Vendesan Somo

Strategically planned to align organizational goals with Ministry mission and vision.

Facilitated and supervised unauthorized commercial fundraising investigations in Charities and Religious Organizations in Singapore.

Designed and conducted specialized training sessions on Investigation processes concerning Terrorism Financing and Anti Money Laundering for professionals at the Charity Unit of MCCY as well as Sector Administrators from various Ministries like MOH, MSF, People Association MOE, and MOM.

Managed project management efforts to ensure the timely completion of account and annual reports reviews, while adhering to allocated budgets and scope.

Maintained regulatory compliance for charities and religious organizations through diligent monitoring of policies, procedures, and documentation requirements.

Facilitated regular updates, leading to improved communication and coordination with Charities.

Achieved high level of accuracy in preparing and submitting review reports

Represented Ministry at industry conferences and events.

Achievement

Oversaw the investigation of unauthorized commercial fundraising activities across over 2000 Charities and Religious entities within Singapore.

Evaluated over 1000 selected Charities and 500+ Religious Organisations in Singapore by reviewing their Account and Annual Reports, resulting in detailed reports being submitted.

Visited and held regular meetings with Charities Management

Delivered Modular Training course on Investigation processes dealing with Terrorism Financing and Anti Money Laundering to a group comprising of 150 staff from the Charity Unit of MCCY as well as Sector Administrators from various Ministries such as MOH, MSF, People Association MOE, and MOM.

Oversaw project management efforts, ensuring timely completion of projects within allocated budgets and scope.

Assisted in the development and execution of policies and programs for the Ministry to achieve its goals in building a strong and united community through the Community Engagement Program (CEP).

Established the Community Engagement Unit (CEU) to foster collaboration with diverse religious groups, volunteer welfare organizations, inter-racial and religious confidence circles (IRCC), and ethnic-based organizations in enhancing social resilience and psychological preparedness for crises involving ethnic and religious dynamics in Singapore.

Innovatively developed three distinct community engagement programs - informative preparatory and decision-making involvement. Demonstrated excellent skills in communication, collaboration, consistency, compassion, creativity as well as a deep commitment to fostering an engaged and dynamic community.

Spearheaded initiatives to deepen the connection between religious groups and the government by organizing various programs

Achievements

Developed strong connections within diverse communities through the creation of Inter Faith Racial and Religious Circles. This initiative involved active participation from representatives of more than 2000 religious groups, volunteer welfare organizations, IRCCs, and ethnic-based associations across all 89 Constituencies in Singapore.

Expanded community engagement through organizing regular visits to religious organizations, resulting in increased participation in interfaith initiatives.

Introduced the BRIDGE (Broadening Racial & Religious Interaction through Dialogue & General Education) initiative in 2017, aiming to establish alliances with the community and support grassroots efforts towards fostering harmonious relationships across different races and religions.

Developed and conducted over 75 comprehensive crisis management exercises the religious communities in Singapore.

Coordinated thought-provoking youth dialogues that brought together over 600 individuals from different ethnicities, including secondary school students, college attendees, as well as young professionals working across varied industries. The resulting diversity fostered meaningful discussions on policy topics regarding Racial and Religious Harmony in Singapore.

Attended major industry conferences and international events as a representative of the Ministry.

Two National Survey showed

90% of Singaporeans express satisfaction with race and religion relations, displaying a willingness to embrace cultural and religious diversity despite personal disagreements.

Over 90% are proud to be a Singaporean and

majority are willing to accept differences in cultural and religious beliefs, views and practices, even though they may not agree with them