagues who were very helpful and started enjoying my job.
discovered the bone in my other ear had degenerated. I had to wear a hearing aid on my right side too. Now, I can hear better which makes learning easier. I find the medical side of work very interesting. It’s like getting free lessons! How does your hearing loss affect your work? It actually helps me to do my job better! It is hard for some patients when they are told that they have to wear hearing aids. They cannot accept it because they associate it with being very old. This is especially so for younger patients like those in their 30s. They say, “You are not in my shoes, you don’t know what I am going through.” This is when I show them my hearing aids – which most of them did not spot. I tell them, “Look, I do understand. In the beginning, it will be very noisy, but your brain will adjust.”
What’s the best thing about your job? I wanted to be in healthcare to help people and I get to do that every day. It’s a great coincidence that I was assigned to the Otolaryngology department when I first joined. Before, I was a patient. Now, from my personal experience I am able to empathise with patients suffering from hearing loss. I’ve also learnt how to deal with different people. It helps that I understand Mandarin and most dialects so I can translate information between the patients and doctors. Today there are many options for people with hearing loss – conventional hearing aids, bone-anchored hearing aids and implants to help us lead a normal lifestyle.
What other obstacles did you encounter? The following year, I was having problems hearing some of the doctors, especially when they wore masks and had low voices. It was difficult to do my job. I decided to check my hearing and
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focus
Electric Laundry Land Missing curtains or using wrong-sized curtains was fairly common in SGH which has 4000 pieces in use at any one time. With the e-laundry system introduced last year, tracking the curtains is no longer a huge challenge.
In the past, each curtain was embroidered with an identification number
Each day, 110 curtains are changed
Tracking curtains
Every day at SGH, 110 curtains are changed - for scheduled cleaning or when they get soiled; and replaced when they get torn. To account for them, each curtain was embroidered with a unique number. Staff kept manual records of their movement, a method that was tedious and prone to error. During inventory taking, 16 housekeeping staff manually counted and recorded each serial number on each curtain hung at SGH, in the stores and the linen rooms. All data was copied into a report and other staff checked manually for discrepancies.
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Giving up pens for PDAs
In 2012, SGH started working with our laundry vendor and housekeeping service partner ISS to develop an e-solution using Radio Frequency identity (RFID) tags and an integrated database. In place of the embroidered number, each curtain is identified through a RFID tag that is sewn on. Staff simply scan the tag using a PDA, select the laundry activity from a menu on the PDA, and all the information is uploaded onto a web portal in real time. The eLaundry system now tracks real-time inventory record of all the curtains, eliminating manual count and saving manpower hours.
LIFE at SGH Campus | Jul/Aug 2014
Elder-friendly features
Elderly friendly features like big, colourful icons make the PDAs easy to use
As there are elderly workers with no or very low IT literacy, the PDA menu was created to be age friendly with input from these staff. The PDA uses big, bright and colourful icons for easy identification. The use of scanners was introduced when the workers reported that they found it difficult to key in user IDs and passwords into the PDA.
Snapshots
4000 10years 2 types 4 sizes curtains are used in SGH’s wards
Each curtain’s lifespan is
The curtains come in of fabrics and
Curtains are scheduled to be changed Housekeeper Mr Soh finds that the new system has made his job easier
once a month in inpatient wards
For infectious cases, curtains are changed when patients are discharged
No hang ups
Housekeeper Mr Soh Siang Chuan happily praises the e-laundry system. “It’s very easy to use, very fast and the system updates right away, so we can see the information immediately”. The new system has reduced human errors. If the wrong sized curtain is hung, the system prompts the user immediately. Scanning has also increased productivity, with a saving of 674 hours every month.
“The project helps us to be more efficient and productive, by reducing human errors and making the job easier for our staff. We are now working even better as a unit, functioning to our maximum potential.” — L EE EWE CHOON, Assistant Director, Environmental Services
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quality pulse
QI Chat
Senior Nurse Manager Patricia Yong is a 2014 Quality Improvement (QI) Superstar finalist. With SGH for over 30 years, she has keen knowledge and experience in patient care, especially in intensive case units.
