Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is a Nobel Peace Prize awarded international medical humanitarian (aid) organisation that provides free, quality medical assistance in over 70 countries to people affected by armed conflict, epidemics, natural disasters and exclusion from healthcare. It upholds principles of neutrality, impartiality, non-discrimination and independence and adheres to medical ethics in our care. MSF provides aid ranging from surgeries, HIV/AIDS treatment, malnutrition treatment, vaccination programmes, tuberculosis (TB) treatment, mental health programmes, maternal health/paediatric care, water and sanitation and more. More than 87 cents of every dollar donated goes to our social mission.
It was rather serendipitous how I came to join MSF. I studied Journalism in university, and started out in TV production where I was a documentary producer for an independent production company and made programmes for broadcasters like BBC, Al Jazeera, CNA and Bloomberg TV.
I had the chance to connect with the MSF team whilst working on a documentary then. At that time, I was contemplating leaving my position, but was unsure of my next steps. Coincidentally, MSF was looking to hire someone to manage their public relations and communications in Singapore, I reached out and the rest is history.
One experience was assisting my colleagues in Hong Kong for the MSF Film Festival there in 2018. The film festival was held to raise awareness amongst the public about our work in over 70 countries worldwide. I had the opportunity to work with colleagues from other countries such as Japan, South Korea and Geneva. It was a wonderful experience as they are really passionate and genuine.
I would like to go on some field missions someday too, but that will have to wait since my daughter is still young. Nevertheless, being a mother has renewed my sense of purpose and my job at MSF - about how I can set an example to raise my daughter to be kind and selfless.
You can find out more here: www.msf-seasia.org
