Dr Teoh Chin Sim, 60, is Singapore’s first female sports medicine specialist and the founder of PlayBuddy, a free sports programme for children with disabilities. In 2012, Dr Teoh served as team physician for Singapore at the London Paralympics. She was also Chief Medical Officer (CMO) to Team Singapore for the Tokyo Olympics 2020 (held in 2021 – the first games since the COVID-19 pandemic).

In 2016 she founded PlayBuddy, a free programme for children with disabilities to enjoy sports. PlayBuddy has grown into a movement with over 400 volunteers, and more than 50 families have been supported since its inception.

For her community efforts and going the extra mile, Dr Teoh Chin Sim received the Healthcare Humanity Award 2020 (supported by the Courage Fund whose patron is the President of the Republic of Singapore) and the National Healthcare Group Outstanding Citizenship Award 2022. PlayBuddy won the Singapore Disability Sports Council Community Changemaker of the Year Award 2023.

Dr Teoh pens for Salt&Light her personal faith journey these last 13 years and how the Lord led her to a position to bless those with disabilities and their families.

It was 2012, and I found myself yet again in the pit of depression, so bad this time that I could not even muster up enough energy to stand and raise my hands to worship God in church.

In desperation, I approached an old friend who suggested that I enrol in an inner healing programme.

Over several weeks, two Christian ministers worked through the Holy Spirit to help me to understand and address the roots of my life’s recurrent pains and struggles, and affirmed my true identity in Jesus.

They also prophesied that the Lord had “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11).

I had no clue of His plans then, but in hindsight, and in the context of PlayBuddy, I will illustrate how our Lord is always good and true to His promises.

A community of play and support

PlayBuddy is a volunteer-led sports playgroup founded in 2016 for children with primarily physical disabilities to come together on weekends to play adaptive sports with their family members, caregivers, friends and volunteers.

No fees are collected for participation, and volunteers from all walks of life dedicate their time, skills and resources to run the year-round programme.

“Young physiotherapist Jia Ling and I spoke excitedly and passionately about starting something de novo in the community for children with disabilities,” writes Chin Sim. Jia Ling is pictured with Joel Kang and family at bouldering.

PlayBuddy funds all her activities through the generous donations of unassuming benefactors.

Over the past nine years, PlayBuddy has grown organically and modestly, touching the lives of over 50 families.

At present, 15 to 20 families join us regularly on Saturday and Sunday mornings at the Sports Hub in Kallang to play soccer, basketball, cricket, fencing, badminton, pickleball, powerlifting, taekwondo, contemporary dance, which run in a modular fashion (ie the sport changes every four weeks).

Interspersed between sports modules are family day outings, picnics, tenpin bowling, kite flying, pizza-making, rock art and so on, with annual parties to celebrate Mother’s Day, PlayBuddy’s birthday, National Day and Christmas.

Beyond sports, PlayBuddy has also evolved into a community of support for children, youth, parents, caregivers, domestic helpers and volunteers.

In 2024, a core group of mothers from PlayBuddy started PlayBuddy Club, a weekly after-school day activity programme for their children to prepare them for life after 18 years old after graduation from special needs schools.

The Paralympics that inspired it all

So let me take you back again to 2012, when it all began, for “we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).

Not long after those prophetic words were spoken over me, I received a phone call asking if I were available to travel to the London Paralympic Games as Chief Medical Officer to Team Singapore.

Unbeknownst to me, I had been listed as the alternate team physician, and the main team physician himself was unable to attend. I obtained approval from my superiors, and three months later, I was on a plane with our entourage to London. It was a divine appointment as the 19 days at the Games transformed my perspective of life, fostering a passion for para sports and its potential to positively impact the rehabilitation journey of an ill or injured person.

Start of a swimming race at the London 2012 Paralympic Games.

Among the myriad of experiences at the Games, a chance encounter with an athlete in a wheelchair while on a bus ride to the equestrian venue remains firmly etched in my memory. When asked about how she was introduced to equestrian sport, she shared that she had in fact represented New Zealand in (able-bodied) show jumping in the past. Several years before, she had survived a tragic car accident, waking up only to find her boyfriend and her best friend dead upon impact, with herself paralysed from waist downwards.

