My Internship experience at HealthServe
-------
Leung Yuen Shan, Mira
Placement Site: HealthServe, Singapore
Through my 6-month placement at HealthServe, I had the opportunity to rotate across three different departments: the Mental Health Training and Development Team, the Medical Team, and the Fundraising and Donor Management Team. This rotation allowed me to experience diverse aspects of work within this non-governmental organisation (NGO).
There are many migrant workers in Singapore, primarily from Bangladesh, India, China, and Myanmar. According to statistics from the Singapore government, there were around 1.6 million foreign workforce members by the end of 2025. A substantial number of migrant workers work in the Construction, Marine, and Process (CMP) sectors, whose salary level are generally low compared to other workforce groups. HealthServe is an NGO in Singapore that provides comprehensive, holistic support—including medical services, legal and welfare assistance, social and financial aid, and mental health programmes—to help low-wage migrant workers.
In the mental health training and development team, I followed my colleagues to deliver talks at various companies in the CMP sectors where most of the employees are migrant workers. They left their home countries to earn a better living for their family and can only return home once or twice a year, so many miss their family member deeply. Some also face financial difficulties due to the high living cost in Singapore. A number of migrant workers feel sad and depressed, but do not have an appropriate way to express their emotions. In these mental health trainings, we teach them to share their feelings with someone they trust, and also train selected individuals to become Peer Support Leaders (PSLs) to help their friends when they face mental health issues.
In August, HealthServe organized the Migrant Appreciation Lunch (MAL) to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Singapore’s independence and to thank migrant workers for their contribution to building the nation. Around 400 migrant workers whom we helped attended the lunch, and the Singapore’s President, Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam was also invited. On that day, my role was the MC’s assistant, helping with various tasks as needed. HealthServe invited a famous artist, Gurmit, to be the MC. It was a pleasure to be part of such a major event during my placement.
When I was working in the clinic, I helped organise health screenings for migrant domestic workers every month. From Monday to Friday, the general clinic only accepts male migrant workers for consultations with medical doctors and dentists. On Sunday, however, we hold a regular MDW clinic for our sisters to address various medical issues, such as chronic diseases or to perform Pap smear tests. In the third Sunday of every month, which is health screening. It includes a series of checking including height and weight, blood pressure test, blood glucose and cholesterol test and health education. This helps identify high-risk patients for follow-up consultations in the future.
In early November, HealthServe was invited to the Istana Open House event to set up booth and celebrate the Indian festival Deepavali. The Istana opens to the public only four times a year, and I was very fortunate to be able to attend. At this event, we invited several Indian PSL to join us and teach the visitors to make traditional Indian handicrafts -- paper deepam and thoranam -- to share blessings to everyone. President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and his wife also visited our booth to learn how to make the handicraft. It was a truly interesting and unique experience during my placement.
