As most of you probably do not know, I am a volunteer community mediator under the Community Mediation Centre, an organisation set up by the Ministry of Law to address grievances by the public. The CMC was created to address community disputes as opposed to commercial ones. In a country as tightly packed as Singapore, where residents have to live harmoniously close to one another in our flats, disputes are bound to occur. For more information about CMC, you can click HERE.
It's Social Worker's Day in Singapore today.
One would think that I would be excited for this day, I remember being part of the very first one we had many years ago (where I had the unfortunate opportunity to become an emcee). Certainly I am very proud of how it has evolved over the years, and that I manage to play some small part over the years.
However, I'm even more perturbed by how affected I am with things happening in Japan, where countless millions are suffering from the current quake-tsunami disaster, and the possible death toll reaching 10, 000 and counting.
Continue reading "Happy Social Worker's Day: reflect beyond your box.." »
This was an email I sent to the Straits Times Forum page. Not sure whether they will publish it so will just post it here.
I understand that the People’s Association (PA) gives out awards to Residents Committees and Community Centres to recognize their achievements within the respective zones and boundaries they preside over. Grassroots’ Organisations (GRO) would be given different grades (up to 4 –Star) in accordance to how active they are in the community.
Continue reading "Award Quality versus Quantity: Programmes by GROs" »
One of the most challenging aspects of social work certainly has to be community work. Most times, you have to do more than what you are technically paid to do, and add in more hours to think about what exactly the community's needs are. You need to be aware of current trends in order to identify opportunities for programme creation, and the most difficult task of all, you have to win the hearts and minds of not only residents, but the key stakeholders such as community funders, and more importantly the grassroots leaders.
Sometimes, we may be too carried away in our individual casework, and underestimate the importance of community based work for preventive and developmental support for residents, and create a more connected environment where the vulnerable can be easily identified and referred.
Some things I have learnt from my experiences in Community Work, and initiating community based programmes.
1. Be prepared to work
You need to move out of the comforts of the office, do community walkabouts and understanding the workings of the grassroots structure as organised by the People's Association. You have to carve needs assessments to understand the true community's needs in comparison to the expressed need. More importantly, your agency has to recognise the work that you are doing, and back you up!
"Danger Zone: I'm all alone and I'm a moving target"
Many a time, during networking events and happenstance meet ups with veteran social workers, I keep hearing the sighs and longings for yesteryears where "Social Workers' really did social work", "Got down and dirty in community work", "Conducted intensive home visits" and "Advocated strongly for clients' needs" in a time which was really "tough" and "difficult".
There are also calls for Social Workers in Singapore to be exposed to third world conditions so that they would be able to really "do" social work, and also understand the skills needed to be a truly effective professional.
There is a lament on how social workers today are not handling the real problems of society, being office based aircon loving people, and preferring that their clients come to the FSC for appointments instead of really conducting outreach and home visits to identify clients in need. They resort to "armchair" counselling and forget the true nature of social work.
Although I strongly respect these individuals and the contributions they made to Singapore's social development (really I do, in fact most of them are my professional mentors), I can't help but feel very uneasy in response to these statements. I will admit that times certainly were tough in Singapore's socio political climate 30 - 40 years ago, and it was not easy supporting and empowering the community in need. Efforts towards community reorganisation and outreach in social welfare development by these pioneers of the profession are to be applauded.
However, I firmly believe that these statements are unfair.
For folks who don’t know, the Family Service Centre (FSC) was designed to be the one stop centre to cater to the psychosocial needs of the community, kind of like how polyclinics cater to the biological wellness aspect, how the community centres cater to the community cohesion needs (and most times socio recreational needs) of the community within a fixed boundary. Hence there are about 37 FSCs catering to residents within specific boundaries within Singapore’s community.
Continue reading "FSCs: Bastion of the profession, or potential white elephant?" »
As I was going to work in the wee hours of the morning, amidst my stupor (I'm always in that state in the morning), I noticed this sign placed on the staircase landing of my house. Apparently an irate resident had decided to take Grassroots action to resolve a problem that my wife and I had been regularly disgruntled about in our HDB home. The only difference was that this concerned individual took the extra effort to do something about it. By the way (side track a bit) not only had there been regular instances of public urination at the landing, there has even been a time where someone actually crapped on the landing (Yuck).
What are the different ways to take action in the community, for social problems such as these. Could this individual have done a mini community survey to identify the victims of this incident and then bring the matter up via petition to the member of parliament, or to Town Council. What would Town Council be able to do?
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