Dr Aw Swee Eng passed away peacefully on 8 February 2024. Through the years, Dr Aw was more than a spiritual leader to countless at Wesley Methodist Church. He was a faithful prayer warrior, a compassionate mentor and a beacon of wisdom. His legacy of obedience, faithfulness, and love has been etched in the hearts and lives of thousands of people whom he has discipled and interacted with.
His Growing-Up Years
Dr Aw’s journey began in Kampar, near Ipoh, in Perak, Malaysia, where he was born in a middle-class family. His father was a clerk in the local hospital, while his mother was a housewife who also ran a medicine shop. He was the eldest of three children.
Although Dr Aw did not come from a Christian family, his early education in Anglo Chinese School (ACS), a mission school, must have left a strong impression on him and his siblings. In his teens, he explored other religions and read the Koran and the Bhagavad Gita, a religious text of Hinduism.
Dr Aw went to ACS Kampar up to the equivalent of O levels and continued at ACS Ipoh for his A levels. He moved to Singapore in 1956 when he was admitted to the medical school at the University of Singapore, where he met his wife, Eileen. In 1961, Dr Aw was conferred the MBBS (Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery), completed his housemanship, and married his wife, Eileen, soon after.
Dr Aw’s coming to Singapore and associating with Christians in the Varsity Christian Fellowship (VCF) significantly influenced the anchoring and development of his Christian faith.
His Spiritual Odyssey
Dr Aw was much influenced by the teaching of the Christian lecturers at the VCF meetings, and he patterned his Bible Study lessons on their fine example. He repeatedly mentioned the late Dr Alan Cole as the teacher who inspired him to study and expound scriptures. Dr Aw’s church life in Singapore began at Bethesda Church, which he attended with his VCF friends. He moved to Wesley Methodist Church in 1962 and served until his last days. He taught Sunday School at Wesley for many years, insisting that there were not enough male Sunday School teachers. He was especially gratified that several of his students became pastors and Christian workers. He started his Bible Class in the 1980s after Rev Isaac Lim asked him to teach those who had become Christians at the Victory evangelistic meetings.
He was also the spiritual advisor for the Wesley Dawnbreakers from 1990 to 2000, leading them on mission trips to Malaysia and teaching at their retreats. During his years of service at Wesley, he led two groups from the Dawnbreakers and his Bible Class to visit the Holy Land and cities in Paul’s missionary journeys. He also gave many talks on the topic of Creation vs. Evolution.
A Match Made in Medical School
Dr Aw met his wife Eileen at a VCF (Varsity Christian Fellowship) conference in 1957. Their relationship developed around the cadaver they were dissecting in the anatomy class. Dr Aw was in his third year and working on the head and neck, and Eileen was in her second year working on the body of the same cadaver! They were married in Wesley in 1963.
Dr Aw tried sailing when his children were young, but that hobby did not last long. His greater passion was teaching the Bible. He would read and prepare every night well ahead of what he was teaching on Sunday. He would then work on the passage he planned to teach one or two nights before Sunday and intensively on Saturday afternoon.
An Illustrious Career
Dr Aw had a passion for education and applied to be a lecturer at the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Singapore. He was awarded a scholarship to pursue his Ph.D. at Hammersmith Hospital, University of London, in 1964. He obtained his Ph.D. in 1967 and returned to Singapore, where he lectured in Biochemistry for 14 years and was an Associate Professor when he left for the private sector. His private sector stint lasted about eight months as he felt he could serve more people directly through public service.
Dr Aw founded the first Department of Nuclear Medicine at the Singapore General Hospital (SGH). He served there as the head of the department until he retired, after which he continued to work part-time in SGH until his passing. Under his leadership, the nuclear medicine department grew quickly, with increasingly complex procedures added to its scope of work. While in SGH, Dr Aw was also instrumental in starting the Department of Clinical Research and was Chairman of the Ethics Committee at Singhealth (Singapore Health Services). In 2017, he started the Ethics Committee at A*STAR, the agency for Science, Technology and Research in Singapore, and remained its chairperson until 2023. Widely regarded as the “Father of Nuclear Medicine” in Singapore, Dr Aw was primarily responsible for the growth of nuclear medicine in its earlier years. Dr Aw pioneered and set up the radioimmunoassay (RIA) laboratory which uses sophisticated RIA equipment to analyse blood samples. Besides diagnosis, nuclear medicine procedures also offer targeted radionuclide therapy for difficult-to-treat and advanced cancers.
