At 32, Rebecca Oh was looking forward to beginning a new chapter in her life — starting a family.
But one year into her in-vitro fertilisation journey, she received a piece of news that she never saw coming — she had uterine cancer.
“I never thought that I’d get cancer. When you watch TV shows, you always see that the people who have cancer look a certain way and are of a certain age,” Rebecca, who is now 37, told AsiaOne. “I thought: ‘Is this real?’ It’s very surreal, very bizarre.”
As a younger patient, Rebecca faced a different set of struggles on her cancer journey — she felt a strong sense of loss when she realised that she was no longer as independent as before.
She had to depend on others for daily tasks such as buying food, showering, or even going downstairs for a walk.
Another struggle Rebecca faced was trying to find someone to relate to, as most cancer patients she came across were older.
“When I go for [social] services or even support groups, it’s a crowd that I usually cannot identify with. The things that they share don’t relate to the stage of life I was in either,” she told us.
“People were talking about grandchildren and retirement, and here I am… thinking about how I could go back to work if my symptoms or side effects don’t improve,” Rebecca added. “I couldn’t relate to people even though we were going through the same journey.”
Recognising this gap led Rebecca — who was a counsellor — to start Strong Olive, a free support ecosystem in Singapore that caters to cancer patients aged 18 to 45.
Speaking at the official launch of Strong Olive on Saturday (March 28), Dr Koh Poh Koon, Senior Minister of State for Health and Manpower, said that there is a trend of more young people diagnosed with cancer, particularly colorectal cancer, in Singapore.
According to data from the latest Singapore Cancer Registry Annual Report, there were 4,995 cancer diagnoses for those under 40 between 2019 and 2023 — a 34 per cent increase from the years between 2003 and 2007, when the number stood at 3,729.
“Cancer can manifest in many different ways, and this makes it difficult to recognise the signs, especially for young people who may attribute how they are feeling to stress or a busy lifestyle,” Dr Koh, who is also a colorectal surgeon, explained.
“Regardless of age, if you experience persistent pain or discomfort, do not dismiss it. Get a thorough check and understand what your body is telling you,” he urged.
Supporting young adults with cancer
Strong Olive currently supports 136 young adults through psychosocial programmes such as the Moving Mountains support groups and The Walking Club, as well as services spanning psychosocial support, counselling, physiotherapy, nutrition guidance, community-bonding activities and practical navigation assistance.
“I thought about whether it’s possible to do something to ease the loneliness that I experienced. So I decided on starting an initiative. I started to talk to different people, and reach out to others to see if we can come together and form a little community to support young adults with cancer,” said Rebecca.
She shared that the initiative was soft-launched in March last year.
32-year-old Osten Mah is one of the members of the Strong Olive community.
Osten discovered he had cancer shortly after his wedding in October 2024.
He had developed an irritation in his lower right eyelid, which he attributed to sensitivity to make-up on his big day. When the issue persisted for several months, however, he decided to seek medical advice.
It was then that he got diagnosed with sebaceous carcinoma, a rare and aggressive type of skin cancer.
“I always associated cancer with older people, and I lead an active lifestyle. I run, I play badminton regularly,” he told AsiaOne. “I didn’t expect this diagnosis, so it really came as a surprise.”
Recalling the day that he received the diagnosis, Osten’s first thought was: “Why me?”
“I was in a period of transitions. I just got married, I just moved into a new house, and I was about to move into a new job in public service,” he said. “And then I was thrown this [curveball].”
The news also disrupted Osten’s plans for starting a family — he was worried that his condition might be hereditary.
“I was newly married, and family planning was a key concern for me,” he told us.
“Before the diagnosis, I wanted to have kids. After the diagnosis, I was concerned about having kids, because I don’t want my child to go through what I went through.”
Due to the aggressive nature of the cancer, Osten underwent partial removal of both eyelids as well as a lymph node dissection in the neck last year.
Despite the hardships, what helped to keep him going during his cancer journey was strong family and community support.
“After I was diagnosed, I immediately created two group chats with my colleagues, employers, and direct supervisors, as well as my church group,” he said. “Community was the most important thing for me.”
His wife was a “calming presence” that he could turn to, his colleagues prayed for him, and his church members offered advice.
“As the cancer monster grows bigger, my own community grows bigger as well. It’s like a shield matching the scale of the illness,” he said. “That’s what brought me the most comfort. You’re never walking alone.”
Osten, who is now in the monitoring phase after surgery, admitted that he still struggles to sleep at night.
“I think about what happened, why it happened to me, and I struggle with these questions,” he said.
This was what prompted him to reach out to Strong Olive.
He started attending events organised by the cancer support group, where he can find support in others with similar experiences.
Recently, Osten attended a Chinese New Year celebration with the group, where he met new friends together with his family.
He found it heartwarming that the families and caregivers of cancer patients could also gather and support each other.
Another Strong Olive member is 41-year-old Poh Yee Hui, who was diagnosed with Stage 4 colorectal cancer in 2021.
The wellness consultant from Malaysia noticed that she had been passing blood clots at work, and mistook the episode as something minor such as a stomach issue or being “too heaty”.
Having no prior symptoms or pain, Yee Hui was shocked to receive the diagnosis.
“I always thought cancer was for older people and not young people. That’s why I was quite shocked to be diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer in my 30s.”
Her first thought upon receiving the diagnosis was: “I cannot die before my parents”.
As the eldest daughter of the family, she took it upon herself to be the “strong” one and hid her condition from her parents as she underwent treatment for over a year.
During video calls with her family, she had to make sure that she didn’t “look like a patient” so they wouldn’t catch on, she told AsiaOne.
It was only when the cancer had spread to her liver that she decided to break the news to them.
“I had to, because the doctor told me I had only about two to five years [to live],” said Yee Hui, who received the prognosis during the first review of her surgery in 2022.
Even then, she refused to give up the fight.
“I thought to myself… survival rate is just a statistic,” she said. “I won’t care about the two- to five-year [timeline], I’ll continue to do whatever I can do.”
But even the strongest people need a support system.
As a pioneer member of the Strong Olive community, Yee Hui shared that her most memorable moment with the support group happened during monthly The Walking Club outings at various places, including parks and nature reserves.
“I like to walk, and while we walk, we chit-chat. We get to know more people and give each other support,” she said.
To those who are going through a similar experience, Yee Hui said: “What’s already happened has happened, so just accept it and make whatever changes you can. Listen to the professionals, the doctors and the nurses.
“It’s okay to feel scared or overwhelmed, but we are stronger than we think.”
She also stressed that prevention is better than cure.
“I know it may be difficult for people to go for cancer screening, but if you find out in the early stages, then you don’t have to go through so many rounds of treatment, and it can be cured at an early stage.”
Strong Olive is operated by 365 Cancer Prevention Society, a non-profit social service agency which provides sponsored screenings for cervical cancer, prostate cancer, breast cancer and colorectal cancer to eligible individuals.
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