[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/destinations\/singapore\/being-fairy-godmother-to-sick-children\/#NewsArticle","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/destinations\/singapore\/being-fairy-godmother-to-sick-children\/","headline":"Being fairy godmother to sick children","name":"Being fairy godmother to sick children","description":"Having wishes granted is said to be life-changing for children with critical illnesses. But does it truly make a difference?\u00a0\u00a0 The genie organisation, Make-A-Wish (MAW) Singapore, says it truly does. Since its inception in 2002, this one-of-a-kind NGO has granted over 1,657 transformative wishes for children with critical illnesses.\u00a0 As it turns out, granting wishes […]","datePublished":"2021-11-02","dateModified":"2022-04-15","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/author\/rachel-teng\/#Person","name":"Rachel Teng","url":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/author\/rachel-teng\/","identifier":367,"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/wp-content\/uploads\/Rachel_Teng-100x100.jpg","url":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/wp-content\/uploads\/Rachel_Teng-100x100.jpg","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"TheHomeGround Asia","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/wp-content\/uploads\/photo_2021-07-22-222533.jpeg","url":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/wp-content\/uploads\/photo_2021-07-22-222533.jpeg","width":640,"height":640}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/wp-content\/uploads\/1635928439243_Courtesy_Make-A-Wish_Singapore_1280x626_px.jpg","url":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/wp-content\/uploads\/1635928439243_Courtesy_Make-A-Wish_Singapore_1280x626_px.jpg","height":626,"width":1280},"url":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/destinations\/singapore\/being-fairy-godmother-to-sick-children\/","commentCount":"1","comment":[{"@type":"Comment","@id":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/destinations\/singapore\/being-fairy-godmother-to-sick-children\/#Comment1","dateCreated":"2026-05-29 05:33:11","description":"Your point of view caught my eye and was very interesting. Thanks. I have a question for you. https:\/\/accounts.binance.com\/register\/person?ref=W49FLGDN","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"\u0432\u0434\u043a\u0440\u0438\u0442\u0438 \u0430\u043a\u0430\u0443\u043d\u0442 \u043d\u0430 \u0431\u043d\u0430\u043d\u0441","url":"https:\/\/accounts.binance.com\/uk-UA\/register\/person?ref=XZNNWTW7"}}],"about":["Community","Health & Wellness","Local","Singapore"],"wordCount":1352,"keywords":["autoimmune diseases","cancer","children","make a wish","NGO","Singapore","terminally ill","wish granters"],"articleBody":"Having wishes granted is said to be life-changing for children with critical illnesses. But does it truly make a difference?\u00a0\u00a0The genie organisation, Make-A-Wish (MAW) Singapore, says it truly does. Since its inception in 2002, this one-of-a-kind NGO has granted over 1,657 transformative wishes for children with critical illnesses.\u00a0As it turns out, granting wishes can help kids get better because it works to complement their medical treatment. A 2011 study commissioned by Make-A-Wish America showed that 97 percent of wish families observed an improvement in their children\u2019s emotional health after a wish experience.\u00a0A wish is often the turning point in their recovery, and many Make-A-Wish children go on to learn to cope with and for some, even beat their illnesses.\u00a0Stefanie Loh:\u00a0Wish-child turned wish granterWhen Ms Stefanie Loh was 16, she collapsed midway through her piano lesson. The next thing she knew, she was diagnosed with post-nasal cancer, a rare form of nasopharyngeal cancer.\u00a0\u201cThe surgery happened a day after I was diagnosed. The whole process was very sudden, so I didn\u2019t have time to react,\u201d she says.\u00a0When she regained consciousness in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) after two weeks, she realised that she couldn\u2019t eat, speak, or swallow, because the surgery was done through her mouth.\u00a0Ms Loh had to stop school to undergo half a year of radiation therapy. \u201cIt was very devastating, especially since I was only 16,\u201d she adds.\u00a0MAW entered the picture midway through her treatment, just as she was feeling isolated within the confines of the hospital.\u00a0What was originally a simple wish of wanting a laptop to stay connected with friends and family, turned into a life-changing experience, she says. It even inspired her to become a wish granter when she got older.\u00a0Ms Loh\u2019s wish granters arranged for her to meet and duet with her idol, Slyvester Sim, who presented her with the laptop. (Photo courtesy of Make-A-Wish Singapore)“They had planned [and delivered] it in such a magical way. I think it actually helped bond my family as well. They had been very stressed about my circumstances during that period,\u201d she says.In many ways, the experience not only helped Ms Loh heal, but also set her music career in motion.\u201cIt was during that ordeal that I realised I could use music as a healing tool. I started to pen my own emotions into lyrics, and sourced opportunities for myself because I have learnt that life is short,\u201d she says.True to her word, Ms Loh, now 28, is not only living her life to the fullest, she has become a seasoned wish granter herself, having been driven by her own experience of \u201cthe wish effect\u201d.\u201cEvery wish kid is different, and I learnt a little something from them each time,\u201d says Ms Loh, who has become increasingly more outspoken and tactful through her wish-granting journeys.