About SOS
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Our Patron and Management

our patron

Mr Lawrence Wong

Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Finance

Board Of Directors

Advisor

Ms Lim Suu Kuan

Appointed in Jul 2017, Board member since Jul 2015

Formerly Divisional Director, Sentosa Leisure Group

Chairman

Ms Lee Sook Fung ‍

General Manager, Smit Singapore Pte Ltd
‍Sook Fung has been with Smit Singapore, part of a Dutch MNC in the marine industry for more than 43 years. Operating as a professional accountant by trade, she is also a member of the local senior management team for many years. Additionally, she has been serving on the board of various local companies of the Group since 1985.

Appointed Since: 28 July 2017
Board Meeting Attendance (FY21/22): 8/8

General Manager, SMIT Singapore Pte Ltd

Vice-Chairman

Mr Roel Faes

Senior Vice-President, Citibank N.A. Singapore
Roel is the Regulatory Engagement Lead for the Asia Pacific Operations and Technology Organisation. He has more than 28 years of experience in Financial Services, IT and Telecommunications and extensive experience in program, project and portfolio management, technology governance, risk and control. He was a volunteer with Befrienders in Malaysia for five years.
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Appointed Since: 23 July 2021
Board Meeting Attendance (FY21/22): 6/6

Director, Lockton Companies (S) Pte Ltd

Honorary Secretary

Ms Judy Low

Director of International Communications, Allergan Aesthetics, an AbbVie company
Judy is a seasoned, broad-based communications professional with more than 20 years of regional responsibilities in global healthcare and technology companies. She has been involved in the organisation’s training facilitation and focused on supporting the Board by leveraging her experience in corporate, executive and employee communications, issues management, media and community relations.
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Appointed Since: 28 July 2017
Board Meeting Attendance (FY21/22): 8/8

Partner, The History Workroom LLP

Honorary Treasurer

Ms Sharon Siah

Operations Finance Director, L’Oreal Singapore PTE LTD
Sharon was co-opted to the SOS Board in 2019 and was appointed as the Honorary Treasurer in 2020, filling a critical position with her professional competence and experience in finance. Prior to joining L’Oreal she was APAC CFO at JUUL Labs and has over twenty years of experience in the various corporate finance and accounting capacities that she has undertaken. Beyond her contributions to SOS, she had also volunteered her time at AWARE and Aidha.
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Appointed Since: 29 September 2019
‍Board Meeting Attendance (FY21/22): 7/8

Managing Director, YJ International Pte Ltd

Member

Mr Lee Jun Kiat

Manager, Information Technology, Autodesk Asia Pte Ltd
Jun Kiat has served as an SOS Board member since 2017. Jun Kiat has spent the last 20 years in Information Technology and customer support roles. His experience spans across process and regulatory compliance, operations management and digital transformation. He is also the Chairman of the IT Committee and played an instrumental role in the migration of SOS’ telephony system.

Appointed Since: 28 July 2017
Board Meeting Attendance (FY21/22): 8/8

Public Affairs Director, Abbvie Pte Ltd

Member

Mr Seow Chin Hwee

Independent Consultant
Adrian has held key senior appointments with financial institutions and banks over a 30+ year career. As a C-suite Executive, he has strong strategic and transformation management depth in country and region wide implementation of Operations and Technology projects. His expertise lies in the senior management of banking systems, and operations with a broad-based geographical exposure in the regional banking industry.

Appointed Since: 23 January 2019
Board Meeting Attendance (FY21/22): 7/8

Chief Financial Officer, Octopus Group Holdings Pte Ltd

MEMBER

Ms Nancy Ng

Director, Family Support Division Family Development Group Director, Professional Practice Development Office of the Director-General of Social Welfare Senior Lecturer, Social Work SR Nathan School of Human Development
Ms Ng began her social work career as a counsellor with the SAF Counselling Center, and completed her Masters in Social Work. Following which, she worked with Yup’ik Eskimo communities in Alaska as a school social worker. She was involved in policy work at the Rehabilitation and Protection Division, appointed Chief Probation Officer at Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF), and became the Director-General of Social Welfare in 2012. She’s taken on roles such as the Director of Central Youth Guidance and teaching in SUSS, and now works in the Family Support Division.
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Appointed Since: 1 October 2019
Board Meeting Attendance (FY21/22): 6/7

Social Worker, Trans Family Centre

MEMBER

Dr Ong Geok Chwee

Chief Executive Officer, Bridge Mobile Pte Ltd
Geok Chwee has more than 25 years of experience in the information communications industry. She is currently the Chief Executive Officer of Bridge Mobile Pte Ltd. Before that, Geok Chwee was with Starhub and Singtel in various leadership positions. She is also the Chairperson of the IT Committee and is also on the Board of the Society for the Aged Sick.
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Appointed Since: 1 December 2023

