Benjamin Tan, CEO of World Vision Singapore, started his career in the corporate world and held senior positions in Qantas Airways and Microsoft. The transformation from being a top executive in a multi- national company to leading a Christian humanitarian organisation raises an intriguing question: How did a man who thrived in the competitive business world find himself dedicating his talents to children and families in crisis? The answer lies in a personal journey that fundamentally reshaped his understanding of success, purpose and faith.
Benjamin Tan, also known to his friends as Ben, first got to know God as a teenager in Australia in the early 1990s. Upon returning to Singapore, he felt the need to find a church he could call home for his newfound faith.
As part of his daily commute home, Ben often took a bus that passed Wesley Methodist Church at Fort Canning Road. One day, he decided to walk into the church. Thus started his spiritual journey there as a teenager. Ben was baptised years after, when his non-believer parents became more accepting of his Christian faith. His early spiritual journey was typical—attending cell group and joining Alpha classes to deepen his knowledge about Christianity.
A crisis of faith
Several years passed and he was blessed with promising career opportunities with overseas assignments. Early in their marriage, Ben and his wife dreamed of starting a family. When she became pregnant with twins, they received the answer to their prayers with joy.
The first 20 weeks of the pregnancy went normally. No one could have foreseen what was to happen. At 21 weeks, Ben’s wife’s water broke. She was confined to bedrest in hospital until week 25, when their tiny twins were born. Their son weighed only 500 grams and their daughter 620 grams. The newborns had to stay in hospital for over a year. They were eventually diagnosed as neurodivergent; his daughter also suffers from cerebral palsy.
The one-year season in hospital was arduous and heart-wrenching. Ben and his wife watched helplessly as fellow parents they had met crumbled—first watching their beloved children slip away despite medical intervention, then being handed hospital bills while still in the raw stages of grief. It was his first exposure to the practical importance of the social services sector, seeing how social workers reached out and offered support, including interest-free payment options.
“It was extremely traumatic, seeing parents like ourselves having to carry the burden of debt even as they dealt with the pain of losing their child,” lamented Ben. “Even with generous government subsidies in a Class C ward, we had a 6-figure bill due to the protracted hospitalisation and intensive treatments our children needed.”
“I would love to say that I found solace in my faith in God when my babies were in hospital, but that wasn’t true. It was a very profound struggle that shook my world view,” shared Ben. “A set of newborn triplets were admitted and only one survived. We checked out of the hospital together with the triplets’ parents and we grieved together. We never exchanged contacts, but I sometimes wonder how they are doing.”
“I asked God, ‘Why did you let all these tragedies happen?’ My wife and I looked at our lives and there was no doubt in my mind that God loved us. He had given us many good things—good education, good careers—but why did he love my kids less?”
That question continued to haunt Ben for a long time.
When Ben finally found peace, it was not from deep revelations. “I just reached a point where I got tired of being angry. Part of me never stopped believing, but I may have been grieving for the lives my children would never have. I kept praying, kept believing and decided to see where my faith would take me.”
His experiences transformed his relationship with money and success.
“When you have a child who may never live independently—my daughter is non-verbal, hasn’t been successfully toilet-trained and struggles with eating solid food—your priorities shift completely. I don’t need to worry about saving up for college funds for my children.”
He pauses. “After the shock and grief came profound freedom. I could redefine what was truly important and choose a vocation that was meaningful.”
A change in mission
With that in mind, Ben left Qantas to join Mandai Wildlife Group. Although not a social service agency, it operates similarly to a not-for-profit in offering free Singapore Zoo tickets to beneficiaries of social service agencies, including children with special needs. However, Ben felt a burning desire to do something more. After Covid-19, Ben took a year off for prayer and reflection. He prayed hard that God would lead him to where he could make a real difference. In his heart, Ben knew that he wanted to join an organisation dealing with disability.
The door that opened, however, was World Vision. Ben heard God telling him: “Serve these children first and I will open other doors for you.” Ben trusted that promise and was subsequently invited to sit on the Board of Rainbow Centre, a social service agency that empowers persons with disabilities to thrive in inclusive communities, as well as on the Management Committee of St Andrew’s Autism Centre. That was when he could firmly believe that God was leading him.
A question answered
During his first overseas trip with World Vision, a realisation hit home. “Just a two-hour flight from Singapore, I visited communities without electricity or running water. Children were born to illiterate parents who couldn’t dream beyond their survival. The best job prospect available was to cross the border illegally to work as a labourer on a construction site.”
Ben choked slightly as he recounted, “In that moment, I heard God’s answer to my years- long question: ‘I don’t love these children any less, either.’”
“I finally understood. We worship an almighty God. Yet, when Jesus was on Earth, he chose the path of poverty and suffering. His apostles were oppressed and persecuted.” Ben believes we need to take stewardship seriously, to let our giving be driven by the desire to glorify God as God himself led by the ultimate example when he gave his only Son, Jesus Christ. Referring to Matthew 25, Ben emphasised, “Whatever we do for the least of God’s children, we do for him.”
His eyes shone with conviction as he continued: “When we sing and worship, there’s an intermediate step we sometimes miss. God’s work doesn’t always happen automatically, but comes to pass through our actions, our giving, and putting our talents to good use. The gospel, even as the divinely-inspired word of God, was spread to our shores through the work of missionaries, and not of its own accord. That’s how God does his work, and that’s where I found my purpose.”
World Vision – living the faith through action
Ben believes that he and his team at World Vision have a wonderful privilege in getting to do the work of God that strengthens their faith. “When we go into the poorest and most deprived areas, we witness transformation as God moves through the communities,” he said. They encounter firsthand the impact of God and his empowerment that enables the work of Christians when they walk in obedience. Eventually, this draws others to Christ even though World Vision teams are not allowed to proselytise when helping communities in need.
Ben proudly cited as an example that previously, none of the staff in Cambodia were Christians when they first joined World Vision; today, 75 per cent of them are believers. “Our staff see the work of God in what he has called on us to do.”
One particular recollection Ben shared was about a lady in impoverished rural Cambodia. “As a widow, she was struggling. Our team taught her agriculture to make a basic living and provide for her family. Today, both her daughters work in banks.” One day, she saw her daughter scoop rice from their home and put it in her bag. She asked who the rice was for, and her daughter said it was for a family from whom she was collecting a loan payment. “The food aid and writing materials given to this family were long gone, but the knowledge, compassion and faith in God are forever etched in their minds,” said Ben.
World Vision’s focus is centred on children. Ben highlighted that where there are conflicts, natural disasters and people displacement, children are often the forgotten ones. “We go in to supply food aid, clean water, blankets and safe spaces for children. We also provide essential supplements so they have a fighting chance.”
Education is also extremely important. Ben related that their work in promoting education in rural areas has led to a huge mindset change. “What used to be seen as impossible is no longer ridiculous. Now parents dream of their children becoming teachers instead of carrying bricks in cities. Children too, can have dreams—to become a nurse, a doctor, a teacher.”
There are success stories of sponsored children who have now grown up—one in Mongolia, who is now a vice-minister, and a girl in Ethiopia who became a doctor. For every such case, there are many others who become teachers and community workers. Some have also returned to help at World Vision. These living testimonies encourage donors to contribute to the child sponsorship programme; some have continued to support it for over 30 years.
Ben concludes, “When I look at the parable of the talents, whatever we have is not ours but is entrusted by God. Not everyone needs to go into full-time ministry to serve God. But addressing practical and humanitarian needs can help multiply what God has given us, and is such a crucial part of bearing witness to his goodness and mercy.”