\u201cOne of my most memorable grants was for a wish kid who loves dinosaurs. When we brought a dinosaur mascot to him, he cried,\u201d she says. \u201cIt was only after talking to him that I found out he only wants to be as strong as a T-Rex to beat his cancer.\u201dThe mascot could roar, which momentarily scared the 6-year-old wish child. (Photo courtesy of Make-A-Wish Singapore)Amanda Cho: Getting creative to grant wishes\u00a0Amanda Cho loves children. She is also drawn to over-the-top projects. This makes her the right candidate to make wishes come true for kids with critical illness. She became a wish granter in February 2016, and has since granted almost 10 wishes in just five years.Being a senior creative and innovation manager at an international school, Ms Cho, 37, believes that the beauty of granting wishes lies in its open-ended nature.\u201cIt\u2019s really about exploring deeper and asking the right questions,\u201d she says. \u201cThere\u2019s always a limit to our time and budget, but we can be creative with our finite resources, crafting a simple wish into something meaningful and magical for them and their families.\u201dOne of the most rewarding wishes she has granted to date is helping wish child Nicole develop and publish a book\u00a0to raise awareness about invisible illnesses.Nicole\u2019s book, \u201cHow to be a good patient\u201d. (Photo courtesy of Make-A-Wish Singapore)\u201cIt started off with just her wishing for a staycation with her dog, because Nicole is a huge animal lover,\u201d says Ms Cho. \u201cBut as we asked more questions, we realised that she is very vocal and opinionated, and that she keeps a blog and writes very well.\u201dHaving little resources, Ms Cho ended up roping in her own friends, sisters, and fellow teachers to help with the self-publishing process. They became part-time editors, website and layout designers to prepare for the launch of the 300-page book, titled \u201cHow to be a Good Patient\u201d.Nicole, then 18, was diagnosed with a rare combination of three immune disorders which attack her liver, bile ducts, and colon.\u201cShe mentioned that after this wish, she was much more confident as a person, having finally stepped into the light to talk about her illness openly,\u201d says Ms Cho.\u201cI think it\u2019s really important for a teenage girl like Nicole because her self-esteem was quite low. The medication she took made her lethargic, but after she published her book, she was invited to talks, and she became an inspiration to her family and the greater community,\u201d she adds.Ms Cho shares that when children say they want something, there\u2019s often a deeper underlying reason for it.\u201cFor example, if an immobilised child wishes to have a motorised scooter, what he or she actually wants is independence,\u201d she says. \u201cSo we can add value to the wish by adding to his or her sense of independence. An example is buying smart lights for the room so the child can turn the lights on and off independently.\u201dAmanda (second from the right) and Nicole (third from the right) at Nicole\u2019s book launch. (Photo courtesy of Make-A-Wish Singapore)Sherry Soon: A voice for invisible diseasesHaving been diagnosed with vasculitis at the age of 19, Sherry Soon, 40, finds that she is able to connect with children diagnosed with either a chronic disorder or a critical illness. Vasculitis is the inflammation of the blood vessels.Ms Soon has been granting wishes since she was a special needs teacher, but is now running two ground-up movements full-time:\u00a0Be Kind SG and Autoimmune Diseases Singapore. The former is a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) that raises awareness on invisible disabilities and a happier and kinder society, while the latter is an informal support group for Singaporeans diagnosed with autoimmune diseases.Since 2013, Ms Soon has granted more than 10 wishes. \u201cMedical treatment is a very long journey for both the sick child and the family. I\u2019ve seen the power of a wish, how it brings the whole family together and gives them strength to face the challenges ahead for them,\u201d she says.In December 2019, she granted a travel wish for\u00a0Hayes Kerr, a die-hard potterhead. Ms Soon and her team\u00a0planned his family\u2019s entire trip\u00a0to the Harry Potter Warner Brothers Studio Tour in London, ranging from a private Muggle tour to visiting the famous Platform 9 \u00be at King\u2019s Cross Station.Hayes Kerr on his wish trip with his family. (Photo source: Make-A-Wish Singapore)\u201cHis family told us that they never thought they\u2019d be able to travel with Hayes Kerr to a country so far away,\u201d she says. Financial resources aside, Hayes Kerr needed a mobility device, which raised a lot of questions about accessibility and travel for his family.\u201cI think it\u2019s very hard for those of us who have not gone through such experiences in our childhood to imagine the trauma it might involve,\u201d says Ms Soon. \u201cBut through the wish-granting process, I\u2019ve realised that children are a lot more resilient than we give them credit for.”If you wish to volunteer with or donate to Make-A-Wish Singapore, please go to\u00a0makeawish.org.sg.Join the conversations on TheHomeGround Asia’s\u00a0Facebook\u00a0and\u00a0Instagram, and get the latest updates via\u00a0Telegram."},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Destinations","item":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/destinations\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Singapore","item":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/destinations\/\/singapore\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Being fairy godmother to sick children","item":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/destinations\/singapore\/being-fairy-godmother-to-sick-children\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]