Three weeks before Mona Ee’s wedding, her mother was diagnosed with Stage III Colon Cancer. “It was the first cancer diagnosis in our family. We prayed every day that she would recover and lead a positive life,” she recalls.
After surgery and chemotherapy, her mother recovered. 25 years on, she remains cancer-free. However, the experience of taking care of her mother during the cancer journey left a deep impression on Mona.
“It was challenging to have a cancer patient in the family. All of us went through the journey together providing caregiving and emotional support for our mother,” says Mona. That experience allowed Mona to fully empathise with cancer patients and families. It strengthens her resolve to support the cancer cause and to help patients and caregivers.
So when her company GLOBALFOUNDRIES (the former Chartered Semiconductor) was looking for a beneficiary for their charity golf tournament in 2004, Mona suggested Children’s Cancer Foundation. The event raised $250,000 that year, and $270,000 in 2005. However, in 2006, Mona thought that beyond fundraising, the company could do more to create awareness of the ordeals faced by cancer patients.
That year, she garnered the support of her colleagues to shave their heads for Hair for Hope, sharing how the symbolic act would encourage and support cancer patients.
Over the next few years, the number of shavees at GLOBALFOUNDRIES grew slowly but steadily. In 2015, the company organised its first Hair for Hope satellite event, targeting 50 shavees to commemorate SG50. 55 employees responded to the call, including Mona, who has been a shavee for the past eight years, with the full support from her hubby, daughter and mother.
“The first time I shaved, I didn’t tell my family. My daughter, who was 14 then, didn’t speak to me for a week,” she chuckles. She has since come around. Mona says, “My daughter will ask, ‘Mummy, aren’t you going to shave your head again this year?’ I know I have her support, and that means a lot to me.”