Local actress Rachel Wan, 26, moved to Sydney with her boyfriend, fellow actor Edwin Goh, 29, in July this year and has been sharing content about her life in Australia thus far.

In a video posted shortly after their move, Rachel shared that she moved to Sydney ‘cos she was burnt out by Singapore’s fast-paced lifestyle.

“I lost my dad and one of my best friends in a span of two months and that really opened my eyes to how I’m spending my time on Earth,” she said.

On August 25, in a video posted on her Instagram, Rachel shared more about the circumstances surrounding her dad’s passing, and how he “died all alone” in a Singapore hospital.

“It took me a lot of courage to share this and I wish someone told me this years ago. It would have saved me so much suffering. So I hope this helps some people too,” she wrote in her caption.

Rachel had previously shared that her dad passed from esophageal cancer in early 2022.

Rachel Wan.

Rachel first recounted a conversation she had in Australia with a nurse that used to work in the same Singapore hospital her dad was warded at.

“The stories she shared with me about the differences between the work life [balance] in Singapore and the work life [balance] in Australia blew my mind,” Rachel said.

She revealed that while nurses in Singapore “can be assigned up to 12 patients to handle at any one time”, in Australia, each nurse is only assigned to a maximum of 6 patients.

Rachel also added that nurses in Australia are rostered a certain number of rest hours before they are allowed to work their next shift, while there is no such practise in Singapore.

“It triggered me so much ‘cos when my dad died in that hospital in Singapore, he died all alone,” Rachel said.

She went on to share that her dad was transferred from the emergency ward to the general ward as the doctor had assessed that Rachel’s dad “is not gonna last the day”.

Rachel with her mum and dad.

However, Rachel and her family could not go to the general ward immediately after the transfer, as they were required to undergo Covid testing.

Unfortunately, Rachel’s dad passed on before they were able to head up to the ward.

“He was all alone. No one even informed us. We had to go up to the ward and discover his cold, dead body alone in the ward with no staff around him,” Rachel said.

When she went on to question why the staff in the ward did not inform them about her dad’s passing, the doctor replied: “Oh sorry ‘cos we were understaffed.”

Rachel then went on to say that she wanted to share this story, as she felt that it was important for people to know that “overworking is not an achievement, [and] having no work life balance is not an achievement.”

“Something about that has to change in Singapore,” she said.

Netizens and celebs alike offered up their condolences in the comments section. Most of them agreed with Rachel’s words.

One netizen commented: “Our hospitals are understaffed, coupled together with an aging population in Singapore, I say we are going for a hell of a ride.”

Another netizen wrote: “I used to work in Singapore as a nurse and am now a nurse in Australia… it’s vastly different from working in Singapore where even calling in sick was a huge deal.”

However, there were some who pointed out that the situation in Australia isn’t as rosy as Rachel painted it to be.

One netizen wrote: “I am Australian and 2 of my relatives died in nursing homes due to neglect - only one nurse for an entire ward. My friend here is a nurse and she is often assigned 16 patients for a shift due to cost cutting.”

Another added: “The health system in Australia is not perfect, stories of understaffed hospital[s] were on the news during the pandemic but I'm surprised to hear about the working conditions in Singapore.”

Photos: Rachel Wan/Instagram