Ang Mo Kio GP who served residents for 39 years dies at 83, over 70 residents & staff send her off

Dr Meenambekai Narasinghan, who served residents of an Ang Mo Kio HDB estate as their family doctor for almost four decades, passed away on Dec. 3 at the age of 83.

She ran the Meenara Clinic at Block 422 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3.

According to Shin Min Daily News, over 70 residents, former patients and staff turned up on the day of her funeral, standing in the rain with umbrellas to pay their final respects.

Meenambekai's husband, Eliyathamby Narasinghan, 82, shared that his wife retired in 2018.

Her condition had deteriorated in the past few months, and she passed away in the hospital.

Meenambekai is survived by her husband, a son and a daughter.

Describing her as a devoted doctor, wife and mother, Eliyathamby said she listened attentively to her patients’ concerns and gave back to the community, including providing free medical consultations during his time as chairman of a Hindu temple.

Picked up Chinese and Hokkien to communicate better with patients

Meenambekai's daughter, Nachi, told Shin Min that her mother had practised medicine in the estate since 1979.

As most of her mother's patients were Chinese, Nachi said that her mother had picked up Mandarin and Hokkien to communicate better with them, on top of being fluent in English, Malay and Tamil.

Had arranged for the hearse to detour near the clinic

Meenambekai was remembered by patients as kind, approachable and attentive.

One resident, who had been seeing her whenever he fell ill for the past 30 years, recalled that she once called him days after a consultation to check on his recovery, describing her as a warm-hearted doctor.

Another former Ang Mo Kio resident said he continued returning to her clinic for treatment even after moving to Punggol.

"It is hard to find such a responsible and patient doctor," he said.

Eliyathamby told Shin Min that the family had notified her former staff and patients after her passing.

At their request, the funeral hearse made a detour past the clinic on the day of her send-off.

Daughter now runs the clinic

Meenambekai studied medicine in India and graduated in 1969.

After returning to Singapore, she interned at Singapore General Hospital and worked at her father’s clinic before opening the practice in Ang Mo Kio.

Following her retirement, the clinic was taken over by her daughter, who also became a doctor.

Nachi said she had not initially planned to run the clinic, but changed her mind after seeing the deep bond her mother had with patients, including families spanning three generations.

Top photos via Shin Min Daily News