Not just a pipe dream I Dr Oei Yi Sheng Vincent

Oei Yi Sheng Vincent I Physician-Scientist

Not just a pipe dream

When Vincent Oei Yi Sheng was ten years old, he read about Alfred Nobel, the Swedish multihyphenate who established the Nobel Prize to honour those whose work greatly benefited mankind. Motivated by these stories, Vincent set his sights on a big dream—to win a Nobel Prize by contributing to the medical sciences as a scientist AND doctor.

This felt like a pipe dream for a boy from a low-income family. But now, at 37, the physician-scientist has proven that dreams can come true with the right nudge from the right person.

The person who sowed the seed of ambition in Vincent’s young mind? Dr Syed Yusof, a tutor from CDAC.

When Vincent was five, he lost his father to illness. His mother operated a school canteen food stall to make ends meet. Vincent’s mother was concerned about his poor English grades due in part to the family’s Mandarin-speaking background. So, she enrolled him in an English tuition class with CDAC, where he met Dr Syed Yusof.

Under Dr Yusof’s tutelage, Vincent’s command of the language improved tremendously, and he scored an A2 in his O-level English examinations. In 2002, Vincent received the CDAC Achievement Award for excellent academic performance.

The award and recognition gave Vincent the confidence to strive for his goals. After his A-levels, he received a scholarship from A*STAR to study Biomedical Science at the National University of Singapore.

Vincent later did his post-graduate studies at the Duke-NUS Medical School and also completed his PhD in Cancer Immunotherapy at the University of Oslo in Norway. In 2018, Vincent earned his dual doctorate as a Doctor of Medicine and Doctor of Philosophy (MD-PhD) in Immunotherapy.

Now practising medicine while conducting research, Vincent hopes his work will continue bridging the gap between research and development and applied medicine.

Looking back at the path leading up to the present, Vincent knows that if he had not met a good tutor like Dr Yusof at CDAC, he would not have embarked on the journey toward his dreams.

"CDAC's assistance programmes provide children from low-income families with a better head start in life so that they have a better chance of climbing the social ladder," said Vincent.

后排左起

卓文丰

卓霜

卓峻永

张秀秀

卓霖

卓信利

找到学习自信

自雇人士张秀秀（48岁）的四名孩子从小都上华助会的补习班，还从各种增益课程中获益。 尤其是家中最小的孩子卓峻永，在个案管理方式的扶持下，学习上有了显著的进步。

卓峻永（13岁）从小体弱多病，因尿道问题多次进出医院，在听力上也有障碍。张秀秀担心 孩子无法跟上学校的学习进度，因此让他参加“儿童启蒙阅读计划”，再报读华助会补习班。

华助会个案工作人员在评估过张秀秀的家庭资源，以及卓峻永的健康与学习需求后，安排 卓峻永参加每周的功课督导小组，除了让义工大哥哥大姐姐在课业上辅导他，也借由户外和 室内教育活动，建立他的自信。

功课督导小组的义工们也经常与张秀秀保持联系，除了确保卓峻永的学习有进展，也关注 张秀秀家庭各方面的需求，适时给予协助。

张秀秀很欣慰看到卓峻永的改变。她说，卓峻永很少与人接触，一开始到华助会时，是哭着 挣扎进入教室的。但很快地，张秀秀发现卓峻永慢慢克服了自己的恐惧，变得比较有自信了。

另外，张秀秀也积极参加了理财工作坊和家长讲座，更好地处理家庭日常开销和加强亲子沟通。

而大女儿卓霖则能够自动自发学习，念小学时参加华助会的优苗计划，帮助她发挥了潜能， 学习路途比较平坦。卓霖看到弟弟在功课督导小组义工的督导下，不但课业有了进步， 人也变得比较自信，于是怀着感恩之心加入了功课督导小组当义工，以大姐姐的姿态辅导同样 来自弱势家庭有需要的小学生，回馈社会。