SINGAPORE – The sound of a buzzer late in the night in Sengkang General Hospital’s ward 69 launches 19-year-old Justin Tan towards the bedside of a 103-year-old man who wants to be tucked in at bedtime.
Mr Tan helps the old man, and sits down to chat for a while. The old man is pensive.
“I lived a fulfilled life but, in my long life, I have lost my wife and son,” he says.
Mr Tan is the youngest volunteer to sign up for Sengkang General Hospital’s Night Watchers programme, which helps support hospital workers during the graveyard shift. He usually helps out from 9pm to 6am.
A final-year biomedical science student at Singapore Polytechnic, he has been volunteering since 2023, one night a week – Friday or Saturday – to help care for patients.
He was nudged by a friend, who was already volunteering, to sign up for what he calls “an authentic experience of the realities of healthcare”.
Over time, he became more deeply involved. “Volunteering has helped me solidify my interest in medicine and my goal to pursue a career in the field,” he says.
Sengkang General Hospital, responding to queries, says it rolled out the Night Watchers programme in 2023, and has had about 10 volunteers since the start of the programme, with their ages ranging between 19 and 49.
It aims to provide more support at night in a bid to boost patient care. Two volunteers have contributed more than 12 hours in 2025.
When Mr Tan told his parents about his plan to sign up for the programme, they were worried about whether late night shifts would affect his sleep and health.
