Cover Hazlina Abdul Halim, CEO of Make-A-Wish Singapore
Hazlina Abdul Halim, CEO of Make-A-Wish Singapore
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Hazlina Abdul Halim, Tatler Asia’s Most Influential 2024 laureate, immediate past president of PPIS and PAP candidate for the Singapore general election 2025, is driven by a desire to connect, inform and empower
“I feel honour-bound to leave the world in a better state than when I was brought into it.” This guiding philosophy has been the compass for Hazlina Abdul Halim, the chief executive officer of Make-A-Wish Singapore—and it took her from the newsroom to becoming a non-profit leader.
From the beginning, Hazlina was driven by a desire to connect, inform and empower. She spent 15 years as a journalist, telling stories that resonated with diverse communities, and lectured at Temasek Polytechnic, where she nurtured future media professionals. She was also the public affairs adviser at the US Embassy in Singapore, where she learnt that building bridges between people and institutions could create meaningful change—a lesson that would greatly shape her social impact work.
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Above Hazlina Abdul Halim
Hazlina Abdul Halim
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Hazlina’s commitment to social causes is reflected in her board memberships. She is the immediate past president of the Singapore Muslim Women’s Association—or Persatuan Pemudi Islam Singapura (PPIS)—and currently serves as chairperson of 7oaks Preschools (formerly PPIS Child Development Centres), director of Singapore Business Federation(SBF) Foundation, and board director of MigrantWell, a programme under the SBF Foundation aimed at uplifting foreign workers. She also serves on the boards of Yayasan Mendaki, Singapore Kindness Movement, and Community Chest.
“I realised early on, as I was serving the community, that it’s all about partnerships. Fortunately, I also discovered that I tend to take fairly naturally to bridging connections,” Hazlina ruminates. This understanding became central to her leadership when she took on the role of president of PPIS’s 25th Board of Governance in December 2020. At age 36, she was one of the youngest women to take on the role.
Under her guidance, PPIS focused on collaborative initiatives, such as the launch of Singapore’s first secular halfway house for women offenders, Rise Above Halfway House, a partnership with the Singapore Prison Service that filled a critical gap in rehabilitation support for women. Building on this success, Hazlina also led PPIS in partnering with Lembaga Biasiswa Kenangan Maulud (LBKM) to create a postgraduate scholarship for women to bolster professional development.
She continued to leverage strategic partnerships through collaborations with the Ministry of Social and Family Development; Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth; and Ministry of Home Affairs, thereby securing essential resources for a range of community programmes. On the international stage, Hazlina first spoke at the United Nations in New York during the 7th session of the Open-Ended Working Group on Ageing in 2016, where she raised awareness about the unique challenges women face in ageing. Earlier this year, Hazlina also presented research on Muslim women at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women in New York and at the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women in Geneva.
Today, as chief executive officer of Make-A-Wish Singapore, Hazlina leads with conviction, focusing on bringing hope, strength and joy to children between the ages of three and 18 who are bravely battling critical illnesses. A cornerstone of the organisation’s approach is its commitment to child-centred wishes. Hazlina explains, “We take a child-centric approach so it’s not parent-driven, it’s child-driven ... Some children really humble me; their wishes are beyond themselves.”
She is often moved by the selflessness of many of the children, who sometimes wish for things that benefit others, such as an indoor playground for their siblings, or a self-care day for their medical team. Make-A-Wish Singapore also works closely with paediatric hospitals here, partners, corporates and teams up with other children’s charities to transform lives, one wish at a time. For Hazlina, the role is as personally transformative as it is professionally fulfilling.
“The most wonderful thing about Make-A-Wish is, other than the respite it brings, it also makes Wish children and families believe that they are worth it.” At the core of her work, she remains committed to spreading hope. “When you give the children a reason to believe in a better tomorrow and their families, it’s a different kind of fire in their bellies.”
Working in social services has also reminded her of the vital role charities play and the importance of recognising the professionals and volunteers within them. Hazlina feels inspired by their compassion and commitment to the mission, noting how they have chosen to devote themselves to the non-profit sector to make a meaningful difference. This deep respect for her team aligns with Hazlina’s own unwavering commitment to service. Reflecting on her journey, she says, “I hope to never be in a position where I can’t serve.”
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Nafeesa Saini is the Features Editor at Tatler Singapore, where she shapes long-form stories on culture, business, philanthropy, wellness, and the people driving change in Asia. With a deep interest in storytelling that intersects meaningfully with identity and impact, she has profiled a diverse range of visionaries, from scientific pioneers in AI and health to creative trailblazers and literary minds.
Nafeesa’s writing includes cover stories and profiles that spotlight influential voices, alongside commentary on the trends reshaping our world.
Off the clock, Nafeesa unwinds with fiction, a good thrift hunt, and ‘brainrot’ TikTok scroll—while always keeping one eye on her next cultural getaway, usually to Indonesia.