When and how did you get involved in QI? I witnessed QI as a junior nurse, in the form of QC Circles. I saw how excited my colleagues were, trying to figure out problems and work out solutions for their projects. I realised, ‘wow, the process is very similar to how as nurses we continuously try to improve the way we work, for the sake of our patients.’ Which project(s) have left an impression on you? The most meaningful one is the 2010 project “To improve oral hygiene for intubated patients in Surgical Intensive Care Unit”. It set evidence based clinical guidelines for ICU patients which are now also used in the general wards. We held many training sessions for the ward nurses, and I was heartened to see how well fellow nurses took to the change. What do you think is the biggest challenge when doing improvement projects? The biggest challenge is to rally people to support your concepts or thoughts. The other will be sustainability of the project as it demands commitment from
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everyone. That’s why it’s important to engage your stakeholders in order to gain support. You need to converse with them – sometimes many times – to foster mutual understanding. We need to learn not to give up easily. What motivates you to improve? What are you passionate about? I always believe in evaluating myself so that I can give my best to others no matter how small the effort may be. Be useful to others in a good way – that is the principle which guides me. Have you applied QI in your personal life? I am an introvert. However, as I
engage in QI projects , it gives me many opportunities to chat with others and understand different perspectives. This helps me to find better solutions for problems. You have been a mentor to many QI teams. What advice would you give to someone who's just starting on their first project? When implementing change, you will encounter difficulties. Take them as good opportunities to learn how to overcome obstacles and become more resilient. This is how we grow and develop as leaders. Have faith in yourself and the team – persevere and be courageous.
5S
Do you have a messy workplace and would like a method to organise it? The 5S concept is a tool to improve efficiency, service and safety at work.
Stage 1: Sort
LIFE at SGH Campus | Jul/Aug 2014
Show me the way Problem The Emergency Department requires patients to begin their journey at the screening station at the entrance. Patients who come by the back way via the lifts either end up lost or require help finding the screening station. They become anxious and frustrated, and staff disrupt their work to provide directions.
To tackle the root causes, the team decided to install signage at the rear door of the Emergency Department. Through a brainstorming session, they agreed that the signage should be visible, captivating, and its message clear and easily understood.
Solution Using the 5 Whys methodology, the team found 3 root causes: • Patients are unfamiliar with the Emergency Department’s layout • No prominent directional signs to guide patients • Patients are unfamiliar with the steps and flow of patient care at the Emergency Department
Put common items together with proper labelling
Stage 2: Set in order
A clean workplace makes for an enjoyable and safe working environment
Stage 3: Shine
In addition, they also printed directional stickers on the floor that guide patients to the screening station.
Result Since the installation, 54% of patients arriving from the Emergency Department’s rear passage are able to find their way to the screening station. This has resulted in increased patient satisfaction, and enabled staff to focus on their work.
Standard work instructions ensure quality and safety
Stage 4: Standardise
Conduct regular audits and involve all co-workers
Stage 5: Sustain 11
spree in action
AN SGH MOMENT
Kindness shines through the storm Principal Enrolled Nurse Laila Md Yusop
That morning, Ms Wee, who is a cancer survivor, had two missed calls from SGH. When she called back while rushing to SGH in a taxi, PEN Laila attended to her. “I was very impressed with Ms Laila who took the trouble to check with several places like the NCC Suite and relevant clinics to track down my caller and help find out what the missing calls were about,” shared Ms Wee. About her apology, Ms Wee wrote, “I am glad that she understands my explanation and I am writing to express my appreciation for her patience and kindness in dealing with me, a cancer survivor. Hence, thank you very much Miss Laila!”
