After 17 years of service, working with low-income families and delinquent youth but also going beyond her core duties, Ms Yogeswari Munisamy received the Outstanding Social Worker Award from President Tony Tan Keng Yam at the Istana on Monday afternoon.

A principal social worker at The Ang Mo Kio Family Service Centres, the 39-year-old has also celebrated and trained social workers. She led a team to organise the inaugural Social Workers' Day in 2007, lectures part-time at the Social Work Department in the National University of Singapore, and provides training at the Social Service Institute.

Two medical social workers also won the Promising Social Worker Award, which goes to those with three to seven years of experience. Ms Lynnette Ng, 26, from Khoo Teck Puat Hospital, is the youngest to ever win the award. The other recipient is senior medical social worker Carmen Wu, 32, from Tan Tock Seng Hospital.

Into its 14th year, the annual awards are organised by the Singapore Association of Social Workers. Winners receive a $1,000 cash award and sponsorship for leadership development training worth $14,000 to $24,000 from the Ministry of Social and Family Development. They also get a personal development grant of $8,000 to $10,000 from ExxonMobil Asia Pacific, which doubled the grant amount this year.