Lee Ah Mooi Old Age Home is a family-run nursing home established in the mid-1960s by the late Madam Lee Ah Mooi. She was a registered nurse with the Singapore General Hospital during the 1930s and the nursing home started out to provide nursing care for the Samsui women and Ah Mahs whose hard work contributed to Singapore’s development, both as a colony and as a nation. As most of them took a vow
of chastity and did not have offspring to take care of them, Madam Lee took it upon herself to take care of them by caring for them at her own home together with her family members at Kampong Chong Pang. However, her neighbors were against her actions as they did not want sickness and death to be so close to their homes. This forced Madam Lee and her residents to leave and the next four to five years, they wandered around Singapore, from Telok Blangah to Kampong Teck Whye, seeking a place to house all the residents. Finally, she found a place in Jalan Kayu and managed to care for these early immigrants for 13 years. However, the nursing home was forced to relocate due to the construction of the Tampines Expressway and the Home moved from Jalan Kayu to the present premise (formally Lee Kuo Chuan Primary School) in 1982. Madam Lee was a strict and compassionate person who would supervise the entire nursing home – from infection control to cooking the meals for the residents – as she would personally be involved in sterilizing and disinfecting the linens in a big tub of hot water. There were times the families could not afford to make payment and she would say never mind and the nursing home would think of ways to offset the fees without compromising the quality of nursing care. More importantly, she would ensure the residents were treated with dignity and respect. During every Chinese New Year, the residents would have reunion dinners with Madam Lee’s family at the nursing home so that they would not feel neglected during the festive period. After the passing of Madam Lee in 1992, the nursing home was passed down to her two sons, Mr. Then Mun Tat, who continue to manage the home together till today. The nursing home survived for so many years because of their resolve and perseverance in spite of the many limitations and challenges. In April 2017, LAMH expanded its nursing care to 148A Silat Avenue. LAMH has proposed Addition & Alteration (A&A) works to the existing building to increase the bed capacity from 104 to 132 beds. The plan also includes the addition of two passenger lifts, two wards at levels 1 and 2, as well as new offices at level 2. The alteration works aim to improve the environment with greater emphasis on residents’ ageing with dignity, respect and self-reliance. These works are expected to cost $2.6 million. As our philosophy has always been to help the sandwiched class, we have kept our fees affordable and contribute back in forms of charity discounts or absorbing inflation costs throughout the years. As such, funding for the renovations would rely heavily on the generous support of our sponsors, volunteers and public. This will no doubt be an exciting and challenging chapter ahead as we aim to cater for the additional 132 residents in this new premise.