Patient’s name has been changed to protect her privacy
Ms Annabelle Wee was attending a class when she received two calls from SGH which were results of a mix-up. Ms Wee was enraged. “I was very frustrated at being interrupted twice during class. The staff asked for my relative instead of me, and asked if I was going for the endoscopy which I had already gone for, two days earlier. Upset, I insisted on speaking to a senior staff who came on the line. Unfortunately, I was still very angry and vented my frustration on this staff.” Later, Ms Wee realised that the senior staff was Principal Enrolled Nurse Laila Md Yusop, who had been most helpful on the day of her endoscopy appointment two days earlier.
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“I did not realise that Miss Laila was the very same person who had helped me two days earlier. So she took the brunt of my anger. I felt very bad and managed to call her to say 'sorry'.” >
LIFE at SGH Campus | Jul/Aug 2014
A legacy of selfless giving The late Professor N Balachandran
This one’s for the children Prof Tan Cheng Lim is Singapore’s longest serving public paediatrician with 50 years of experience. Based at KKH, today he is Emeritus Consultant at the Department of Paediatric Subspecialties. He continues the work he started at SGH, as head of paediatrics from 1977 to 1997. In April 2014, the Tan Cheng Lim Research and Education Fund was launched in his honour with more than $1.4 million raised through donations and pledges. The fund will be used for advancing research in paediatric medicine and training paediatric health care leaders of the future. Prof Tan envisions dedicated, well trained, knowledgeable and efficient healthcare professionals for all patients and wants the funds to develop such individuals for the benefit of every child.
Affectionately known as ‘Big Bala’ and ‘Jedi Master’, the late Professor N Balachandran is one of Singapore’s great luminaries in orthopaedics. Throughout his 45 years at SGH, the renowned surgeon was known for his selfless care towards patients.
Prof Tan Cheng Lim with his grandchildren on his 75th birthday
A great teacher, he strongly advocated mentoring the younger generation of specialists. He stressed, ‘The younger ones must overtake us, not only academically, but also in operative skills. How wonderful it would be for all of us to be able to learn something new from one’s own pupil.’ In his memory, a proposed Balachandran-Kajima Professorship in Academic Medicine will be set up. It aims to foster academic leadership in medical teaching and research. So far, $1 million dollars has been pledged by Kajima Overseas Asia Pte Ltd, with the hope to raise another $2.5 million.
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campus buzz
SGH aces JCI, as AMC!
The Joint Commission International has accredited SGH, for the first time, as an Academic Medical Centre. For five days in June, five surveyors reviewed our processes in care, teaching and research for safety and quality. They found high standards, passion and dedication. We also showed them strong team spirit, boosted by the support of SingHealth and Duke-NUS colleagues.
Daily debrief - all hands on deck
Surveyors and their guides 14
More of the people behind the scene
LIFE at SGH Campus | Jul/Aug 2014
Observing Time Out and implant procedure
Renovation site not spared on the day of 10,000 steps
Reviewing physiotherapy care notes
Medication Cab inet checked
Emergency shower at Biochem lab put to the test
flat with At patient's HDB ian and nurse ic ys ph re home ca
Retail staff quizzed on fire safety
Closed medical records - checked
Rectified - confusing exit sign spotted by surveyor 15
campus buzz
Appointed
DR RUBAN POOPALALINGAM Head, Anaesthesiology, SGH
ASSOC PROF CHRISTOPHER ANG
Head, Neurosurgery, SGH
Beyond skin The Dermatology Unit has been re-designated as a Department with Dr Pang Shiu Ming as Acting Head. The change reflects the growth of our Dermatology specialty into several sub-specialty areas and its stature as a referral centre for Singapore and regional countries for the rare, life-threatening skin conditions - StevensJohnson Syndrome and toxic epidermal necrolysis.
