Over the last six months, SPD has refreshed its Board and Board Committee memberships with the appointment of a new Board member, Mr Tan Soo Nan, and six new Board Committee members – Mr Lim Hua Beng, Mr Tang Liheng, Assistant Professor Wong Meng Ee, Mr Zhang Weijie, Mr Ajay Sondhi and Mr Rajan Raju. We look forward to the stewardship of our Board Members and to working together with them to integrate persons with disabilities in our community.

New Board member

Mr Tan Soo Nan

Mr Tan Soo Nan was appointed to SPD’s Board of Management on 1 January 2015. He brings with him more than 40 years of experience in various sectors including banking, finance and investments. Mr Tan held key senior positions at DBS Bank, Temasek Capital (Private) Limited, Singapore Totalisator Board and Singapore Pools (Private) Limited. Currently the Executive Director of Raffles Health Insurance of the Raffles Medical Group, Mr Tan also holds directorships at prominent organisations in Singapore such as Raffles Medical Group Ltd, Singapore Pools (Private) Limited, OSIM International Ltd and Temasek Education Foundation.

We also welcome members to the two new Board Committees set up for services and fundraising.

Services Committee

Mr Lim Hua Beng

Mr Lim Hua Beng is one of the most respected occupational therapists (OT) within the local OT fraternity. Mr Lim is no stranger to SPD. His association with SPD dates back to 1997 when he started connecting Nanyang Polytechnic’s School of Health Science with SPD to develop SPD’s rehabilitation programme. He also contributed significantly when he was a member of SPD’s Programme Committee from 1999 to 2000. Mr Lim is currently the senior lecturer and course manager of occupational therapy in the School of Health Sciences (Allied Health) at Nanyang Polytechnic.

Mr Tang Liheng

A deputy director at the Ministry of National Development, Mr Tang Liheng oversees the Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-city, the second flagship Government-to-Government project between Singapore and China. He manages the overall co-ordination of the project, including the conceptualisation of the Eco-city’s strategies and development plans. In his previous appointment as Head of Social Strategy of the Ministry of Finance (MOF), Mr Tang had an overview of Singapore’s social sector and social challenges. Prior to that, Mr Tang was part of the Economic Strategy team at MOF which developed cross-border financing measures to help Singapore companies to go global.

Dr Wong Meng Ee

Dr Wong Meng Ee currently teaches courses in special education in the Master of Education programme as well as in the Diploma in Special Education programme at the National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University. Dr Wong is an avid user of assistive technology (AT) and advocates the use of AT among people with visual impairments.

Mr Zhang Weijie

As Director of the Residents/Neighbourhood Committee (RC/NC) Division at the People’s Association, Mr Zhang Weijie supports these frontline grassroots organisations in engaging their residents, building social capital and promoting neighbourliness, harmony and cohesiveness.

Before this, Mr Zhang was at the Ministry of Education, where he oversaw policies for school admissions and scholarships, and at the Ministry of Law where he formulated policies governing land use, bankruptcy and legal aid.

Fundraising Committee

Mr Ajay Sondhi

Mr Ajay Sondhi has more than 30 years in the banking and finance industry. He has worked at leading financial institutions including Goldman Sachs as its Managing Director and Regional Manager for Private Wealth Management and Managing Director and Head – Global India at Citi Private Bank, Singapore. Mr Ajay has also worked at Citibank, UBS Warburg and Barclays Bank in India as well as Salomon Brothers in Hong Kong. He has served on the Boards of Goldman Sachs, Singapore and Kotak Mahindra Bank, India as well as advisor for the Save The Children Alliance (UK). Mr Ajay is currently a member of the Board of Advisors for Tufts University Schools of Medicine and the Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences, Boston, MA, USA.

Mr Rajan Raju

Mr Rajan Raju is a veteran banker with an extensive experience in the financial industry having held senior management positions at Deutsche Bank, DBS Bank, DWS Asia and Citibank. Mr Rajan is currently Head of Retail Customers at Standard Chartered Bank. A spinal cord injury (SCI) sustained after a road accident in 2011 spurred Mr Rajan to help other SCI individuals. He now devotes his time raising awareness of SCI and finding ways to support those with SCI in their rehabilitation journeys.

We also saw three of our long-serving Board members, Honorary Assistant Treasurer, Mr Kamalarajan M Chettiar and members Mr Lee Han Yang, PBM, BBM, and Mr Yeo Jeu Nam step down from their roles in the Board. We would like to extend our most sincere appreciation for their contributions over the past many years and wish them the best in their coming endeavours. Mr Kamalarajan M Chettiar and Mr Yeo Jeu Nam continue to serve SPD through its Audit Committee.