In Singapore today, dementia is quietly becoming a reality for many families. According to the 2023 Well-being of the Singapore Elderly (WiSE) study conducted by the Institute of Mental Health, one in 11 people aged 60 and above in Singapore lives with dementia.
At Yong-en Care Centre’s Dementia Day Care in Chinatown, staff go beyond clinical care to honour each client’s story, support weary caregivers, and create moments of joy and connection for those living with dementia.
From a Colombo Plan scholar to schoolteacher, pastor, seminary lecturer and bishop, Bishop Emeritus Dr Hwa Yung’s journey shaped a lifelong conviction: that Asian Christianity must hold Scripture’s authority while speaking boldly in the cultural language and spiritual reality of its own people.
Dementia can feel like a slow unthreading of a life story, yet for people of faith, the central truth remains: God is present even as memories fade.
When dementia slowly takes a mother away, one daughter discovers that faithful caregiving means seeing beyond behaviour—and trusting that God holds what memory cannot.
Rule #11 was added at the Methodist Conference of 1745, appending John Wesley’s “Twelve Rules of a Helper”. Many of us often paraphrase #11 as, “you have one business on earth—to save souls”, perhaps to describe the Methodist movement in 18th century England as a soul-saving enterprise, replicable globally today.
Shame is a strong emotion that often shows up in my counselling sessions. Its presence can be debilitating; its absence can also be problematic. To explore healing from shame, I will share examples where shame was largely absent, was partially felt and where it can be overwhelming.
Returning to Singapore in 2020 after having served as a missionary for a total of five and a half years in Cambodia, I envisioned living a quiet and peaceful life in full retirement. But God had different ideas for me.
In 2025, Methodist Welfare Services (MWS) launched The Healing Nation, a national initiative inspired by the 140th Anniversary of The Methodist Church in Singapore to rally the wider community to give back.
