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.

So much ink has been spilled on Singapore’s healthcare and public health response to the ongoing pandemic. Yet, there will be an end to COVID-19, and the start of 2022 feels like a good time to shift some of the public focus to our country’s long-term, pandemic-linked social challenges. In this short episode, I summarise the most urgent and obvious problems - migrant, healthcare, and economically disadvantaged essential workers - before detailing four challenges which have received less attention: First, the harm to children, adolescents, and youths; second, compounded socio-economic inequality; third, social isolation; and fourth, ambiguous loss and unresolved grief. A transcript is also available. This episode is part of the podcast's fifth season (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/). The feature photo is by Ng Shi Wen.

How happy are Singaporeans? Or what makes a Singaporean happy? Local social enterprise the Happiness Initiative (happinessinitiative.sg) sought to answer these questions through its 2021 State of Happiness Study. Here's what they found. With psychological and social factors, Singaporeans who have purpose, grit, and social support are happier on average. And with socio-demographic factors, those with lower household income and those who identified as bisexual or homosexual report lower life evaluation. These findings may not be surprising to some, and so we put these questions to co-founder Simon Leow, who details the study methodology and the broader implications of the findings. We also discuss some limitations. 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.

Since the publication of the Minimum Income Standard (MIS) study (whatsenough.sg), which sought to establish what constituted basic needs in Singapore and the household budgets needed to meet those needs, public discussion has taken two related directions. First, focusing solely on the S$6,426 dollar figure needed per month for partnered parents with two children, and then extolling Singaporeans to “spend within their means”. And second, criticising the study’s methodology without, in my opinion, fully understanding it. Some said, for instance, that the MIS study was analogous to interviewing colleagues about daily budgets before asking bosses for a salary raise. Every research study has its limitations. But a fair evaluation only follows if we know the research motivations and methodology. It is with that in mind that we host Drs. Ng Kok Hoe and Teo You Yenn, members of the MIS study, who explain a “basic standard of living”, detail the study methodology, and address five common responses and rebuttals to the study. Dr. Ng was previously on the podcast: On homelessness and housing insecurity, income insecurity and minimum income standard, and bridging research, practice, and policy. The feature photo is by Ng Shi Wen. This episode is part of the "Making Research Sense" series of the podcast's fifth season (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/).

SG Mental Health Matters is a community of mental health advocates and researchers, and in 2021 they ran the #AreWeOkay poll to better understand the issues of access, affordability, and quality of mental healthcare in Singapore. With two of its members today - former nominated member of parliament Anthea Ong and postdoctoral researcher Dr. Rayner Tan - we learn more about the community’s work, the poll’s findings, and their proposal for a Mental Wellbeing and Sustainable Development Office in Singapore. Anthea (Mental health: Awareness, acceptance, and action and “Are we listening?”: Coalescing around downstream and upstream mental health action) and Rayner (On the researcher’s privileged position, community partnerships, data and research advocacy) were previously on the podcast. A previous feature on mental health at the workplace is also very relevant to our conversation. (Content and trigger warning: This episode contains references to suicide.) My conversation with Anthea and Rayner is part of our joint 2021 focus on researchers as well as on civil society groups, efforts, and issues in Singapore (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/). The feature photo is by Stefan Spassov on Unsplash.

It's been more than 16 months since I first launched and produced this socialservice.sg podcast, and more than 80 episodes later I've been thinking a lot more about updating the format and perhaps reaching an even wider community of listeners and readers. The traditional interview format where I invite guests to speak to their initiatives, projects, or organisations still has some appeal, and I think there is some value in occasionally documenting important research reports or highlighting community endeavours. Get in touch with me on any of those three favours in the episode! Also, I am currently working on a research survey involving low-income single-parent households with an adolescent aged 13 to 17. We want to better understand their social capital and well-being. The study is funded by the Ministry of Social and Family Development under the Social and Family Research Fund. If you know of single-parents with at least one 13- to 17-year-old adolescent who may be interested or if you know of agencies or organisations, please also get in touch with me!

This episode is the second of a two-part series covering ground-ups and their contributions in Singapore. If you’ve not heard the first part about the emergence and impact of ground-ups, be sure to listen to that before coming back to this. With Jen Goh of The Majurity Trust and Dr. Adrian Chan of Acerpacer Consulting, we previously discussed the value of start-ups, the emergence of new activators, and the challenges of funding, time, and contacts. Today, we finish up our conversation on funding before exploring recommendations and the building of synchronicity among ground-ups and communities of ground-up communities. As a reminder, Jen is part of the philanthropy and community building team at The Majurity Trust. Dr. Chan is an independent scientist-practitioner and the director of Acerpacer Consulting. My conversation with Jen and Adrian is part of our joint 2021 focus on researchers as well as on civil society groups, efforts, and issues in Singapore (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/). The feature photo is by Rémi Walle on Unsplash.

Through this platform, in the past year, we’ve heard from ground-up initiatives, community movements, as well as aggregators and intermediaries. In this two-part series, with Jen Goh and Dr. Adrian Chan, we go further by taking a deeper dive into ground-ups and their contributions in Singapore, focusing in particular on a recent research report published by philanthropic organisation The Majurity Trust. Today, we discuss definitions and value of start-ups, the emergence of new activators in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, and finally the challenges of funding, time, and contacts. In the next episode, we will explore recommendations and the building of synchronicity among ground-ups and communities of ground-up communities. Jen is part of the philanthropy and community building team at The Majurity Trust and is also co-founder of the ground-up Hopefull. Dr. Chan is an independent scientist-practitioner and the director of Acerpacer Consulting. He was part of the team for the research report. My conversation with Jen and Adrian is part of our joint 2021 focus on researchers as well as on civil society groups, efforts, and issues in Singapore (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/). The feature photo is by Rayson Tan on Unsplash.

One year ago, we documented community initiatives and discussed structural challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic in Singapore. One year later, we are inviting the same guests back to talk about their work, how they are feeling, and what they think we have learnt or have yet to learn from the pandemic. Last year, Adriel Yong started a spreadsheet to collate opportunities for students looking for summer internships. We ask about what he’s learnt from the initiative and how he’s applied those lessons in his life. You can also join his Telegram channel of internship opportunities. We previously spoke to Adriel in April 2020. The feature photo is by bady abbas on Unsplash.

One year ago, we documented community initiatives and discussed structural challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic in Singapore. One year later, we are inviting the same guests back to talk about their work, how they are feeling, and what they think we have learnt or have yet to learn from the pandemic. Today, we have Lim May-Ann, a volunteer with Engineering Good’s Computers against COVID initiative. She shares how her work has evolved since the end of the circuit-breaker last year and evaluates Singapore’s progress in making sure that every student has a laptop. Relatedly, in January this year, a group of researchers outlined the problem of digital exclusion and put forth recommendations on digital devices, expanded Internet access, and digital literacy. We previously spoke to May-Ann in April 2020. The feature photo is by lucas law on Unsplash.