From left: Ms Zhang Tingjun, Mr Suhaimi Rafdi, Mr Nicholas Fang, Mr Loh Lik Peng

Mercy Relief is gearing up to respond to new challenges facing disaster stricken communities in Asia. The humanitarian non-governmental organisation has announced the appointment of new Executive Director, Ms Zhang Tingjun, who will helm the organisation’s operations as it continues to pursue its vision of championing universal compassion and care.

Ms Zhang, 33, is the first female to head Mercy Relief in its 12-year history, and she is set to bring fresh perspectives and dynamism to the organisation. “This is both a role and an organisation I have the deepest respect for and I’m grateful for the confidence the Board has placed in me,” said Ms Zhang. She adds, “My aim is to build on the positive momentum realized by the team in recent times, strengthening our operational responsiveness towards providing timely and effective humanitarian aid during disasters as well as improving our assistance towards helping vulnerable communities build resilience to crises”. Over the last six months, Mercy Relief has successfully responded to, and remains engaged in both the devastating Nepal quake and the Myanmar floods with its team having spent over 180 man-days on the ground.

Ms Zhang brings with her a wealth of abilities and experiences, which will equip her to tackle the challenges of working in the humanitarian sector. She was previously Co-Founder and Director of The Chain Reaction Project (TCRP), a non-profit organisation recognized by the President’s Office as one of Singapore’s leading social enterprises. A former national netball player and producer with Channel News Asia, Ms Zhang also serves as a Council Member for the Singapore Institute of International Affairs.

Mercy Relief continues to prepare itself for renewal of its leadership, ensuring that it remains a progressive humanitarian agency and Singaporean charity.

To this effect, three new board directors were recently appointed.

The new appointments are:

Mr Suhaimi Rafdi, Director of Tampines Town Hub at the People’s Association is the incoming Deputy Chairman of Mercy Relief. He is also the Honorary Treasurer at the Singapore Anti-Narcotics Association.

Mr Loh Lik Peng, Founder and Director of the Unlisted Collection. Mr Loh is the Chairman of the Singapore Philatelic Museum, Chairman of Shatec Institutes and serves as a Board Member for the National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre.

Mr Nicholas Fang, Supervising Editor for Singapore News at MediaCorp and Executive Director at the Singapore Institute of International Affairs, Mr Fang was a former Nominated Member of Parliament and Chef de Mission for Team Singapore for the 2015 SEA Games.

The new members join 6 other board members:

Mr Michael Tay, Chairman of Mercy Relief & Group Managing Director, The Hour Glass Ltd.
Mr Thali Koattiath Udairam, Group Chief Executive Officer, Eastern Health Alliance
Mr Ong Bon Chai, Honorary General Director & Executive Advisor, Singapore Soka Association
Mr Satwant Singh, Partner at Satwant & Associates
Dr Mukhlis Abu Bakar, Associate Professor, National Institute of Education
Ms Dawn Westerhout, Director Markets & Communications, KPMG

Mercy Relief also wishes to express its appreciation to the following outgoing members of the Board:

Mr Chelva Retnam Rajah, Senior Counsel, Tan, Rajah & Cheah
Mr Goh Kee Nguan, CEO Huttons Asia Pte Ltd
Professor Abdul Wahab bin Abdul Rahman, Lecturer, International Islamic University
Sister Theresa Seow, Provincial Leader, Canossian Daughters of Charity
Mr Jolyon Caplin, Senior Lecturer, Singapore Polytechnic
Dr Kevin Chan, Medical Director, Flinders Medical Practice Pte Ltd.
Ms Shareen Khattar, Founding member and Executive Director of Platform Projects
Dr Ismail Hanif, Research Scientist, A*Star

Mr Michael Tay, Chairman, Mercy Relief says “The last two years have seen Mercy Relief conclude a series of internally focused initiatives – shoring up our level of corporate governance, develop our management bench strength, extend our donor network, complete our rebranding campaign and deepen our reach into the social media realm. It has been a particularly challenging time, but ultimately rewarding period for the organisation.” Mr Tay adds, “Mercy Relief though modest in size, continues to prove its competence in the field and is an established member in our region’s humanitarian relief response framework. We now look ahead and introduce our next generation of leaders, relying on them to contribute their insights and experience towards our mission of supporting survivors, empowering lives and making Mercy Relief a leading humanitarian NGO in this region.”

About Mercy Relief

Mercy Relief is a Singaporean humanitarian organisation which engages in both disaster relief and sustainable development programmes. It was established in 2003 as an independent non-governmental humanitarian charity responding to the human tragedies in Asia. Mercy Relief’s aid programme focuses on providing timely and effective assistance to disaster-stricken communities and has maintained the delivery of emergency aid within 72 hours from the point of appeal for assistance. 

In the past 12 years, Mercy Relief has disbursed over S$32 million in aid across 40 disaster relief and 53 sustainable development initiatives. Mercy Relief has impacted an aggregate of 2 million lives in 24 countries and areas, namely Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, DPR Korea, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Laos, Lebanon, Malaysia, the Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal,  Pakistan, Palestine, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam and Yemen.

For more information, you may call us at 6514 6322 or email corporateaffairs@mercyrelief.org