Poh Sow Chan Porsche

Ms Porsche Poh co-founded Silver Ribbon (Singapore), which was launched with the support of our late Former 6th President of Singapore, Mr S R Nathan on 4 Feb 2006 with Ms Sally Choo and Ms Helen Lee.

She is serving as the Executive Director of Silver Ribbon (Singapore) (SRS). Under her leadership, SRS has been working close with local & overseas stakeholders and advocated for removal of mental health query from job application forms and decriminalization of suicides. In addition, SRS also launched Global Alliance for Mental Health Advocates, a global mental health project, with the support of our 8th President of Singapore, Madam Halimah Yacob, on 4 Oct 2018, involving mental health professionals, mental health practitioners, mental health advocates, caregivers, etc, from 21 countries to share their best practices and knowledge.

On 7 June 2024, she received invitation from World Health Organization Regional Office for the Western Pacific to participate in the Technical Consultation on Loneliness in Cities from 11 to 12 July 2024 in Manila, Philippines, as a temporary adviser.

She is also holding several other portfolios, namely,

• Social Service Fellow,

• Advisory Committee Member on Peer Representation in Singapore,

• Member of Industry Validation Panel,

• Member of The Leadership Selection Panel,

• Associate Trainer with the Civil Service College,

• Associate Adult Educator, Social Service Institute, and

• Member of the Workplace Safety and Health Council (Mental Well-Being) Committee.

She has completed her Bachelor degree in Psychology in Central Queensland University and Master’s degree in Psychology & Neuroscience in King’s College London. And, she was certified as Mental Health First Aid Trainer by Mental Health First Aid Australia under University of Melbourne in 2006 and followed by Mental Health First Aid Singapore under Changi General Hospital in 2008.

She has served as Board Member (2019 – 2021), Regional Vice President (Asia Pacific) (2012 – 2015) and Corporate Secretary (2015 – 2017) of the World Federation for Mental Health (WFMH). And, she assisted at the WFMH Women Mental Health Section whenever she is available and works closely with the WFMH Board Members to advocate for mental health.

To date, she received invitations to share about mental health promotion and advocacy locally and overseas in Australia, Denmark, France, Greece, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Portugal, South Africa, Taiwan, Republic of China, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States. And, she has presented at various school institutions including National University of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Management University, Singapore University of Social Sciences, University of South California, University of Oxford, Cambridge University, and Universitas Indonesia.

In addition, she has also been participating and presenting at the NGO Commission on the Status of Women Parallel Event hosted by the United Nations, New York, United States, annually since 2017 and lasted presented at the CSW68 at Church Center in 2024.

To promote mental health literacy, she launched publications, including Mental Health Revolution – Making Things Happen (2011), Mental Health Matters: Handbook for Grassroots Leaders (2015), Mind: Your Business (2015) and Get Started: Investing in Mental Health @ Workplace (2017). In addition, she shared her views on mental health issues on radio programmes.

For her contribution in mental health advocacy and promotion, she received a list of awards including:

• The Outstanding Young Persons of Singapore (TOYP) Award from the Junior Chamber International (2008)

• Community of Practice Mental Health Champion from the Social Service Training Institute (2013)

• Singapore Woman Award from Mediacorp (2013)

• Social Service Fellowship Award from National Council of Social Service (2016)

• Social Service Fellowship Award from National Council of Social Service (2021)

• Singaporean of the Year 2021 from Straits Times - Finalist (2022)

• Long Service Award from Social Service Institute (2022)