SINGAPORE – SG Assist founders Adrian Tan and Greg Tan were at a crossroads in 2024, seven years after they started an organisation to support and advocate for caregivers in 2017.
When they were unloading items from a car after National Day celebrations at work, Adrian suffered a stroke that temporarily paralysed the right side of his body. He was 38 at the time.
As Greg drove his car behind the ambulance taking Adrian to the hospital, endless questions were going through his head, one of which was whether or not to continue with SG Assist.
“It felt like a slap to the face. We do so many things for the community and something like this happens to him – it made me wonder if it was all worth it,” said Greg, now 44.
A day after Adrian’s stroke, Greg asked him if they should continue running SG Assist. “It just felt like this was a sign that we should stop,” said Greg.
Adrian, on the other hand, said he felt motivated by SG Assist staff, who had over the years shown great passion and dedication in helping to keep the organisation afloat.
“They are the people that we have met along the way while building up the organisation,” he said.
To date, SG Assist has helped over 1,600 caregivers, and has supported over 1,500 households through its call-centre home-monitoring programme, which checks on the well-being of seniors who are living alone.
The team has since grown to 14 full-time staff members.
Greg and Adrian have been shortlisted for The Straits Times Singaporean of the Year award in 2026. The award is given to a Singaporean or group of citizens who have made a significant contribution to society or put Singapore on the world stage.
The award, organised by The Straits Times and presented by UBS Singapore, was launched in 2015. The International Impact Award and Young Singaporean of the Year Award were introduced in 2025.
Nearly 10 years after starting SG Assist, Greg and Adrian have restructured the organisation so that it has a for-profit arm, the Care Innovation Institute (CII).
The CII, which provides consultancy and training services for social service organisations and its volunteers, is a way to fund SG Assist’s work.
“It can be hard to get funding to support caregivers,” said Adrian, adding that these people are rarely seen as legitimate beneficiaries by the public.
Donors usually prefer to give to a specific group of caregivers to patients with a certain condition, rather than to caregivers as a whole, he said.
So, CII was created to help financially support these efforts.
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