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Marsiling family opens flat to Vietnamese families with kids seeking medical help

Marsiling family opens flat to Vietnamese seeking medical help here

Mount Elizabeth Hospital staff cheering Ton Nu Hoang Dung before she was put under general anaesthesia for an operation last month. Her mother, Madam Hoang Thi Thuy Linh, is carrying her on her lap. Above left: Madam Mai Thi Thien Thanh, 35, and her
Three-year-old Ton Nu Hoang Dung playing with her mother, Madam Hoang Thi Thuy Linh, during a visit with neurosurgeon Keith Goh at the Mount Elizabeth Hospital last week, along with Madam Mai Thi Thien Thanh. The child was born with a rare deformity where a part of her brain protrudes from a gap in her skull into her face, pushing down her eyes. ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI
Mount Elizabeth Hospital staff cheering Ton Nu Hoang Dung before she was put under general anaesthesia for an operation last month. Her mother, Madam Hoang Thi Thuy Linh, is carrying her on her lap. Above left: Madam Mai Thi Thien Thanh, 35, and her
Madam Mai Thi Thien Thanh, 35, and her husband Kang Eng Hiang, 50, sell prawns in the Geylang Serai Market. The couple work six days a week from 5am to 1pm. After closing the stall, she accompanies the children for medical appointments or visits them in hospital. ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI
Mount Elizabeth Hospital staff cheering Ton Nu Hoang Dung before she was put under general anaesthesia for an operation last month. Her mother, Madam Hoang Thi Thuy Linh, is carrying her on her lap. Above left: Madam Mai Thi Thien Thanh, 35, and her
Madam Mai Thi Thien Thanh having lunch with her Vietnamese guests, Madam Pham Thi Be Thy (third from far left), 23, and Madam Hoang Thi Thuy Linh (back to camera), 34, while her mother Le Thi Thu Lieu, 63, looks after a young child who is staying with the family. ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI
Mount Elizabeth Hospital staff cheering Ton Nu Hoang Dung before she was put under general anaesthesia for an operation last month. Her mother, Madam Hoang Thi Thuy Linh, is carrying her on her lap. Above left: Madam Mai Thi Thien Thanh, 35, and her
Mount Elizabeth Hospital staff cheering Ton Nu Hoang Dung before she was put under general anaesthesia for an operation last month. Her mother, Madam Hoang Thi Thuy Linh, is carrying her on her lap. ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI
Mount Elizabeth Hospital staff cheering Ton Nu Hoang Dung before she was put under general anaesthesia for an operation last month. Her mother, Madam Hoang Thi Thuy Linh, is carrying her on her lap. Above left: Madam Mai Thi Thien Thanh, 35, and her
The names of children seeking treatment are placed in front of an altar in the Kangs’ flat. They are included in prayers for their health and recovery. ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI
Mount Elizabeth Hospital staff cheering Ton Nu Hoang Dung before she was put under general anaesthesia for an operation last month. Her mother, Madam Hoang Thi Thuy Linh, is carrying her on her lap. Above left: Madam Mai Thi Thien Thanh, 35, and her
Madam Mai Thi Thien Thanh playing with one-year-old Nguyen Minh Hoang, who has hydrocephalus – a condition where fluids accumulate within the brain – at Gleneagles Medical Centre last week. ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI
Mount Elizabeth Hospital staff cheering Ton Nu Hoang Dung before she was put under general anaesthesia for an operation last month. Her mother, Madam Hoang Thi Thuy Linh, is carrying her on her lap. Above left: Madam Mai Thi Thien Thanh, 35, and her
Kang Zi Lin (left), 10, and her brother Kang Zheng Yang, seven, play with one-year-old Tran Hoang Gia Anh who is staying with the family. The Kang siblings’ parents dip into their own savings to house their guests. ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI
Mount Elizabeth Hospital staff cheering Ton Nu Hoang Dung before she was put under general anaesthesia for an operation last month. Her mother, Madam Hoang Thi Thuy Linh, is carrying her on her lap. Above left: Madam Mai Thi Thien Thanh, 35, and her
Madam Bui Thi Hong Thu, 29, and her son Nguyen Minh Hoang were guests in Madam Mai Thi Thien Thanh’s Marsiling flat last month. ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI
Ton Nu Hoang Dung with her mother Madam Hoang Thi Thuy Linh, former primary school teacher, on the way to the operating theatre at Mount Elizabeth Hospital on Nov 20, 2018. ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI
Mr Kang Eng Hiang praying outside his flat on Nov 28, 2018. ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI
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Updated
May 20, 2021, 10:31 AM
Published
Dec 10, 2018, 05:00 AM
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Not all superheroes wear capes. Some wear green rubber boots and sell fresh seafood at a wet market.

For the past three years, Madam Mai Thi Thien Thanh and her 50-year-old husband Kang Eng Hiang - a couple who run a small stall at Geylang Serai Market - have opened their modest Marsiling Housing Board flat to Vietnamese families with children who are seeking medical help here. They even provide them with home-cooked Vietnamese meals.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on December 10, 2018, with the headline Marsiling family opens flat to Vietnamese families with kids seeking medical help. Subscribe

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