Karunya Community Clinic is a volunteer-run clinic in Little India dedicated to providing highly subsidised primary care for migrant workers in Singapore. It was started by Dr Simon Mahendran in 1994 and has been run by volunteer doctors ever since. In 1998, the clinic came under the care of the Asia Evangelistic Fellowship (AEF) Singapore, and from 1998 to 2025 it has served the migrant worker community with over 79,000 patient visits.
The clinic operates on just two sessions a week, Thursday and Sunday evenings, run entirely by volunteers. It focuses on primary healthcare for holders of a Work Permit, S Pass or Special Pass, treating common conditions such as hypertension and diabetes as well as acute issues like skin, respiratory and other infections. Care is delivered on a walk-in basis, and the team is committed to compassionate, holistic treatment for every patient who comes through the door.
Beyond consultations and medication, the clinic offers point-of-care urinalysis and blood sugar testing, and refers patients out for laboratory tests or vaccinations that fall outside its scope. Karunya has also been featured in local press and medical publications for its long-running work supporting Singapore's migrant worker community from its small unit in Chander Road.
Tucked into a small unit at Blk 668 Chander Road in Little India, Karunya Community Clinic has quietly served Singapore's migrant worker community for three decades. It was founded in 1994 by Dr Simon Mahendran and has always been run by volunteer doctors giving up their evenings to see patients who might otherwise struggle to access affordable healthcare.
In 1998, the clinic came under the umbrella of the Asia Evangelistic Fellowship (AEF) Singapore, which continues to support its operations today. Since then, the clinic has recorded more than 79,000 patient visits, a scale that reflects both the steady need in the community and the consistency of the volunteers who keep the doors open week after week.
Karunya is dedicated specifically to migrant workers holding a Work Permit, S Pass or Special Pass. It is a walk-in clinic — there is no appointment system, and patients simply arrive during one of the two weekly sessions to be seen. This model keeps things simple for workers whose schedules can be unpredictable, letting them get care on the day they need it rather than booking ahead.
Each session centres on a physician consultation, where a volunteer doctor assesses the patient and decides on treatment. The clinic commonly sees chronic conditions such as hypertension and diabetes, alongside acute issues like skin, respiratory and other infections. For these, the clinic can dispense primary care medications on the spot.
To support diagnosis, the clinic runs simple point-of-care tests: urinalysis and blood sugar level checks. These give the volunteer doctors quick, practical information without needing an external lab. Where a patient needs something beyond what the clinic can offer — further laboratory tests, vaccinations, or specialist treatment — they are referred out to an appropriate provider.
Karunya operates as part of a wider ecosystem of organisations supporting migrant worker health in Singapore, including HealthServe, St. Andrew's Migrant Worker Medical Centre, SATA's migrant worker clinics, Fullerton Health and StarMed. The clinic has also been the subject of several local features over the years, covering its history and its place in the broader story of care for Singapore's migrant community, including coverage describing it as a shared effort with HealthServe.
What stands out about Karunya is its consistency: the same two evening sessions, week after week, for more than 25 years, entirely dependent on volunteer doctors willing to give up their Thursday and Sunday evenings. For migrant workers in and around Little India, it represents a reliable, low-barrier option for primary healthcare — a place where a consultation, basic testing and medication are all available under one small roof, with a clear path to further care when something falls outside what the clinic can treat on-site.