Ang Swee Chai

Ang was born in Penang, Malaysia but raised in Singapore. She attended Kwong Avenue Primary School, Raffles Girls' School, and the National University of Singapore where she studied medicine. She then received a master's degree in Occupational Medicine in 1976.[1]

In 1977, Ang married Singapore's human rights lawyer Francis Khoo. Two weeks after the marriage, she was briefly detained during a government crackdown on dissidents as the authority attempted to arrest her husband. She fled to London to be with her husband and they were granted asylum there.[3] She trained to be an orthopaedic surgeon in Britain, where she obtained her FRCS (Eng) and completed her training in Newcastle. She later became the first female consultant orthopaedic surgeon at St Bartholomew's Hospital in London.[1]

In August 1982, Ang responded to an appeal for medical personnel from Christian Aid to treat war casualties in Lebanon and went to work at the Gaza Hospital near the Sabra and Shatila refugee camp in Beirut.[4][5] The following month, she became witness to the Sabra-Shatila massacre during the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982.[6] She and two other hospital staff testified to Israeli Kahan Commission on the Sabra and Shatila massacre on September 1982.[7]

With her husband, Francis Khoo, and some friends, Ang helped to form the British charity, Medical Aid for Palestinians, following the 1982 massacres.[5]

In 1987, President Yasser Arafat awarded Ang the Star of Palestine, the highest award for service to the Palestinian people.[8]

In 2016, Ang was inducted into Singapore Women's Hall of Fame.[9] However, she could not receive the award in person in Singapore as she is holding onto her British citizenship and refused to give up either British or Singaporean citizenships.[10] Singapore does not allow dual-citizenship.

Ang Swee Chai wrote a book on her experience, From Beirut to Jerusalem: A Woman Surgeon with the Palestinians.[14] The book has been translated into Chinese.[4] She also co-authored War Surgery: Field Manual with Hans Husum and Erik Fosse.[15]