As we parted company, I was in amazement of how someone having lost her love, her best friend, the use of her legs, and indeed, her former life and identity, could turn the tide to carve out a new life and future for herself, including returning to the sporting arena for competition at the highest level.

In contrast, some of us who seem perfectly able, never quite live out our potential because we are paralysed by our fears and doubts, and focus on or complain about what we do not have, instead of maximising what we do have.

I had long been trapped by insecurities, unresolved hurts and unmet needs, and the transforming Paralympic Games experience was to complement my recovery journey and steer me towards the destiny that God had planned for me.

Upon my return to Singapore, I embarked on my quest to learn more about the para sports scene in Singapore and see how I could be involved or contribute. I met with various people and visited several organisations, but did not make much headway initially.

Feeling a little disheartened, I concluded that it was perhaps not the right time or people were simply very busy with their own affairs, so I let the matter rest in His hands. I believe the Lord knew my heart’s desire, and His timing is always perfect.

Opportunity came knocking on my door again, and this time, I was privileged to lead the medical team to the ASEAN Para Games 2014 in Myanmar and 2015 in Singapore.

With the ASEAN Para Games 2015 medical team where Chin Sim was Chief Medical Officer to Team Singapore.

These two assignments helped to deepen my understanding and appreciation of para athletes and their challenges, and provided the platform to network with various stakeholders in the para sports sector.

A parallel prayer

In another corner of Singapore, parallel to what was happening to me, a couple with two young sons had invited Jesus to become their Lord and Saviour through a very painful journey of their older boy battling with, then succumbing to leukaemia in 2013.

Cayden, their five year-old with cerebral palsy had lost his companion and playmate. 

Devasted, his mother Charmaine cried out to God, asking how they could carry on with life from henceforth. His reply was Jeremiah 29:11. He also brought to mind Isaiah 40:31: “But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they will run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.”

An answer to prayer: Cayden and mum Charmaine at a PlayBuddy annual party.

Though these promises were difficult to fathom from her perspective and circumstances, she remained faithful to God.

One day, during a fellowship meeting, her sister said to her: “Our Heavenly Father is a good father and gives good gifts to His children, and He is never too late nor too early with His gifts.”

Not long after, Make-A-Wish Singapore called Charmaine to ask what she wished for Cayden, who was enrolled in a special education school. She requested for playmates to swim with him weekly. Sadly, the wish could not be fulfilled as this would be considered as multiple wishes, and only one wish could be granted in his lifetime.

So after hanging up, she left her petition in God’s hands, trusting that if it be in His will, He would grant it in His time.

The pioneering buddy and family

In early 2016, I met a young physiotherapist Jia Ling who shared with me her joy working with the paediatric population that had spina bifida during her undergraduate days.

In turn, I recounted my London Paralympic Games experience and opined that many people who were physically disabled in the community in Singapore did not seem actively engaged in any sport or physical activity, even for health reasons, other than the small population of competitive para athletes.

We spoke excitedly and passionately about starting something de novo in the community for children with disabilities as we were both working in an adult hospital with no access to children.

PlayBuddy doing capoeria.

With hearts that were full, a big dream but no detailed plan, we got cracking right away!

We figured that we might face obstacles if we were to approach clinics or hospitals with children, so drawing upon my experience prospecting strangers from my sales and marketing days, I announced (perhaps foolishly some might say, but it says in 1 Corinthians 1:27, “God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise”) to Jia Ling that we would simply go the highways and byways to find potential participants and invite them to join us (as in Matthew 22:9 where strangers were invited to a wedding banquet)!

In God’s perfect timing, while jogging one Saturday morning, I noticed a father, and his young son wearing a pair of ankle-foot orthosis, walking along the East Coast Park. I squatted down to look the son – Cayden – in the eye and introduced myself as the sports physician for Team Singapore to the Paralympic Games and asked if Cayden would like to play sports.

PlayBuddy at rugby.

They invited me to their home soon after where I met Cayden’s mother Charmaine to better understand their family situation, needs and concerns.

I shared my intent to run a sports playgroup for children with physical disabilities and said that if they were willing to come on this journey of discovery, they would be our pioneering “anchor” parents!

She could hardly believe it as it seemed to be the answer to her earlier prayer for regular playmates, albeit three years late.