Social Worker, Trans Family Centre

Member

Mr Chinnatamby Nandakumar

Director, Lockton Companies (S) Pte Ltd
‍Kumar was Vice-Chairman in the SOS Board between 2017-2021. He has worked at Lockton Companies for more than 13 years, and has drawn on his legal background and experience to provide invaluable support to the organization as and when this has been required. Beyond his legal contributions to the organisation, he is also the Chairman of the Fundraising Committee and the Audit and Risk Committee. ‍

Appointed Since: 28 July 2017
Board Meeting Attendance (FY21/22): 5/8

Public Affairs Director, Abbvie Pte Ltd

Member

Dr Mariam Aljunied

Adjunct Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences, NUS
‍Mariam is a Chartered Psychologist and Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society, with more than 25 years’ experience in providing professional advice and consultancy to educational institutions, social service agencies and families in Singapore. She is actively involved in several social service organisations in Singapore, including the National Council of Social Services, and is concurrently a Research Associate with the University College London (UCL), and an adjunct associate professor in Psychology Dept of National University Singapore and Office of Education Research in National Institute of Education, NTU.
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Appointed Since: 1 September 2021
Board Meeting Attendance (FY21/22): 4/4

Chief Financial Officer, Octopus Group Holdings Pte Ltd

Member

Dr Francis Neville Pavri

Adjunct Professor, Singapore Management University
Francis lectures in Business, Government and Society and provides different perspectives to the Board with his extensive experience in academia. Before joining SMU, he lectured in NUS for more than 20 years, teaching a range of subjects from Statistics to Accounting. He was also a Committee Member in the NUS Society, and volunteers as a senior guide at the Science Centre. He was on the SOS Board in the 90’s before and has stepped up again to serve.
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Appointed Since: 23 July 2021
‍Board Meeting Attendance (FY21/22): 6/6

Chief Financial Officer, Octopus Group Holdings Pte Ltd

Member

Mr Christopher
Mark Galea

Senior Consultant, BME Services
‍Chris is a Senior Consultant at BME Services and Founder of The Lighthouse Coaching. Prior to that, he has been in senior management roles in the advertising, communication and marketing industry, taking on a range of international leadership positions with various companies including TBWA Worldwide as one of its Worldwide Managing Directors.

Appointed Since: 1 December 2023‍

Chief Financial Officer, Octopus Group Holdings Pte Ltd

Overview of SOS' Board of Management
SOS is governed by a Board of Management (the “Board”) which comprises elected and co-opted members. The Board’s role is to provide strategic direction and oversight of SOS’s programmes and objectives and to steer the charity towards fulfilling its vision and mission through good governance. The key roles of the Boards are: Formulate policies to govern and manage the activities of the Society; • Initiate, determine and develop policies and form relevant committees to carry out relevant projects and programmes of the Society; • Approve budget for the financial year and monitor expenditure against budget; and • Responsible for the preparation and fair presentation of the financial statements of the Society.

‍Appointment of the Board
‍The Board is supported by the Governance and Nominating Committee in overseeing the recommendation and nomination of candidates for elections or appointment to the Board and Committees. Under its constitution, the Board shall consist of not more than 12 members, of which 8 members shall be elected at alternate Annual General Meeting (“AGM”) and 4 shall be co-opted members.

At the end of the financial year, the Board had 7 elected and 4 co-opted members. All Board members are volunteers and are not remunerated. New Board and Committee members are required to go through an on boarding program. The Society supports new and existing members for relevant training/briefings.

‍Term of Office
‍Under its Constitution, the term of office of the Board is 2 years. All Board members shall serve not more than 3 consecutive terms, while the Honorary Treasurer shall serve for not more than 2 consecutive terms. After the lapse of a term, ex-Board members are eligible to offer themselves for re-election. The tenure of co-opted members is the same as elected members. As at end of the financial year, no member has served more than 10 consecutive years. During the year, 2 new members were elected at the AGM held on July 2021 and 1 new member was co-opted in September 2021.

‍Board’s Performance and Evaluation
‍The Board conducts an annual self-evaluation to assess its effectiveness and to drive improvements. The evaluation covers board composition, organisation culture, mission and strategic direction, programme oversight, financial oversight, funding, public image, organisation performance and impact. Individual board members are also provided opportunities on an annual basis to reflect on their contributions and provide feedback on future roles, training and improvement areas. The findings and recommendations are discussed at subsequent meetings.

