When I read Sunday's article, 'Medicine is not just a career, but a calling',by Dr Lee Wei Ling, I felt compelled to express my respect for Dr Lee's compassion and her dedication to her patients.

I have read so many of her articles and sincerely hope my daughter, who is in the second year of National University of Singapore Medical School, will follow her example to be a compassionate and righteous doctor who will heal the sick, regardless of their race or income.

Although we are from a humble background without degrees, and my daughter is the first to enter medical school from either side of our family, my husband and I pray she will be a compassionate doctor who will serve the poor, especially old folk who live in rented one-room flats.

Money and prestige from being a doctor were never our priority.

I fully agree with Dr Lee that the important trait a doctor should have is empathy, and the medical profession is not just a prestigious, profitable career but a calling.

Doctors should have the moral instinct to distinguish between right and wrong and must never let greed determine their actions.

Dr Lee's compassion and high moral integrity would have made her parents, Mr and Mrs Lee Kuan Yew, very proud of her. I sincerely hope my daughter will be a compassionate doctor with high moral integrity, like Dr Lee.

This article was first published in The Straits Times on December 10, 2008.