Brave Pioneers Seven of our cooks braved the challenge of going back to school to test out the inaugural ITE Industry Skills Certificate in Food Preparation. SGH developed the course with ITE, to provide ancillary kitchen staff with formal training required to pursue ITE’s higher level NITEC training. Our Executive Chef Tan Loon Liang was trained by ITE to run the programme in SGH. All our cooks aced the course and graduated with Distinctions, despite many of them being in their 50s with minimal formal education. Well done, Ng Shook Fay, Law Chee Meng, Lock Kwai Lan, Kwan Yuen Hoong, Khoo Kim Hai, Chang Chien Chin & Hng Hean Teong.
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ASSOC PROF TAN HAK KOON Associate Designated Institutional Official, SGH Campus
Learning Safari swings in Discover how to escape your comfort zones, pursue new knowledge trails and explore new ways of doing things at this year’s Learning Fiesta. Keynote speaker What makes a successful learning journey? Hear from Mr Lim Siong Guan, Group President of Government of Singapore Investment Corporation. He was head of the Economic Development Board and the Singapore Civil Service, and Permanent Secretary in several ministries and and the Prime Minister’s Office. Tunnel tour Explore the labyrinth of underground tunnels which lead to various corners of the SGH campus. You’ll pick up interesting nuggets of information along the way. Register for this ‘Walk on the WOW side’ tour early on LMS People Connexion to find out more!
A Journey of Collaboration, Determination and Exploration 20 August 2014, Wednesday Deck on 9 9:00 AM
LIFE at SGH Campus | Jul/Aug 2014
Don’t be a doctor
“A doctor’s life is really hard, but I really love my job too. How do I tell that to teens?” At a career talk at Catholic Junior College, Assoc Prof William Hwang and Head of Haematology wrote and shared a poem instead. Don’t be a doctor if you want to be rich. Bankers and businessmen earn more It doesn’t matter which. And if you just want money, You’ll probably end up doing Something funny. Don’t be a doctor if you think you are a god, On your first night on call – You’ll quickly learn that you are not. There’ll also be many times When you wonder, and wonder If you could have done even better. Don’t be a doctor just to be liked, People may not appreciate – Even when you do right. There will always be those, Who may misunderstand And twist your words if they can. Don’t be a doctor just to play golf You may not have the time – Even on weekends off. But sure, you’ll have time for fun and a laugh And even time To meet your better half. Don’t be a doctor if you like being bored, Boredom is a luxury – You can ill afford. And there are so many different types,
That you can choose to be A surgeon, a physician, a radiologist or gynae. But be a doctor if you want to do something real, To actually mend a heart, To patch that hole in the stomach, To get a heart to beat again, To help the blind to see, And the deaf to hear. Be a doctor if you want a life, Filled with more meaning than you can know – And if you like to give, A human touch – A gentle word – A calm assurance – A real hope – To a mother, A brother, A son, A sister, Of a patient. Whose Healing, Relief, Comfort, and Hope, Depend on you. Don’t be a doctor if you don’t want to make a difference. Whether you like it or not – You will.
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time out
Dr Takano, at Machu Picchu, a 15th century city of the Inca Empire
Cross Culture:
From the land of the Inca Originally from Peru, Dr Angela Takano from the Department of Pathology moved to America, then Japan, Micronesia and finally Singapore in 2002. Our westernised culture made adjusting a breeze, “except for the rent”, she jokes. Are there any similarities between Peru and Singapore? Everything is quite different except that our food is also very spicy so I can take a lot of chillies with my food. Then again, after living in different countries, you realise that people are the same deep inside. What’s one interesting Singaporean trait you’ve observed? Singaporeans are always concerned if I’ve had lunch. Till today, I don’t know how to answer – it’s always ‘no’ because I have a bad habit of eating lunch at 3pm. Tell us one interesting rarely known fact about Peru. We have a large population of Chinese origin and a favourite cuisine is Chinese Peruvian called Chifa! My favourite is fish with Men Si (black bean) sauce and chicken Ti Pa Kay (chicken in sweet and sour sauce). What do you do outside of work? I work out at the gym, am teaching myself Hebrew, participate in short runs and I like to cook. I also like travelling and used to sing with a band of South American friends called Banda Lah Tina. I’ve taken a hiatus because of work but I’m taking singing classes from Work-Life Unit and will re-join them when I can.
