Cancer is the leading cause of death in Singapore. More than 40 people are diagnosed with the disease every day, while one in four will develop it in their lifetime.
The 365 Cancer Prevention Society (365CPS) was founded in 2003 with a straightforward but urgent mission: to promote healthier living, provide emotional and practical support for patients, and ensure that no one has to face cancer alone.
Two decades later, the society’s goal has become more critical than ever. CEO Ben Chua’s priority is to push for a cultural shift so that cancer is viewed as a preventable risk that can be managed through education, early detection, and collective responsibility rather than a fate to be feared.
Chua’s path to this point was anything but linear. For over 20 years, he built a successful career in the corporate sector, away from the issue of cancer. That distance narrowed in 2013 when he was invited to lead 365CPS. Although leaving financial security for the precarious world of a non-profit was daunting, he saw it as more than a career transition.
“It was a calling to use my skills for a greater purpose—to serve, prevent suffering, and bring hope.”
Ben Chua on delving into the non-profit sector
Under his leadership, 365CPS has intensified its focus on screenings, reminding Singaporeans that early detection saves lives. Since 2021, it has expanded access, particularly for lower-income groups, and now conducts eight different types of cancer screenings annually. Its campaigns, including “#My1stProstateCheck” and “Are You at Risk?” (a free lung cancer screening programme), remain the only sponsored screenings of their kind in Singapore.
The response has been encouraging. More than 2,500 people signed up in 2024, and 1,500 had screenings, resulting in several cases being detected early enough to change treatment.
Chua believes that each early diagnosis is a life redirected. Annual medical appointments cannot serve as the sole means of prevention. He stresses that it must be understood as a way of life involving the cumulative effect of daily decisions about food, exercise, stress, and harmful habits.
This broader view also addresses persistent misconceptions, such as the idea that feeling healthy is synonymous with being risk-free. It is common for cancer to develop silently for years before symptoms appear, and inaction can be fatal.
Even in a country with an advanced healthcare infrastructure, barriers to prevention still exist. Cost is one factor; culture is another. In older generations, illness can be taboo, often avoided for fear of misfortune. Screenings are also shunned because many believe that the more tests one gets, the more problems one will discover.
According to Chua, overcoming these attitudes is just as urgent as lowering financial hurdles. Because of this, 365CPS emphasises survivor testimonies, health talks, and community workshops, where risk takes on a human face and inaction’s consequences become clear.
Technology offers a complementary path forward. Artificial intelligence helps identify individuals at risk more quickly, while wearables encourage healthier habits. Genetic testing has also made personalised nutrition planning and risk assessment more accessible. In combination, these tools offer the potential to expand the reach of existing programmes by making prevention more proactive and precise.
Looking ahead, Chua wants 365CPS to move beyond service delivery and into policy advocacy. Specifically, he wants more screenings to be subsidised, workplace wellness programmes to be adopted, and community-based initiatives to be implemented to make prevention a national priority.
The vision he has for the next generation is deceptively simple: to make prevention a habit, as instinctive as brushing one’s teeth. His hope is that the grim statistics about cancer will give way to stories of resilience and longer lives. Numbers may show progress, but habits reveal transformation, which is what we should strive for together.
Photography Mun Kong
Art direction Ed Harland
Hair Yue Qi using GHD
Makeup Shu Zhen using Bobbi Brown, Charlotte Tilbury & Patrick Ta
Photography assistant Hizuan Zailani
