30. ON CHOOSING A CAREER: WHY OBSTETRICS?

“A man's heart deviseth his way:

but the LORD directeth his steps” (Prov 16:9 )

This chapter is written for the benefit of some young person standing at the crossroads of life, wondering what career to choose. It can be a perplexing problem when one is driven to wit’s end with no clear answer in sight.

At such times my advice is, Look to the Lord, “casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you” ( 1 Pet 5:7 ). See yourself as clay in the hands of the divine Potter. Let God mould your life. He is the Lord our Maker, the Holy One of Israel. He says, “... Ask me of things to come concerning my sons... I have raised him up... I will direct all his ways... ” (Is 45:11-13 ).

The Psalmist David says, “Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass” (Ps 37:4,5 ). What is your heart’s desire?

The key to one’s choice of career is to delight in the Lord, to put all our trust in Him, and to make our requests known unto Him; He will surely bring it to pass. Has not the Lord promised in Ps 37:23 , “The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way”?

In one’s career the pathway may not always be smooth sailing but one needs to fully commit the matter to the Lord.

For young people who are disappointed or discouraged, or in deep trouble, thinking that all is lost, think again! Remember Joseph at seventeen? Betrayed by his brothers and sold into Egypt to be a servant and a slave, he rose to be Prime Minister over the land of Egypt! Years later, to his conscience stricken and remorseful brothers, Joseph said, “But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive” (Gen 50:20 ). Joseph had turned out to be the brothers’ saviour.

When Joseph was taken by his wicked and murderous brothers, stripped of his coat of many colours, and cast into a pit, he looked to the Lord, for the Lord was with him. How do we know? Genesis 39 says so four times! It was “God with him” that Potiphar’s house and estate were blessed. It was “God with him” that Joseph resisted and rebuffed Potiphar’s lustful adulterous wife. It was “God with him” that enabled Joseph to interpret the dreams of Pharaoh’s officers in prison. It was “God with him” that gave Joseph the interpretation to Pharaoh’s dreams and elevated him to be second ruler over Egypt, next only to Pharaoh.

But it took thirteen years of trial and affliction, and steadfast trust in God for Joseph to rise from pit and prison to the palace. It was a test of patient endurance, which God honoured.

Joseph’s career was not his choice but destined in his dreams! The dreams were from God and God made them come true. Some young reader today may be in the depths of despondency and despair. Think of Joseph, look to the Lord and take heart.

Coming to my own particular case: why did I choose Gynaecology and Obstetrics in 1947 when I had given myself to serve the Lord in 1938? Was it a mistake?

When Dr John Sung gave the call to consecration for God, my response was decisive: “Here’s my heart Lord, take and seal it for Thy holy use. ” Question: Why then did I choose to do Gynaecology and Obstetrics? Answer: “A man's heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps. ”

To serve the Lord one would need to study Theology, not Gynaecology and Obstetrics. But there is no law which ruled that one could not study both Theology and Gynaecology and Obstetrics.

As I ponder the events which led me to study Medicine first, and eventually Gynaecology and Obstetrics, it becomes clear that it was God’s hand leading and directing each step of the way.

My story begins in the year 1942 when I was sixteen years old, helping in Father’s Dispensary and Clinic, while waiting and praying for the Japanese Occupation to end and the British to return. Big Sister had graduated in 1941, passing her final examination under Japanese bombardment and before the British surrender in February 1942. That enabled her to practise as a doctor in Batu Pahat with Father, both being General Practitioners.

One night came an urgent call: a woman in labour needed help. Big Sister packed her bag, put in a pair of Obstetric Forceps, and I went along as assistant (and bodyguard!)

The taxi drove us to a rubber estate about half-an-hour away. In a dingy room, lit by a hurricane lamp, was a young woman in labour groaning in pain. At the head end of the bed, the woman’s Mother held her head, trying to comfort and encourage her. Big Sister took out her forceps and prepared a basin of sterilizing solution. She examined the patient and found the baby’s head ready for delivery, but the woman had no strength to expel the child.

Then she applied the forceps while the patient’s mother put a lighted cigarette to the poor girl’s mouth and with earnest exhortation urged her daughter to puff the nicotine stick. “Puff it in! Puff it in! ” The poor girl dutifully huffed and puffed with all her might, at the same time pushing in between puffs.

In the meantime, at the lower end, Big Sister was pulling and tugging, but the baby’s head just would not move. After many attempts and when she was exhausted, Big Sister turned to me. “Siang Hwa, you have a go! ”

With great trepidation, and “heart in mouth”, I washed my hands and took over the forceps from her. Under her guidance, and with both hands, I pulled on the handles. Lo and behold, the baby’s head began to move! Slowly but surely, and with Big Sister’s coaching, the head emerged, to present a beautiful well formed face. Once the head was out, Big Sister took over, the forceps were disengaged and the rest of the baby followed smoothly. At the other end the nicotine administrator let off a great cry of relief, asking, “Boy or girl? ”

“Girl, ” I said. At once her face fell. She had hoped to be grandmother of a first grandson! As for Big Sister she completed her job, delivered the placenta (afterbirth), stitched up the birth passage, gave the usual injection to control bleeding, washed her instruments and packed her bag.

