He starts work at Methodist Centre on Sept 1, 2007.
He replaces Mr Richard Khoo, who served two years from September 2005 until last month.
The DFAP reports to the General Conference Executive Committee (GCEC) and the Finance and Administration Council (FAC) through their respective chairmen. He has direct oversight of the Finance, Administration and Property Departments, and staff of the smaller agencies.
He will also be responsible for:
" The setting up of reporting protocols and communication flow between the GCEC and all programme agencies;
" The facilitation of administrative and financial policies of the GCEC that involve the programme agencies; and
" The development of staff functions that can be brought together with economies of scale, e.g. human resource development and deployment, training, computerisation and information technology, property management, finance and investments.
Mr Ong, 61, is well-known not only
in the social concerns circles of the MCS but also in the community.He has served the Methodist Welfare Services (MWS), the social service arm of the MCS, in various capacities since the 1980s and is currently a member of the Management Committee. He was Chairman of the MWS in 1991, Chairman of the Tampines Family Service Centre (1998), Chairman of the Methodist Hospice Fellowship (2002) and Chairman of the Methodist Co-operative Society (1996).
He has also chaired numerous MWS Task Forces, Working Committees and Steering Committees.
He played a significant role in spearheading the launch and engagement of the MWS in community-based projects in the 1980s and 1990s, which resulted in the setting up of the MWS Family Service Centres, the Bethany Methodist Nursing Home, the Christalite Methodist Home and other MWS service hubs and centres, which together, work with more than 5,500 beneficiaries a month, from all levels of society.
A licensed Methodist Local Preacher, he has also served as a past chairman of the Board on Christian Social Concerns of Trinity Annual Conference, past chairman of the Council on Christian Social Concerns and past chairman of Covenant Community Methodist Church Preaching Point Management Committee.
At the national level, Mr Ong has been on the Board of the National Council of Social Service for several years and currently serves as Chairman of the Provision Committee and a member of the Services Committee.
His involvement in humanitarian and community work over the past several years has also extended to many boards/councils of organisations such as the Singapore Red Cross Society (Council member), Prison Fellowship Singapore (Chairman), Association of Fundraising Professionals, Singapore Chapter (President), Habitat For Humanity, Singapore Chapter (Vice-President), and the Methodist Hospice Fellowship (Chairman).
As a professional in the real estate industry, Mr Ong is a Past President of the Institute Agents, Past President of the International Real Estate Federation (FIABCI), Singapore Chapter, a member of the Singapore Institute of Surveyors & Valuers and a Fellow of the Marketing Institute of Singapore.