This Singaporean runs an NGO for refugees in Iraq. It all began when he was temporarily blind
KURDISTAN, Iraq: There was a week in Willy Tan’s life when he was completely blind.
He had been living with one functioning eye since 1999, when a stroke caused the loss of sight in his left eye at age 33. Then in 2014, his right eye failed him.
Willy, now 56, remembers praying in desperation, “God … please use me for the rest of my life.” He did not know what would happen, but he “didn’t want (his) life to go to waste”.
“I wanted to make a difference in this world,” he says.
About a week later, he regained the sight of his right eye, after an ophthalmologist had recommended a drug that could help him.
It turned out that he had macular degeneration, an eye disease that can result in severe, permanent vision loss. In his case, the condition could be managed so long as he injected the drug into his eye every two months.
What sustained him, however, was the conviction that he should do something with his life.
He was in California and working in banking at the time, having moved from Singapore to the United States in 1986 and living there since then with his wife and two adult children.
But the incident marked the start of a journey that took him to the Kurdistan region of Iraq in 2016. Today, home for him is Zakho, a small city of over 200,000 people.
Willy is co-founder of Habibi International, a humanitarian organisation providing healthcare and education for internally displaced persons (IDPs) — those who are forced from their homes but remain within the same country — and refugees.
He is one of four Singaporeans living in unusual places who are featured in the On The Red Dot series, Are You The Only Singaporean Here?