Faith Healer

Tan Su-Ming

There is a family of five that I see: a Malay woman in her 40s married to a Chinese Muslim convert, and their three boys.

They have been my patients for the last ten years. Some time ago, they came to see me for the common flu and before she left, she said something that left me gobsmacked.

"Doctor, my family comes to you and you touch us and we are healed."

Too surprised to formulate any appropriate reply, I muttered, "Izzit?" (Singlish for "really?") and smiled stupidly.

Later on, as I was driving home, I thought I should have said: "Wow, woman, you are of incredible faith, but maybe I am just the channel and you must have a world-class immune system."

Maybe it wasn't just her immune system that was robust (enabling her to recover quickly). It was possibly the placebo effect with the doctor being the medicine and her incredible faith (in her doctor), that convinced her that I was her faith healer.


Tan Su-Ming graduated from the National University of Singapore in 1990. She is married with a daughter and runs her own general practice.

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