Introduction

Professor Dato' Dr Ahmad Faizal bin Mohd Perdaus is the President of MERCY Malaysia, a position he has held since 2010 after acting as Interim President since 2009 . His involvement with MERCY Malaysia began in January 2003 when he signed on as a volunteer. He was made an EXCO member in July 2003 and he also headed MERCY Malaysia"s Drug Rehabilitation and Assistance Programme in Malaysia from 2003 to 2006. Dato' Dr Faizal was elected Vice President 1 in 2008 before acting as interim President in August 2009. In 2014, he was also appointed to the Board of Trustees for MERCY Malaysia UK (now MERCY Humanitarian UK).

Dato Dr Faizal has had an illustrious humanitarian career both in the field and in leadership roles. Apart from numerous missions both in emergency & non- emergency situations domestically in Malaysia, Dr Faizal has also been in humanitarian missions in the field abroad to Sri Lanka, Iran, Sudan, Indonesia (Aceh during the Indian ocean Tsunami as well as other locations such as Padang, Lombok and Palu, Sulawesi), Pakistan, Myanmar, Philippines, Nepal, Syria, Turkey, among others. He has also sat and sits on various boards and leadership & advisory roles internationally. The most prominent of which has been as Board member(2009-2018), Vice Chair(2012-2015) and later as Chair (2015-2018) of ICVA (International Council of Voluntary Agencies), the world's largest humanitarian NGO network.

Dato' Dr Faizal was the first person from the Global South and the first Asian to bethe Chair of ICVA. As Vice Chair and Chair of ICVA, Dato' Dr Faizal also sat on the Inter- Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Principals as the global NGO representative in a meeting chaired by the Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs of the United Nations (UN). Dr Faizal is also the Chair of PHAP (Professionals in Humanitarian Action & Protection) . He has also sat on the boards of the Humanitarian innovation Fund (HIF) and of the Humanitarian Encyclopaedia at CERAH (Centre for research in Humanitarian Action).

Dato' Dr Faizal is also a renowned Pulmonologist (Respiratory Physician/Specialist) currently practicing at KPJ Damansara Specialist Hospital. Throughout the COVID-19 Pandemic Dr Faizal has been involved as the Head of the Health & Emerging Hazards cluster of the Scientific Expert Advisory Panel (STEP) to the National Disaster Management Agency (NADMA) for the last 4 years as well as having been a member of STEP for the past 6 years in total. During the Pandemic he was also a member of the Public-Private Partnership Group under the External Advisory Group (EAG) on COVID-19 to the Malaysian Government as well as other national-level committees. Dr Faizal was also a front-liner during the pandemic, directly treating covid-19 patients himself on a daily basis.

Dato' Dr. Faizal has an illustrious professional medical career starting as a medical doctor-House Officer in 1992 and served in various postings in the Ministry of Health Malaysia as a medical officer and subsequently as a Consultant Physician (Internal Medicine and Respiratory Medicine) at Hospital Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (HUKM) from 2001 onwards. He also served as a Senior Lecturer in Internal Medicine and Respiratory Medicine and was appointed as Head of Medical Education at the Faculty of Medicine, UKM between 2004-2006. He was a Visiting Research Fellow at the Woolcock Institute of Medical Research, Sydney, Australia from 2006 to 2009. Dato' Dr. Ahmad Faizal bin Mohd Perdaus obtained his Bachelor of Medical Science (1989) and Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree (1992) from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM). He subsequently obtained his Master's degree in Internal Medicine in 2000. He was accredited as a Respiratory Physician in 2003 after completing his sub- specialty training. He joined KPJ Johor Specialist Hospital (JSH) in 2009 before moving to his current position at KPJ Damansara Specialist Hospital in 2016.

Dato' Dr Faizal was appointed as an Adjunct Professor at Kolej Universiti Islam Melaka (KUIM), now known as Universiti Melaka, in 2018. Dato' Dr Faizal was conferred an Honorary Doctorate & Honorary Professor at Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM) in 2021. Dr Faizal also sat on the advisory boards of both the Centre for Humanitarian Leadership (CHL) as well as for the Post- Graduate Certificate for Humanitarian Leadership at Deakin University, Melbourne between 2016 till 2023 and was appointed as a post-graduate supervisor in the Masters of Humanitarian Assistance program at Deakin between 2021-2022.

In recognition of his work and contributions, Dato' Dr. Faizal was conferred the Darjah Dato' Paduka Mahkota Perak (D.P.M.P.) in 2010 by Al-Marhum Duli Yang Maha Mulia Paduka Seri Sultan Azlan Muhibbuddin Shah Al-Maghfur-lah, Sultan of Perak Darul Ridzuan.

Established in 1999 and operating in 34 countries, MERCY Malaysia is an international non-profit humanitarian relief Non-Governmental organisation focused on providing excellence in medical assistance in both crisis and non-crisis situations as well as in building climate and disaster resilient communities to reduce societal burden through meaningful humanitarian & sustainable development actions.

Speaker session