socialservice.sg presents: "Before the Ballot"

With Norvin Chan, founder of the AI therapist chatbot fire.place (https://fire.place/) where folks can vent their feelings, we learn about how users can interact with the chatbot, tech development process, and how his growing-up experience has informed his work. We conclude with a discussion of positioning fire.place in a broader constellation of mental health and wellness support, from professional help to community initiatives. This episode is part of the podcast's fifth season (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/). The feature photo is by Ng Shi Wen.

Today, we have assistant professor Walid Jumblatt Bin Abdullah from the School of Social Sciences in Nanyang Technological University, whose research focuses on religion and politics with a special focus on Singapore and Malaysia. On his Instagram page (https://www.instagram.com/walidj.abdullah), he hosts “Teh Tarik With Walid” (TTWW), a series of live chats with prominent socio-political figures about their work and current affairs. In this episode, we ask him about his motivations for starting this series as well as the prospects of such a format in furthering civic engagement on social media. This episode is part of the "Civic Engagement and Action" series of the podcast's fifth season (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/). The feature photo is by Ng Shi Wen.

"Beneath the Rug" (https://www.solvenplus.one/btr) is a Singaporean book compilation of 30 stories, written by 30 different individuals in the social service sector. Their honest sharing on the poor/marginalised/disadvantaged in Singapore was surprising, and in this episode with editor Lewin Low we discuss the project’s journey, the writers, and the plans of his social enterprise Solve n+1 (https://www.solvenplus.one/). (Disclosure: I received a free digital copy of the book from the editors.) This episode is part of the "The Work of Social Work" series of the podcast's fifth season (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/). The feature photo is by Ng Shi Wen.

In November last year, the publication titled "Scaled, citizen-led, and public qualitative research: A framework for citizen social science" explored improvements to qualitative research and suggested methods for the conduct of citizen social science. Drawing from two cases - one involving state and civil society organisations and public policy students, and another centred on low-waged migrant workers and the system processing their salary and injury disputes - we dive into the open-access publication with its three author-researchers. This episode is part of the "Making Research Sense" series of the podcast's fifth season (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/). The feature photo is by Ng Shi Wen.

Co-operative A Good Space, a good friend to this podcast, ran two Listening Living Labs and produced two corresponding Listening Reports to document the experiences and insights of migrant worker communities and low-income communities in Singapore. With representative Nurulhuda Hassan today, we focus on low-income communities, focused on the three issues and recommendations revolving around lower-wage gig workers, customised digital guidance, as well as interim assistance. Listen to the preview; The episode on migrant worker communities; and On low-income communities (this episode). This episode is part of the "Making Research Sense" series of the podcast's fifth season (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/). The feature photo is by Ng Shi Wen.

Co-operative A Good Space, a good friend to this podcast, ran two Listening Living Labs and produced two corresponding Listening Reports to document the experiences and insights of migrant worker communities and low-income communities in Singapore. With representative Vandhana Jeyaram today, we focus on migrant worker communities, focused on the four issues and recommendations on high recruitment debt, barriers of access to healthcare, struggles with dormitory experience, as well as social exclusion of migrant voices. Listen to the preview; The episode on migrant worker communities (this episode); and On low-income communities. This episode is part of the "Making Research Sense" series of the podcast's fifth season (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/). The feature photo is by Ng Shi Wen.

Co-operative A Good Space, a good friend to this podcast, ran two Listening Living Labs and produced two corresponding Listening Reports to document the experiences and insights of migrant worker communities and low-income communities in Singapore. Even though the issues and insights are not necessarily new, representatives Nurulhuda Hassan and Vandhana Jeyaram provide a preview in this first episode. In the next two episodes, we take deeper dives into each report. Listen to the preview (this episode); The episode on migrant worker communities; and On low-income communities. This episode is part of the "Making Research Sense" series of the podcast's fifth season (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/). The feature photo is by Ng Shi Wen.

Member of parliament Louis Ng has been a leading legislative voice on the work and welfare of the Singaporean social worker. We touch on four themes in this episode - pay and compensation, burnout and retention, case management and caseload ratio, as well as community work - before sharing his ongoing public consultation for social workers. This episode is part of the "The Work of Social Work" series of the podcast's fifth season (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/). The feature photo is by Ng Shi Wen.

Two years ago, SG Climate Rally made headlines in September 2019 and created momentum for a range of activities and initiatives. Two years later in 2021, climate change activists in Singapore were frustrated by the lack of systemic or structural progress at COP26, or the 26th United Nations Climate Change conference. The frustration is perhaps compounded by persistent apathy or lethargy among Singaporeans too. As such, is there a feeling of pessimism or even hopelessness, that institutional changes will be perpetually inadequate in terms of scale and timeliness? With Woo Qiyun, a climate risk consultant and who does sustainability communications on Instagram @theweirdandwild, and Samantha Thian, founder of the marine conservation social enterprise Seastainable, a sustainability manager, and now currently running Stridy, a non-profit litter collection app, we ask them about what they are hearing from their communities of activists and advocates. They also share what they hear or sense from those who are not engaged in climate change activism or unbothered by the climate crisis. Past episodes and posts of relevance: Intersectional climate justice, climate change and its unequal effects, and aspirations for a low-carbon Singapore Contested framings of climate change and climate governance in Singapore: PhD student Belicia Teo Matthew Schneider-Mayerson and Michele Chong’s “Eating Chilli Crab in the Anthropocene: Environmental Perspectives on Life in Singapore” (Book Club, April 2021) This episode is part of the "Civic Engagement and Action" series of the podcast's fifth season (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/). The feature photo is by Ng Shi Wen.

The work and welfare of the Singaporean social worker are scrutinised every now and then, most recently when member of parliament Carrie Tan raised the question on who is allowed to be a social worker. Episodes like this do help increase public awareness, but such discourse should instead be sustained with greater consistency. In introducing the new "The Work of Social Work" podcast mini-series, as a small starting space, future episodes will be devoted to parliamentary questions and policy proposals raised in parliament, community-building, and practice research. A transcript is also available. This episode is part of the "The Work of Social Work" series of the podcast's fifth season (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/). The feature photo is by Ng Shi Wen.