Madam Tan Siok Hwee was born in 1952, in a family of 8. Born in a large family with 5 siblings to take care of, the culture of sharing is deeply inculcated in her. Mdm Tan is extremely close to her family members, and feels that family is the most important thing in life, which needs to be deeply treasured. Because of the size of her family, they were rather poor and receiving hand me downs from elder siblings was common. She even laughed and cheekily said that she was lucky to be the second daughter in the family, so she only had to receive hand me downs from her older sister. Despite her far from luxurious lifestyle, Mdm Tan repeatedly emphasized that "There is nothing shameful about being poor, but you must be upright in your character." When Madam Tan was young, her father was a gambling addict and gambled away their meagre savings. At a young age, she witnessed and experienced the terror of her family being hounded by loan sharks, and almost lost her father to them. Hence, to this day, she is strongly against gambling. Madam Tan also recalls how different her school life back then was as she has experienced the rapid development of Singapore from a kampung into a modern city. As a student, she recalled how there were no excursions or global classroom programmes which most of the Singaporean students are privileged to enjoy today. However, she mentioned that her school life was simple and fun, with little homework to do after school and occasional outings to the parks to draw or simply to enjoy the scenery. She commented that there was more room for creativity in the past as she used to make her own kites and other handicraft instead of the store bought toys most children play with today. This carefree lifestyle is one she looks back fondly upon. Madam Tan also mentioned how the technologically savvy world we live in today has taken away the physical interaction that people used to share. Madam Tan is a positive, amiable and optimistic 62 year old senior nurse manager at Khoo Teck Puat hospital, who has dedicated over thirty years to her nursing profession. However, her initial desired profession was teaching. Despite her interest in teaching, her circumstances forced her to take up the profession of a nurse instead. Although this was not her original ambition, she has grown to love and respect nursing over the years. In her earlier working days, she used to work on the frontline, serving patients directly. Now, she has left that to the younger staff and instead works behind the scenes to help sterilize the instruments for surgical and medical procedures. Despite not having the chance to interact with patients directly now, Mdm Tan still finds her work extremely meaningful as she is able to contribute to the well being of the patients in an indirect manner. Madam Tan's greatest joy is seeing patients nursed back to health under her care, and she hopes that she will not see the patients in the hospital again. She is fully committed to this profession, and is hoping to remain in it until she retires. Madam Tan’s optimism and dedication is admirable and is truly the mark of an honorable woman. Written by: Gan Ming Yi and Ooi Shu Min From: Nanyang Girls' High School