SINGAPORE – A doctor from Singapore in the United Kingdom has been awarded an honorary knighthood for his contribution to the fight against COVID-19 in the country.
Professor Lim Wei Shen, 56, has been given the name Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (KBE), according to an update published in the British government on March 21.
This appointment was related to Professor Lim’s role as Chair of Covid-19 Vaccination on the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation. He also acted as an independent advisor to the UK government in relation to the Covid-19 vaccination programme during the pandemic.
In early December 2020, Britain became the first Western country to start vaccinating its general population, which was seen as a turning point in the fight against the coronavirus.
A KBE is awarded for outstanding contribution in any area of activity or in a capacity that will be identified through peer teams as inspiring and meaningful at the national level and that demonstrates sustained commitment. This is the highest honor that can be bestowed on a foreign national. However, recipients may not use the honorific titles “Sir” or “Dame”, but may use the initials KBE after their name.
Professor Lim told The Straits Times that receiving the honorary KBE is an “incredible honour”.
“It was only thanks to grace and so many others, especially my wife, that the darkest days of the pandemic were able to be overcome. In fact, I’m grateful to my colleagues, friends and family,” he said.
As a representative NHS Trust respiratory physician of Nottingham University Hospitals since 2003 and Honorary Professor of Medicine at the University of Nottingham, Professor Lim has won awards from medical institutes.
His specialty is respiratory infections, pneumonia, flu and Covid-19.
Professor Lim recalls that in early 2020, Singapore had suffered some of the effects of Covid-19 before Britain. “I learned a lot talking to my colleagues in Singapore at the time about this new virus,” he said.
“Throughout the pandemic, there has been, and still is, cooperation and collaboration between the many countries around the world where transparent, physically powerful, and quality clinical trials are taking place, whether in Singapore, South Africa, or Britain. “
Professor Lim wanted to contribute to medicine from an early age, crediting his parents and a “prominent family physician” with influencing his career.
After graduating from Anglo-Chinese Junior College, he applied to study medicine at the National University of Singapore, but was not admitted.
“So I was very lucky that my parents generously and sacrificially supported my medical studies at the University of Nottingham,” she said. Professor Lim graduated in 1991.
He then worked for a few years at Tan Tock Seng Hospital and Singapore General Hospital before completing specialist postgraduate training and clinical research at Nottingham University Hospitals, NHS Trust and the University of Nottingham.
“The most memorable moments for me as a physician are those when the courage and determination of patients and their clinical colleagues battling the disease are most evident,” he said.
Other Singaporeans who have won prestigious titles in Britain include Shereen Aziz-Williams, renowned for her remarkable networking work, and historian and heritage entrepreneur Jeya Ayadurai. Both were made honorary members of the Order of the British Empire.
Three Covid-19 experts in Singapore were knighted in France in April 2022 in popularity for their notable contributions in the fields of fitness and science. Among them is Professor Tan Chorh Chuan, Singapore’s leading fitness scientist and executive director of the National Centre for Infectious Diseases, Leo Yee Sin, who has been awarded the name Chevalier de l’Ordre français de los angeles Légion d’honneur, an award founded in 1802.
Professor Laurent Renia, director of the Respiratory and Infectious Diseases Program at the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine at Nanyang Technological University and principal investigator of A*Star Infectious Diseases Labs, has been named Chevalier de l’Ordre National du Mérite français.
This article first appeared in The Straits Times. Permission is required for reproduction.