Dr Aw was named Emeritus Consultant of SGH’s Department of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging in 2022.
Dr Aw, the Tireless Evangelist
It would not be an exaggeration to describe Dr Aw as a tireless evangelist. He was always looking for opportunities to engage strangers and find a chance to say something that would help point them to God. Right up to his last week on earth, he went to the office daily to interact with others at work and take a taxi for lunch somewhere with the sole purpose of sharing the good news with taxi drivers. After lunch, he would take another taxi back to the office with the same mission. In all these trips, he was well armed with various gospel tracts and his book, Chats with Uncle Loh. His Bible class students often joked that they would expect to meet many taxi drivers in heaven.
Rev Chia Chin Nam, who had been a personal friend of Dr Aw for years, described Dr Aw as a dear friend and a faithful disciple of Jesus who exemplified the godly man described in the first psalm of the Psalter: “Dr Aw was like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither. He was, as his Savior and Lord Jesus promised, ‘a spring of water welling up to eternal life’. Many of his students in the Bible classes he had faithfully taught in Wesley for more than four decades up till the Sunday before he entered into glory will testify to that.”
Dr Aw was God’s faithful servant who lived by the beatitudes and walked in humility. His life is a strong testament to the power of faith, hope, and love. The impact of his ministries is immeasurable. The seeds he planted through his tireless Kingdom work for the Lord have blossomed into a well of faith that will flourish for generations.
Dr Aw is survived by his beloved wife Eileen, daughter Adeline, son Andrew, son-in-law Richard, daughter-in-law Marion, three grandchildren Joanna (married to Sheng Hao), Jonathan and Timothy, and two great-grandchildren Nicole and Noelle, aged 6 and 3 this year.
Tributes from Students of the late Dr Aw Swee Eng
Over the last four decades, thousands of students have attended the Bible study sessions and talks by the late Dr Aw Swee Eng. Here are some tributes from his students.
Lee Sue-Lynn, student of Dr Aw for 23 years:
Dr Aw taught us Bible study every week with great heart and dedication. He told funny stories and punny jokes, and he imparted the most important lessons—love God, love His word, love truth, love His people. He exemplified these. Dr Aw prepared us for today’s troubled times, in which hearing God’s voice and discerning the truth is vital. Thank you, and I miss you, Dr Aw!
Juliet Chew, student of Dr Aw for 30 years:
Dr Aw eloquently articulated the “Spiritual Journey” revealed with clarity to help us in our sanctification journey. He told his wife, Mrs Eileen Aw, that he has three loves: God, his family, and our Bible Study class. We miss him terribly, but I also remember he told us he would see us in Heaven.
Hedy Chua, student of Dr Aw for 33 years:
Dr Aw taught us to read, study, examine and seek God in His Word daily through His ‘love letter,’ as he sometimes fondly referred to the Bible in his class. His teaching style was unique as he often illustrated the lessons with his own personal experiences and ‘wisdom’ insights. His love for Christ and God’s Word was foremost and evident in his life, and he used these life lessons to encourage us in ours. We truly thank God for Dr Aw’s dedication and faithfulness in his life.
Alice Koh, student of Dr Aw for 31 years:
I thank God for the privilege of attending Dr Aw Bible study class of Word Alive for about 31 years. Dr Aw was such a great teacher in sharing God’s Word and encouraging us to be more Christlike and for us to bring more people into His kingdom. We miss Dr Aw dearly and will endeavour to be Christ’s followers with God’s help to give God all the honour and glory. Amen
Jason and Kathleen Jong, students of Dr Aw for 6 years:
In memory of Dr Aw Swee Eng, whom we honour as our teacher, mentor, prayer warrior, and friend. He was a truly anointed teacher who helped to deepen our knowledge and understanding of the Word to an indescribable extent, instilling in us values of compassion, love, and faith. His unwavering love for God and steadfast faithfulness have been a beacon of inspiration to us. We thank God for Dr Aw’s immensely full life, and we miss him dearly.
Seah Muah Lock and Dorothy Seah, students of Dr Aw for 14 years:
To Sir with love.
Your humour, we laugh. Your teaching, we understand.
Your humility, we notice. Your concern, we appreciate.
Your love, we embrace. Your prayers, we thank you.
Your godliness, we emulate. Your appreciation of the Psalms, we agree.
You have, as God’s servant, touched us.
Photos courtesy of the Aw family
Read also: In Loving Memory of Wesley’s Honorary Stewards We Lost in 2023
