Kenneth Lyen is a Singaporean pediatrician, visiting consultant pediatric endocrinologist and a visiting tutor in developmental pediatrics.

Lyen is also part of the management board for the Rainbow Centre which manages two of the schools he founded which were built for children with disabilities and autism spectrum disorder.[citation needed] He also received the Public Service Medal for his community services.[1] He has published 22 original research papers, co-authored 13 books and written 22 musicals which were staged in Singapore.[1]

Biography edit

Lyen graduated from the University of Oxford in 1973,[2] trained in pediatrics at the Great Ormond Street Hospital (1978-1980), and was a research fellow at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (1980-1983).[1] He became a consultant pediatrician at the National University Hospital Singapore (1983-1989).[citation needed] During this time he was invited by Victor Seah to serve on the committee now known as the Movement for the Intellectually Disabled of Singapore (MINDS).[3]

Lyen was part of the team that investigated mass poisoning in Perak, Malaysia in 1991,[4] did an anthropometric study of Singapore School children in 1991[5] and pubertal development in 1995.[6] He was the founding president of two schools for disabled and autism spectrum disorder children, the Margaret Drive (1987) and the Balestier (1992) Special Schools.[citation needed] He helped establish the Rainbow Centre Singapore which manages both these schools, and trains special education teachers and parents of the students.[citation needed]

Lyen is fluent in English, Mandarin Chinese, and the Cantonese dialect.[1]

Lyen is a consultant pediatrician at Mt. Elizabeth Medical Centre.[1][2] He is a consulting pediatric endocrinologist at Singapore General Hospital's School Health Services.[1] He is also a visiting tutor at the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine.[1] Children's Hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (United States) awarded him a research fellowship in pediatric diabetes and metabolic diseases.[1] He sits on numerous advisory boards and medical panels, and he teaches at the National University of Singapore.[1]

During the global COVID-19 pandemic, he authored and self-published COVID-19 in Singapore, a research paper discussing how the pandemic affected the lives of people in Singapore during the first half of 2020.[7] He also responded to an open letter and debunked the anti-Covid-vaccine claims made by 12 other doctors.[8][9][10] He used his pediatric expertise to assure the public that the vaccines are safe for children.[8][9][10]

In 2022. Lyen was awarded the Bintang Bakti Masyarakat (Public Service Star).[11]

Publications edit

Lyen has co-authored and co-edited several books including Asian Child Care and Rainbow Dreams. In addition, he has written and staged 20 musicals in Singapore, including:

  • Big Bang! (1995): based on the life of cosmologist Stephen Hawking[12]
  • Orchard Square (1996): four teenagers work out their personal problems
  • Catch the Rainbow (1997): the history of Singapore[13]
  • Yum Sing! (1999): wedding flashback of how a bride and bridegroom met
  • Temptations (2000): cross-dressed TV cook show presenter falls for a girl[14]
  • Magic Paintbrush (2001): an ancient Chinese folk tale[15]
  • Song of the Whale (2002): the biblical story of Jonah and the whale
  • Sayang (2002): radio talk show host and his fan, a lonely florist[16]
  • Exodus (2003): story of Moses[17]
  • Making The Grade (2004): schoolmistress and her problem students[18]
  • Blue Willow House (2006): Lim Boon Keng and prostitutes in Singapore at the end of the 19th century
  • School House Rockz (2008): TV series musical about teenagers and their school problems[19]
  • Monkey (2009): puppet musical of an episode from Monkey: Journey to the West
  • It's Academic! (2011) love triangle among teenagers

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Dr. Kenneth Lyen". Mount Elizabeth Medical Centre - Private Healthcare In Singapore. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
  2. ^ a b "Kenneth Lyen". Research Gate. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
  3. ^ Ho, Jeannie; Cherian, Mary, eds. (22 November 2002). Many Dawns: A Brief History Of Services For Individuals With Intellectual Disability In Singapore. World Scientific Publishing Company. pp. 57, 81–82. ISBN 9789814632553.
  4. ^ Chao, T. C.; Maxwell, S. M.; Lyen, Kenneth; Wang, D; Chia, H. K. (April 1991). "Mass poisoning in Perak, Malaysia or the Tale of the Nine Emperor Gods and rat tail noodles". Journal of the Forensic Science Society. 31 (2): 283–288. doi:10.1016/S0015-7368(91)73157-5. PMID 1940842.
  5. ^ Loke, K. Y.; Lee, B. W.; Tan, S. H.; Lun, K. C.; Lee, W. K.; Lyen, K. (1991). "Normal standard of pubertal development in Singapore school children". The Journal of the Singapore Paediatric Society. 33 (3–4): 126–132. ISSN 0037-5683. PMID 1812328.
  6. ^ Yap, M. A.; Lun, K. C.; Lyen, K. R.; Lam, S. L. (June 1994). "Secular trend of growth in pre-school children in Singapore". Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 3 (2): 61–64. ISSN 0964-7058. PMID 24351236.
  7. ^ Lyen, Kenneth (June 2020). "COVID-19 in Singapore". SMA News. Singapore Medical Association.
  8. ^ a b Lay, Belmont (22 May 2021). "Expert committee hits back at open letter by 12 S'pore doctors saying mRNA Covid-19 vaccine not safe & not effective for those aged 12-15". mothership.sg. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  9. ^ a b Khalik, Salma (9 June 2021). "Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine safe, effective for those aged 12 to 15, says expert committee responding to open letter from some doctors". The Straits Times. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  10. ^ a b Khalik, Salma (22 May 2021). "Debunking points in docs' open letter". The Straits Times. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  11. ^ Goh, Yan Han (9 August 2022). "Three public service veterans top this year's National Day Awards list" (PDF). The Straits Times. Retrieved 30 January 2023 – via National University of Singapore.
  12. ^ "Big Bang!". www.kenlyen.com. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  13. ^ Catch the rainbow!: NDP 97 musical extravaganza., Singapore: NDP '97 EXCO, 1997, OCLC 667408921, retrieved 9 August 2020
  14. ^ "Temptations". www.kenlyen.com. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  15. ^ "Magic Paintbrush". www.kenlyen.com. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  16. ^ "Five Foot Broadway 2007". www.kenlyen.com. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  17. ^ "Exodus". www.kenlyen.com. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  18. ^ "Making the Grade". www.kenlyen.com. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  19. ^ "School House Rockz". www.kenlyen.com. Retrieved 9 August 2020.

Further reading edit

  • Tham JSY, Lyen KR (2002). The development of special education in Singapore. In: Lee EH, Tham JSY, editors. Rainbow Dreams. Singapore: Armour Publishing.
  • Embek J (2015). Rainbow Centre and the Special Education Landscape in Singapore http://www.sg50home.sg/rainbow-centre.html[permanent dead link]
  • Lyen KR, Myint Thein M, Ang J (1997). Asian Child Care: A Guide to Pregnancy, Parenting, and Child Health Landmark Books.
  • Tham JSY, Lyen KR, Poon KK, Lee EH, Pathnapuram M (2014) Rainbow Dreams 3rd Edition: A Holistic Approach to Helping Children with Special Needs. Armour Publishing.
  • Lyen KR (2014) Musical Theatre. In: Zubillaga-Pow J, Ho CK (editors) Singapore Soundscape. National Library Board.