Roles of Board Members can be found in the SOS constitution

SOS Constitution

Our Committees

Human Resources Committee
1. Oversee and provide guidance on human resource strategies, policies, compensation and benefit schemes;
2. Oversee and provide guidance on the “Volunteer Management Governance Framework” and policies for SOS volunteers;
3. Inform the Board of the recommended changes by the Management team to the compensation and benefits framework, career development programmes, strategy and other significant changes to policies relating to employees or volunteers before implementation; and
4. Gather inputs from the Board on Chief Executive’s performance and recommend to the Chairman for approval on matters related to the Chief Executive’s compensation and benefits.

Audit & Risk Committee
1. Provide a means of independent assurance and objective review of financial information risk management, process of governance and internal control mechanisms;
2. Ensure that assets are safeguarded, the risk of illegal or improper acts is reduced;
3. Review and recommend the appointment of auditors; and
4. Ensure compliance with statutory and regulatory requirements
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Fundraising Committee
1. Advise the Board on any fundraising matters;
2. Develop, implement, monitor and evaluate fundraising strategy;
3. Oversee fundraising activities and provide support for fundraising events; and
4. Assist the Board in managing interactions with donors, obtaining funds or in-kind services, thanking sponsors/donors.

IT Committee
1. Provide subject matter support to the Board and Chief Executive; and
2. Ensure continual functioning of IT and telecommunication infrastructure and relevant applications.

Strategic Planning Committee
1. Identify strategies that will help SOS move towards her Vision; and
2. Provide oversight of the key priorities of the Strategic Plan to ensure their relevance, timeliness and that they are appropriately resourced.

Governance & Nominating Committee
1. Oversee corporate governance practices, principles, guidelines and related policies including matters related to integrity and ethics;
2. Oversee nomination of candidates for election or appointment to the Board;
3. Oversee composition, including succession planning of the Board; and
4. Conduct annual self-evaluation of the Board’s performance.
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Programme & Services Committee
1. Oversee new programme development;
2. Monitor and assess outcomes of existing programmes to ensure alignment with the vision, mission and objectives of the Society;
3. Actively participate in new initiatives and ascertain relevance of existing programmes;
4. Provide guidance in the development of service delivery mechanisms;
5. Initiate and guide programme evaluations;
6. Determine the priority of a list of programmes to reflect the priority of the Society and availability of resources; and
7. Develop effective procedures and resources for new programme initiation and existing programme evaluation.

Chief Financial Officer, Octopus Group Holdings Pte Ltd

Organisational Structure

CHIEF EXECUTIVE

Mr Gasper Tan

Gasper Tan is Chief Executive of Samaritans of Singapore Limited (SOS), Singapore’s lead agency for suicide prevention. Gasper has worked over three decades leading and growing companies of all sizes, from multinational corporations to start-ups. His experience and leadership have been focused on strategic management, as well as developing and steering dynamic business services across the Asian Pacific region.

Gasper’s accolades in the business sectors include achieving Top 10 fastest-growing firm in Singapore; and has participated in government projects, including the recent NCSS-led Beyond COVID-19 taskforce, which focuses on building social preparedness with community-focused initiatives. He is currently a member of the Inter-Agency Taskforce Work Group on Mental Health and Well-being. He has also held several board positions throughout his career.

As a strong advocate for strengthening community resilience, Gasper believes in empowering people and deepening collaborations to manage future challenges.

Appointed Since: 16 September 2019

Chief Financial Officer, Octopus Group Holdings Pte Ltd

The Chief Executive oversees the following departments:

1. Advocacy, Communication & Engagement (ACE)

2. Corporate Development

3. Corporate Finance & Compliance

4. Organisation Development

Chief Financial Officer, Octopus Group Holdings Pte Ltd

CHIEF Operating officer

The Chief Operating Officer oversees the following departments:

1. Client Care

2. Community Development

3. Crisis Support (24-hour Hotline, 24-hour CareText)

4. IT/Technical Support

5. Training & Development

6. Volunteer Management

About SOS-

Our Patron and Management

our patron

Mr Lawrence Wong

Board Of Directors

Advisor

Ms Lim Suu Kuan

Chairman

Ms Lee Sook Fung ‍

Vice-Chairman

Mr Roel Faes

Honorary Secretary

Ms Judy Low

Honorary Treasurer

Ms Sharon Siah

Member

Mr Lee Jun Kiat

Member

Mr Seow Chin Hwee

MEMBER

Ms Nancy Ng

MEMBER

Dr Ong Geok Chwee

Member

Mr Chinnatamby Nandakumar

Member

Dr Mariam Aljunied

Member

Dr Francis Neville Pavri

Member

Mr Christopher Mark Galea

Roles of Board Members can be found in the SOS constitution

Our Committees

Organisational Structure

CHIEF EXECUTIVE

Mr Gasper Tan

CHIEF Operating officer

For emotional support

24 Hour Hotline

E-mail

About SOS
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Mr Christopher
Mark Galea