The Health | MARCH, 2019
30
Exclusive
Meet
the
Teddy
Bear
Doctor
1
Dr Madhusudhan brings
comfort, smiles and good
food to everyone around
him
4
By Reenassri Sekaran
W
e arrive at the clinic in Cheras.
Located in a busy neighbourhood,
we wait patiently as he attends to
his patients. There are large packets
of rice and other groceries which
we safely assume are for donations.
We get called in and for a moment I get that pang of
fear – doctors. Then it all disappears when we saw the
‘teddy bear doctor’. On the walls of his office are cute,
little thank you notes from his patients.
37-year-old Madhusudhan Shanmugam is your
no ordinary doctor. Last year he was awarded with
the Commonwealth Points of Light award, bestowed
by Queen Elizabeth II for his outstanding voluntary
services. When we congratulate him, he brushes it aside
stating it was mere luck. He was also featured in RHB’s
Deepavali commercial last year. We also discovered
something funny about Dr Madhu, he gets very video
shy – he kept on cracking up during the videotaping
session.
Growing up helping others
“When I was a student, my friends and I used to visit
orphanages and old folks home a lot. We didn’t have
much money on hand so we would entertain them and
put a smile on their faces. Even during college, we would
visit homes and buy them gifts.”
Genie Foundation, Kechara Soup
Kitchen and Teddy Mobile Clinic
Dr Madhu is all smiles.
Given his affection for philanthropy, Dr Madhu
kick-started his passion projects – mainly the Genie
Foundation and Teddy Mobile Clinic. “After knowing
that helping people is my true passion, I co-founded
the Genie foundation, granting wishes to children from
orphanages. I also hopped to Kechara Soup Kitchen
later on,” he says.
Then Dr Madhu came up with another idea to help
people. He operates a mobile clinic. “We operate our
mobile clinic on Wednesday nights while Kechara
Soup Kitchen alternates on Saturday nights so that
the patients can be seen twice a week,” he explains.
“We also visit the orang asli villages. We have col-
laborated with Centro Mall in Klang, what we do is that
they fund the medications and we take care of three
homes that go in rotation, one week the orphanage,
next week to the old folks home and the following the
OKU home. We make it point to be with them all the
time – we don’t want them to think it’s a one thing time
thing, “he notes.
His schedule is clearly packed. How does this man do
it all? Clearly it takes a certain amount of passion and
love. On the weekends if required, he helps out with
medical care or at refugee schools.
He points out to the bed beside him “that’s where I
sleep. I go back to Klang to be with my family during
the weekends.”
“I come from an Indian family, dad is a doctor so the
son has to be a doctor!” he quips. He was brought up in
his dad’s clinic. The family home was on the first floor
and the clinic was on the ground floor. When the nurses
were not around, he would help out at the clinic.
“My dad was often involved in a lot of charity work. I
used to see my dad not charging the patients who could
not afford treatment.”
Hidden talent: Chef Madhusudhan
If not on the road with a white coat and stethoscope,
what would you be doing?
“I would have been a cook! I love cooking. On the
weekends, I’ll make sure my mom’s not cooking and I’ll
take over the kitchen. Usually if my friends are having
a small function, they will call me to cook,” he smiles.
Chef Madhu’s special? His mutton varuval and
sambal udang kering.
Work hard, play hard
During our interview, we then realised that Dr Madhu’s