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Lomo Saltado (sautéed beef) (Serves 8 – 9)
This popular fusion dish sprung from the Chinese migrants in Peru marrying both cultures. After trying it, you’ll be craving it forever! INGREDIENTS: • 1 kg beef steak • 500g sliced red onions • 500g sliced plum tomatoes • 1 kg large potatoes peeled and sliced thickly • 2 yellow chillies (use red chillies if unavailable) • 1 tbsp of chopped chili padi (remove the seeds) • 6 tbsp of soy sauce • 2 freshly chopped Chinese parsley • Salt and pepper to taste • A few drops of red wine vinegar • Pinch of cumin • 1 tbsp of minced garlic • Oil for frying METHOD: 1. C ut the beef into cubes or strips. 2. I n a wok, add the oil and over medium heat, sauté the garlic and chopped chili padi for 2 minutes 3. O ver high heat, add in the meat, salt and pepper and cumin. Fry till brown and remove the meat and juices from pan. 4. A dd oil and stir fry the onions till soft, add salt, pepper and red wine vinegar. Remove from wok. 5. F ry the tomatoes, adding the meat, onions and juice from the meat. 6. A dd the soy sauce and large chopped chillies and cook for ½ a minute. 7. F inally, add the potatoes making sure they are crispy on the outside and taking care not to break them. 8. S erve with rice and decorate with the Chinese parsley.
LIFE at SGH Campus | Jul/Aug 2014
y o ur e 2nd tak LAST ISSUE'S MYSTERIOUS ITEM:
FUTURISTIC TORTURE DEVICE?
WINNING ENTRY
“The entire scene is reminiscent of an ancient medieval torture chamber or an alternate universe Victorian-era science laboratory. Steampunk fans will appreciate the "coollooking" steel table and multi-jointed appearance of the whole apparatus. A sexy blond corseted femme fatale with a steam-operated mechanical arm and a redglowing bionic eye moves the controls to this whole set-up, whilst saying in a seductivesounding voice: "Now, now, don't be afraid; it'll only hurt a little, I promise", before she shoves a syringe full of luminescent barium paste up your nasal cavity.” — KENNETH YEO, Principal Radiographer
THE REAL DEAL
General Electric Corporation X-Ray apparatus from the early 1900s. Visit the SGH Museum at Bowyer Block to see and learn more about this machine.
GUESS THIS ISSUE'S ITEM: Most interesting and creative (not most accurate) answer wins a $20 voucher. Please send your answers to mysgh@sgh.com.sg. Closing date: 23 August 2014 Please limit answers to a maximum of 100 words.
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st a l theage p
Whether by planes, trains or cars, what are your traveling habits? “I like to split my cash and store it in different places in case I get robbed. I put my money in different clothing and bags, especially those with secret compartments.” — EVELYN CHOONG, Radiographer
“I’m very practical – I like to bring extra money and credit cards, in case I run out of money for shopping.” —C RYSTAL YICK, Medical Technologist, Skin Bank Unit
“When I travel, I like to sit next to a window, especially in the bus. Instead of taking a nap or reading a book, I try to take in as much of the scenery as I can. I’ll snap as many photos as I can when the bus is moving along.” — JOSEPHINE LEE, Human Resource Executive, Work-Life Unit
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“Being the coffee addict that I am, when I travel, I always make sure I carry my Starbucks instant coffee packets. If I can’t find a Starbucks café, I can still have my fix for black coffee, just the way I like it.”
“I like to make sure I pack enough clothes and travel medication for my trips. How do I manage to do this? I pack Army style - roll up all clothing items tightly and insert into airtight zip lock plastic bags.”
— I VAN GERALD LEE, Respiratory Therapist
— GABRIEL ZENG, Executive, Operations & Performance Management