Sian Chay Medical Institution's Pasir Ris West branch (善济医社白沙西分社) serves the Pasir Ris community from 605 Elias Road, #01-200, within the Pasir Ris West Wellness Centre. The institution is a social service organisation registered with Singapore's Ministry of Health, providing free traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) consultation and low-cost treatment to the public — regardless of race or religion.
The branch began serving residents on 29 December 2014 and was officially opened on 22 November 2015 by then-Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean, who had earlier invited Sian Chay to set up in Pasir Ris West after opening its Punggol South branch in 2013.
It carries forward a story that began in 1901, when a group of charitable citizens founded Sian Chay to care for poor, sick immigrants in colonial Singapore. Over more than a century the institution has grown into a network of branches across the island, guided by five values — tolerance, great love, compassion, gratitude and blessing — and by the belief that charity is a form of true love.
Beyond consultations and treatment, Sian Chay promotes preventive health, especially among seniors, and runs community programmes such as free haircut and nail-cutting sessions, Mother's Day activities and reading-sharing sessions. Pioneer Generation patients have their full medical fees covered under the Pioneer Generation Medical Fund, launched on 1 January 2016 with a S$1 million gift from the Lee Foundation.
To confirm opening hours or make enquiries, contact the hotline at +65 6565 3737 or email [email protected]. The institution welcomes donations and volunteers.
In the east of Singapore, Sian Chay Medical Institution's Pasir Ris West branch (善济医社白沙西分社) serves residents from 605 Elias Road, #01-200, within the Pasir Ris West Wellness Centre. It belongs to one of the island's oldest charitable healthcare organisations — a social service organisation registered with Singapore's Ministry of Health that provides free traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) consultation and low-cost treatment to the public, regardless of race or religion.
For the people of Pasir Ris, that translates into something wonderfully practical: a neighbourhood clinic where the consultation itself costs nothing, treatment is offered at low, subsidised rates, and no one is turned away because of who they are.
Sian Chay's story begins in the late Qing era. In 1901, moved by the plight of poor immigrants from China's coastal provinces — many of whom arrived in the hot, humid, disease-prone tropics penniless and ill, with little help from the colonial government — a group of charitable citizens pooled their resources to found Sian Chay Medical Institution and serve poor patients.
The institution's free treatment and medicine drew the sick from across Singapore and even Johor Bahru. Keeping that promise alive was hard: early directors went door to door to raise funds, some cycling as far as Johor. Generous donations from philanthropists later secured a building at 124 Bugis Street, where Sian Chay moved from Victoria Street in 1916 — the foundation of its first permanent home. In 1979 it relocated to 610 Geylang Road, where patient numbers climbed from around 16,000 visits to a peak of 40,000–50,000, averaging some 4,000 consultations a month.
A new chapter opened in 2008, when the 78th council under chairman Mr Toh Soon Huat resolved to step beyond its traditional premises and bring services into the heartlands. Branches followed in quick succession: Hougang in August 2012, opened by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, and Punggol South in October 2013, opened by then-Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean — who not only praised Sian Chay's service but invited the institution to set up a branch in Pasir Ris West.
That invitation came to life on 29 December 2014, when the Pasir Ris West branch began serving the public. On 22 November 2015, Mr Teo formally declared the branch open at the Pasir Ris West Wellness Centre, thanking Sian Chay for caring for residents — praise that residents themselves warmly echoed.
At the heart of the service is a simple promise: free TCM consultation and low-cost treatment for everyone who walks in. For Pioneer Generation patients, support goes a step further. A S$1 million donation from the Lee Foundation in 2014 seeded the Pioneer Generation Medical Fund, launched on 1 January 2016, which covers the full medical fees of Pioneer Generation visitors — assistance that has reached some 100,000 patient visits.
The clinic's work reaches beyond consultations. Sian Chay promotes health awareness and preventive care, especially among seniors, and organises community programmes such as free haircut and nail-cutting charity sessions, Mother's Day celebrations, reading-sharing sessions and caring journeys. Volunteers are welcomed through its volunteer portal, keeping alive the giving spirit on which the whole institution was built.
Sian Chay's work is guided by five values — tolerance, great love, compassion, gratitude and blessing. Its vision is to be a recognised charity building a leading TCM treatment and wellness centre that advocates healthy, happy living; its mission is to advance TCM education and continue charitable and relief work in Singapore. A founding creed — “with a nation there is a home; a harmonious home prospers in all things” — still frames everything it does.
The Pasir Ris West branch is at 605 Elias Road, #01-200, Pasir Ris. Opening hours are not published on the institution's main website, so call the hotline at +65 6565 3737 or email [email protected] to confirm times before visiting. Donations can be made through the donation guide on the Sian Chay website. Whether you come for a consultation, to volunteer, or to give, you will be joining a tradition of quiet, steadfast charity that has run unbroken since 1901.