Myanmar nurse who fled protests marks 30 years caring for Singapore kidney patients

· Health · Singapore

Daw Mi Mi came to Singapore from Myanmar as a dialysis nurse on what was meant to be a two-year stint, but stayed for three decades. Now 70, she says she has no plans to retire. Student protests in Myanmar derailed her academic ambitions and pushed her toward nursing, a career in which she survived a hospital fire and spent 17 years working in the operating theatre before moving to Singapore to care for kidney patients. Over that time she has looked after thousands of dialysis patients in the city-state, according to the CNA profile, which traces how political upheaval at home set the course of a long nursing career abroad.

Why it matters：The story shows how conflict and political repression in one country can shape another's health workforce, and highlights the reliance of wealthy health systems on long-serving migrant nurses as populations age.

Key points

  • She arrived in Singapore intending to work as a dialysis nurse for two years.
  • She survived a hospital fire and spent 17 years in an operating theatre before moving abroad.
  • At 70, she says she has no plans to retire.

Sources (original reporting)

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