Featured on Prestige 40 Under 40
This article was first published on Prestige.Tam Wai Jia
35, founder of Kitesong Global and My Brother SG, and lead of the Risk Communication & Community Engagement Unit at National University of Singapore, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine
Tam Wai Jia wears a few hats. Calling herself a humanitarian doctor, the physician is committed to helping the underprivileged and underserved. She has authored four books and is a mother of two girls. Additionally, she works part-time at the National University of Singapore (NUS), Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine. At NUS, Wai Jia’s role is to improve health and community empowerment among migrant workers through strategic partnerships.
During a life-changing mission to Nepal at 18, Wai Jia met girls who had been abused and abandoned, but didn’t lose hope in finding a permanent home. Their positivity inspired her to write and paint a picture book, Kitesong, to raise funds for a home for them.
Since that trip, Wai Jia has dedicated her life to humanitarian causes. She has travelled to over 20 countries on such missions, while continuing to illustrate picture books for advocacy and philanthropic purposes. She has raised more than $200,000 for orphans, women rescued from sex-trafficking and refugees. In 2017, Wai Jia founded Kitesong USA with the mission to inspire and empower underserved communities to pursue their dreams. Shortly after, in 2020, she launched the Singapore chapter of Kitesong.
Early this year, Wai Jia was deployed as a risk communication and community engagement consultant to Eswatini, Africa, in a coalition-initiated project led by World Health Organisation and other NGOs, to help with the Covid-19 outbreak. She also started My Brother SG, a nationwide platform of various organisations that engage and empower migrant workers for better health, in partnership with the Ministry of Manpower and other non-profit organisations.
Art Direction: AUDREY CHAN; Photography: JOEL LOW; Hair: RICK YANG, USING ANTI COLLECTIVE; Make-up: SOPHIA CHIA/MAKEUP PROS; Photography Assistance: EDDIE TEO
