Vice Chair
Jacqueline was appointed Vice Chair of CommonAge in January 2024, and elected as Lead civil society representative to the Commonwealth Advisory Committee on Health and assumed the role in July 2024. The role adds further leverage to influence policies, programmes & initiatives on ageing populations, youth engagement, dementia and inclusive communities across the Commonwealth and beyond. She contributed an article “Women and Dementia: From Disparities to Economic” to ‘Dementia In The Commonwealth’ launched in September 2024.
Jacqueline’s in-depth knowledge and wealth of experience are valuable assets to the CommonAge team; she has acted as the Hon. Advisor, demensia Brunei (dB, 2018-2024); and Hon. Secretary of the Executive Committee, Alzheimer’s Disease Foundation of Malaysia (ADFM, 2016-2019). dB and ADFM, both non-government not-for-profit organisations, are amongst the exclusive members of Alzheimer’s Disease International (ADI): a federation of over 105 Alzheimer’s and related dementia associations in official relations with the World Health Organization (WHO). dB became an exclusive member of ADI in 2020.
Jacqueline’s father-in-law was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease. Her mother-in-law had vascular dementia and Parkinson’s Disease. Both passed away in 2010 but the knowledge and experience caring for them continue to inspire her efforts and contribution. Jacqueline facilitates Dementia Care Skills workshops and Train-the-Trainer programmes. She is also involved in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) & Sustainability collaborations and public-private partnerships in Brunei Darussalam and Malaysia.
On a volunteer basis, Jacqueline supports age- & dementia-friendly, inclusive community initiatives and sustainable projects, especially those focused on improving the lives of the ageing population, people with dementia, their carers and families in the Asia Pacific region (including in ASEAN). In September 2023, Jacqueline co-produced an eBook “Living with Dementia: Voices of Asia” – a collection of 20 unique voices from persons living with dementia and care partners in 13 countries (nine from the Commonwealth member countries) – and a year later, launched its website in September 2024. It aims to help many gain an understanding of an invisible disability impacting over 55 million people and their families globally.
Of note is Jacqueline’s establishment of the Atria-ADFM Community Corner. Launched in conjunction with World Alzheimer’s Month in 2017, this initiative, organised in collaboration with Atria Shopping Gallery, is considered to be the first age-and-dementia-friendly mall in Malaysia, and the first in the Asia Pacific region.
Recognising that many young people supported their community, Jacqueline spearheaded ADI’s Asia Pacific Youth Engagement Programme (YEP). The aim was to focus on empowering youth, encouraging them to take ownership of their wellbeing and lead healthy lifestyles – one of the preventive measures towards reducing the risk of dementia and active ageing.
To this end, Jacqueline organised and facilitated the very first YEP concurrently with the 21st ADI Asia Pacific Regional Conference in Malaysia, August 2019. Following the success of the YEP Malaysia event the 34th ADI Conference, Hope In The Age of Dementia hosted a YEP Symposium: ‘Young People and Dementia: Challenges and Opportunities’ in December 2020.
In September 2021, Jacqueline supported the first virtual international youth leadership programme: the New Age Learner Virtual Conference: ‘Building The Future with Generation Z’ organised by the youths of Ascendance Project (Malaysia) convened over 50,000 youth and young carers (aged 9 to 25) from over 900 organisations, institutions, CSOs and the Commonwealth Youth networks towards impacting #onemillionteens.
Apart from the YEP, Jacqueline is mentoring young people from the Asia Pacific region involved in WHO Futures – a youth project by the World Health Organization Western Pacific Regional Office (WHO WPRO) in collaboration with the School of International Futures (SOIF). Jacqueline participates in dialogues with the World Health Organization (WHO), The Commonwealth, C7 & G7, C20 & G20, World Economic Forum (WEF), International Monetary Fund-World Bank Group (IMF-WBG) Civil Society Roundtable Meetings and the Association of the South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN). She presented a lecture on ‘Dementia and Covid-19: Impact on Informal Carers – A Carer’s Perspective. How will dementia and cost of informal care further impact economies in post-Covid-19, and beyond?’ in the Webinar Series 2020 hosted and facilitated by the International Institute on Ageing United Nations-Malta (INIA). She contributed a chapter on Southeast Asia in the publication ‘UN Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing: Global Perspectives’. In 2022, she was recognised as an international tutor with INIA.
In July 2021, Jacqueline joined as a Member of the Environmental Design – Special Interest Group, Dementia Alliance International (DAI). A formal document for ‘A New Residential Aged Care Accommodation Framework: Design and Innovation’ in response to a call to action by the Government of Australia was formally submitted and acknowledged.
In October 2022, Jacqueline officially joined the DAI Board. This is a great honour and privilege as she is the first person without dementia to join the Board. Prior to this, the DAI membership was admitted only to persons living with dementia, however, by-laws were revised to allow a small percentage of person(s) without dementia to join the Board. On her appointment, the Chair stressed DAI will always be an organisation led by people with dementia and will continue to operate under the philosophy of nothing about us without us.
In April 2023, Jacqueline was the Coordinator for the Social Justice, Inclusion & Equality, a sub- Working Group to the Civil 7 (C7) Open Resilient Societies; and a Member of the C7 Global Health Working Group, an official engagement group to the G7 Japan 2023. She was nominated to present in the C7-G7 Dialogue on Global Health Architecture.
In May 2023, Jacqueline was one of the six civil society representatives from the Commonwealth People’s Forum who presented ‘The 12 Key Asks: Advancing Universal Health Coverage’ to health ministers and senior health officials at the Commonwealth Health Minister Meeting (CHMM) convened by the Commonwealth Foundation. The recommendations were the outcome of a series of critical conversations held with a group of over 220 health experts and civil society leaders from 35 countries.
In July 2023, she was invited as Speaker for the Voluntary National Review for Brunei Darussalam at the United Nations (UN) High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) under the auspices of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). This is a part of the UN’s follow-up and review mechanisms to accelerate the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals.
In March 2024, Jacqueline was invited as an Advisor to Women 7 (W7) of the G7 Italy 2024; and continued with her involvement as a Member of the Civil 7 (C7) Global Health Working Group in the G7 Italy 2024 presidency. Her recommendations for advancing policies were included in the respective W7 and C7 Communiques.
Jacqueline’s commitment as a whole is demonstrated by her support for the international children’s visual art and literacy programme, BIG ONES LITTLE ONES® (BOLO) – Australia, which aims to ‘give children a voice, let them shine, make them smile’, particularly those who have been disadvantaged, marginalised and including those with special needs. She has been a BOLO member and international consultant since 2013.
Apart from her volunteer work with community initiatives for children, youth, older people and people with dementia, Jacqueline is the Founder and Special Projects Advisor to two multi-award-winning publishing agencies in Brunei Darussalam and Malaysia.
In 2010, Jacqueline received the Madison’s Who’s Who US ‘Member of the Year Award 2010/2011’ for ‘… having demonstrated exemplary achievement in social responsibility to the community and distinguished contributions to the business community’. This is a lifetime achievement award. Some of Jacqueline’s community initiatives are at ORCID – Jacqueline WM Wong (https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5114-6371)
Follow Jacqueline on X (Twitter) – @JacquelineWMW