More than RM1mil raised for Malaysian boy with leukaemia

Tan Yong Hong with his parents at a Singapore hospital ward. (Photo from Give.Asia)

PETALING JAYA: An online campaign has raised more than RM1.09 million for an 11-year-old Malaysian boy being treated for leukaemia in Singapore.

Tan Yong Hong, who suffers from Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia, is at Singapore National University Hospital after a third relapse led doctors in Malaysia to believe that he had only one month to live, according to a report in the Straits Times newspaper.

The boy, youngest of four children, has spent five years of his life in hospital. He was diagnosed with the disease when he was six, and has never attended school, his sister Hooi Ling said.

He had undergone chemotherapy in Ipoh but suffered a relapse after 18 months, and was then referred to a university hospital for a bone marrow transplant but suffered another relapse.

Doctors told his family that he had a month to live and needed to seek treatment elsewhere, the report said. His family then rushed him to Singapore to seek a special treatment which involves using the body’s own immune cells to recognise and attack malignant cells.

Hospital fees are expected to cost RM913,515 (S$300,000). The boy’s father, Tan Kok Tiong, was quoted as saying that he had considered selling his house at one point to meet the cost of the treatment.

“We are from a normal income family and my father has to stop working as a car repair technician in Malaysia to spend most of his time looking after my brother till late night,” Hooi Ling said.

Hooi Ling started a fundraising campaign at the Give.Asia site and donations grew rapidly, passing the RM1,065,000 (S$350,000) mark at noon today. Donations are no longer being accepted, having exceeded the target.

Hooi Ling, in an update on the campaign page today, said the funds would be sent to the hospital directly.

“Words cannot express my gratitude towards your generosity, and on behalf of my parents, we thank you so much for your kindness to help my brother for his treatment,” she said in thanking donors. - FMT