Added to that, when she asked if she had to pay any fees, I replied: “No, I will arrange everything. You just bring Cayden with you.”

Blessed to provide

Putting my faith and trust in the Lord, we started brainstorming to plan and find resources for PlayBuddy.

A friend offered her gym, a few more gave us seed money, and we started off with Cayden, learning and creating by doing and tweaking the programme as we evolved.

Soon, a teacher friend Shanice came along and introduced two of her students, making a total of three children and their families.

Over the years, we have grown, slowly but surely, by word-of-mouth.

“We also acknowledge and appreciate our volunteers and benefactors for their contributions as we must never take them nor their goodwill and generosity for granted,” writes Chin Sim, pictured with Australian volunteers Samuel and Kristin.

We named ourselves “PlayBuddy” as we thought it the most apt description of our group – special children, siblings, parents, caregivers, domestic helpers and volunteers – building relationships, actively participating and playing together in an inclusive manner, out of love and care for one another. 

Blessed with volunteers and an extended network comprising students, athletes, coaches, teachers, sports organisations, collectively gifted with different skills and talents, we are able to develop adaptive sports programmes for PlayBuddy.

I also learnt that families joined us not only for their children engage in physical activity and make friends, but also because they felt that PlayBuddy provided them with a safe space where they were understood, accepted and supported. This included the caregivers and domestic helpers who had likewise become a part of the PlayBuddy family.

With growth came the need for more resources, and Jehovah Jireh has provided all to us since our inception. We have never needed to actively raise funds as well-wishers provide us with more than enough. On several occasions, we were given (unsolicited) preferential rates or waivers when we had pay for food, registration fees, hiring of facilities, etc.

Shanice debriefing student volunteers from Operation Hope, Nanyang Technological University.

I am constantly in awe of God’s goodness towards us, just as it says in Philippians 4:19 that “my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”

Like many community groups, it was impossible to run PlayBuddy during the COVID-19 pandemic initially, especially since many of our children are typically at higher risk for contracting infections and needed physical assistance to move around during play.

Through some ingenuity on Shanice’s part, we morphed into ZoomBuddy, exercising together online at first, then gathering in small groups of five to eight islandwide as safe distancing measures were relaxed.

To sustain our community, we even celebrated Christmas and other parties together online, distributing gift and play packages to their homes which entailed major logistical operations!

Christmas with Hardik and family when social gatherings were permitted but limited during COVID-19.

Many unexpected happy returns

Fast forward to 2025 when Singapore turns 60, timely for celebration and reflection about our journey as a people and as a country since independence.

As I approached my own 60th birthday in January, I too took stock of my life since 2012 and marvelled at how it has unfolded in God’s loving hands.

He showed me that indeed “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” (Acts 20:35).

“I am reminded that while I work to serve many, the most important person to please is my Father in heaven,” writes Chin Sim, pictured receiving the National Healthcare Group Outstanding Citizenship Award 2022.

Our modus operandi in PlayBuddy is that we give freely of our time, resources, skills, knowledge and whatever is needful, without any expectation of returns.

We also acknowledge and appreciate our volunteers and benefactors for their contributions as we must never take them nor their goodwill and generosity for granted.

In having no expectations of any “returns,” PlayBuddy and I have received much as you have seen.

It is as in 1 Corinthians 3: 6-9 says: “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labour. For we are God’s fellow workers…”

And Luke 6:28 “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

Awards, recognition, and publicity in the media were furthest from my mind, but that is exactly what we received.

(The Straits Times ran two short features on PlayBuddy when we started, then again when we morphed into ZoomBuddy. Most recently, Channel News Asia featured PlayBuddy in the “Extraordinary People” docuseries in March 2025, watched by people in Singapore and beyond.)

Truth be told, I had actually turned down two of the nominations when initially approached because I did not think that PlayBuddy or I had done much to deserve such recognition.

Chin Sim (in white) and the PlayBuddy team at the Singapore Disability Sports Council Awards 2023.

It has been such a humbling experience, knowing that none of this would have been possible apart from the love and favour of our wonderful Father God. All praise and glory be to Him.

I am reminded that while I work to serve many, the most important of all is the Audience of One, and the most important person to please is my Father in heaven.

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