As for me, I had notched my first successful delivery of a baby by forceps! All the time, through the drama, I did not cease to pray the Lord to help: my prayer was answered.

On the way home, Big Sister convinced me that I was “cut out for Obstetrics, ” and that settled it! After all, I had already delivered my first baby.

That was 1942. The Japanese lost the war and surrendered in 1945. Schools and businesses gradually returned to normal. As planned, I went to Medical School and graduated in 1953. Through all the years, under both the Japanese and the British, I had not lost sight of my consecration vow. With the founding of Life Church in 1950 I began to devote myself to the holy ministry, and to taste the goodness of God who enabled me to serve in Church, Sunday School, Youth Fellowship, Bible Camp, etc. But I wanted more time and freedom to serve God.

As I weighed the pros and cons of remaining in Government Service, with its time-consuming and ever-increasing demands, it seemed the thing for me was to resign and go into General Practice.

At that time, the KK Hospital was not accredited by the Royal College in London for specialist training. To continue working there did not qualify anyone to sit for the specialist examination in London. It was a hopeless situation. This seemed a good reason to resign, as it were, to “desert a sinking ship” and go into General Practice.

But God had better plans for me. He had prepared a place in the United Kingdom for me to obtain the requisite postgraduate training, and to gain the desired higher qualification; then to return to reorganise the KK Hospital to qualify for Royal College accreditation, to raise the Hospital to global status, and to succeed Professor Sheares to the Chair of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.

All these were prepared by the Lord without my knowledge, but He knew the end from the beginning.

But none of these wonderful blessings would have come my way if I had, in the hastiness and impatience of a moment, left for General Practice. I committed the matter to God in prayer. Then things began to happen. Here is my story.

One day, my wife suggested “out of the blue” that we should consult our good friend Dr Seah Cheng Siang. His reply was quick and decisive. “Siang Hwa, why throw away your Queen’s Scholarship for General Practice? If I were you, I would apply to go to England for higher training. ” It was amazing clarity of thought and wise counsel! Soon after this, again “out of the blue”, a training post was offered to me by the Senior Lecturer in the Department, Dr Wilson Roddie. With this I left for Belfast and began my training in June 1956.

In December 1956 I received news from Dr Roddie that the Royal College Inspectors from London had rejected the KK Hospital for postgraduate training. Immediately it became clear that the task of getting the KK Hospital accredited was coming my way. This meant hard work ahead! Did not God’s Word say, “For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required...? (Lk 12:48 )

In March 1959, having obtained my specialist qualification, I returned to KK Hospital and shortly became first Assistant to Professor BH Sheares.

In 1960 Professor Sheares resigned and left the University Department to me. My burden, besides the teaching of undergraduates and the training of postgraduates, was to set in motion a complete reorganisation of the KK Hospital according to Royal College standards. For this I was well prepared, having put in the groundwork during my time at Queen’s University, Belfast. Years of hard effort paid handsomely. A new regime of academic Obstetrics and Gynaecology was firmly established with the cooperation of all concerned.

In 1963, accreditation by the Royal College in London was granted, and my task was accomplished. (Naturally it was possible only with the help and cooperation of the entire Hospital Administration and the Government Heads).

In the process of reorganization, I seized the once in a lifetime opportunity to set up a “Mole Clinic” to study a rare complication of pregnancy which at that time had reached epidemic proportions in Singapore. This study project, when published, received worldwide acclaim, and put the KK Hospital on the world map as a major centre for research in Molar Pregnancy and its related complications.

Question: How did all these happenings impact on my subsequent ministry and service for God?

Answer: My ten years directing the affairs of a University Department--administration, dealing with students and doctors, lecturing throughout the academic world in the United Kingdom, USA, Australia, besides Singapore and Southeast Asia, had given me an experience invaluable to the ministry, in the future administration of churches, missions and related organisations. Last and not least, the discipline of addressing global audiences at the highest levels, equipped me with speaking skills and confidence for the pulpit ministry. This was God’s school of homiletics for me!

One decade of hard discipline in charge of an academic department were put to good use these past forty years for God’s kingdom.

Since that first delivery of a baby in Batu Pahat in 1942, the hand of God has led me in making right choices for the advancement of the Gospel and the extension of Gospel Missions into a dozen countries and five continents.

“As for me, to live is Christ, to die is gain” (Phil 1:21 ). He must increase, I must decrease for I know that, “.... shortly I must put off this my tabernacle... ” ( 2 Peter 1:14 )

This, in brief, is the story of how God led me through my years in academic Gynaecology and Obstetrics before He gave me new opportunities and challenges for His Kingdom.

To the reader, my concluding message is: the Lord who helped me is able to help you too. Only put all your trust in Him.