MR HENG Soo Yeow believes no parent should have to go through his experience with pneumococcal disease (PD) - his four-year-old son succumbed to the disease in 1999.
Mr Heng, 44, has joined the newly formed Friends Against Pneumococcal Disease group to help raise awareness among parents about PD and share how their children can be protected through vaccination.
In 1999, the civil servant's young son, Darryl, had what seemed like the common cold and fever - but it was actually the far-deadlier PD.
Mr Heng recalled how, despite several visits to a general practitioner, Darryl's fever persisted.
Darryl's condition worsened and he had to be warded in the intensive care unit. He died three weeks later from complications.
Mr Heng said that keeping his experience to himself would not bring Darryl back.
According to Associate Professor Daniel Goh, head of the National University Hospital's paediatrics department, children below five years of age are most susceptible to PD. Prof Goh added, however, that the incidence of PD in children below five in Singapore is low.
But Mr Heng is not taking chances - all three of his children are now vaccinated.
PD vaccination is not mandatory here, but is compulsory in 24 countries, including Australia.
