A clinic doctor by day and mobile clinic hero by night, Dr. Madhu (also affectionately known as Dr. Teddy), is the embodiment of ‘Great’. He not only brings joy to the underprivileged community but also firmly believes that everyone has the right to medical treatment no matter where they come from. To Dr. Madhu, to Reach for Great is to help people without expecting anything in return.
First things first: how did you get your nickname, ‘Dr. Teddy’?
I used to give a lot of teddy bears to the underprivileged kids...so much so that at one of our charity clinics, one kid saw me from a distance and shouted, “Dr. Teddy is here!”. And the rest is history!
"Everyone deserves to be treated equally despite their socio-economic status. People shouldn’t feel that they don’t deserve the treatment others get just because they are poor."
Who, or what, inspired you to start a mobile clinic?
My father is the greatest man I've ever known and has always been my biggest inspiration behind all this. I grew up in his clinic in Klang and used to see him provide free treatment to the underprivileged community. And he was always very kind and friendly towards everyone.
Apart from that, the clinic volunteers and patients are a big inspiration for me too. It’s very rewarding to see the smiles on everyone’s faces and it inspires me to press on with the mobile clinic.
“ ‘Great’, to me, is seeing my team of volunteers put their service to others above themselves.”
In your mobile clinic journey so far, what is one moment
that deeply impacted you?
When I was treating an uncle on the streets, he told me that he was diagnosed with colon cancer and realised that his family could not afford his medical bills. So, he decided to live on the streets so that his family could live a better life. His life story affirmed my decision to help the homeless on the streets. Many think they are just drug addicts or criminals. But I’ve come to realise that it’s not always the case. It’s not their fault that they are homeless. And they deserve to be treated just like any other person.
