As successful professionals in their own fields or partners building a business together, husband-and-wife powerhouses share goals, ambitions and skill sets, underscored by love, respect and commitment. Loh May-Han and Adrian Ng tell us how they work it out as partners in work and life

It was a classic case of a library romance between college students. Adrian Ng was a final year and Loh May-Han a third year medical student; both strangers, cramming for their upcoming examinations at the National University of Singapore (nus) library. “She was a dancer, so it was the bounce in her walk that caught my eye. One day, I pretended not to know about a topic so that I could speak to her,” reveals Adrian cheekily.

The couple, who wed in December 2003, admits that their personality differences actually help them at work – and at home – as they constantly learn from each other.

Adrian, for instance, had spent over two years as a trainee in surgery before he switched over to anaesthesiology, which is May-Han’s speciality. “I admit it was partially due to May-Han that I made the switch, as she felt that a busy surgeon’s time is never really within his control. But there were other pull factors – I wanted to experience pre-surgical care. Now, I find this speciality enjoyable because it’s quite intuitive and challenging.”

He adds, “May-Han favours conventional methods while I always try to think out of the box. Sometimes, though, it works when I combine both ways of thinking, or if I’m stuck, I think, ‘What would May-Han do?’ and I might just find
a solution from there.”

May-Han, too, likes to pick Adrian’s brain: “He specialises in regional anaesthesia, so when I have to do it, I’ll sometimes call him to ask for advice.”

Thanks to their similar fields of expertise, the couple spent a lot of time together when they first got married. As they were posted to the same hospitals for the first two years, they would match their schedule so they could commute and dine together. Following three years of mulling about it, Adrian went into private practice in September last year.

He says that it is a blessing to have a wife in the same profession, as she understands his unpredictable schedule. “We recently celebrated our ninth anniversary and I missed the first dinner because I had an emergency operation to attend to. May-Han just rescheduled it to two days later which, technically, is still our anniversary of our wedding dinner date, rather than our rom date.”

The couple has come a long way at work and at home, where Adrian has learned how to be more neat and May-Han has learned to let loose when it comes to constantly tidying up and arranging things. He concludes with a smile, “She has indeed made me a better man, as the song goes. She has instituted much order in my life and I, some chaos in hers!”