What was the moment that sparked your interest in humanitarian work?
Tam Wai Jia (WJ): When I was 17, I went on a youth expedition trip to Cambodia. I lived with a local family, who had a daughter who wanted to be a doctor, but they didn’t have the money to send her to school. I realised I had so much privilege, as I’d probably go to medical school if I got accepted, but she, being born in a different place, had little chance. That’s when I decided I wanted to do non-profit humanitarian work.
Was going to medical school something you had always wanted to do?
WJ: I really, really misunderstood my dad when he said that if I got straight As, I could do whatever I wanted in life. So I got straight As and told him I wanted to go to Lasalle [the arts school in Singapore], and he “fainted”.
He kept encouraging me to apply to medical school and I was initially heartbroken. But he…
