The Social Service Training Institute will celebrate 10 years of training the social services sector with a commemorative book and an exhibition which will showcase the significant milestones of the institute.

The commemorative book will be launched by Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam on June 28 while the exhibition will be held at the lobby of TripleOne Somerset from June 17 to 28.

The Social Service Training Institute has been offering an extensive range of services to develop social services professionals since June 2003. Three individuals who have benefited from these courses will be the faces for the 10th anniversary campaign.

One of the individuals is ex-convict Mr Vincent Quek. The 34-year-old spent 11 years of his life behind bars and most of his teenage years involved in gang and drug related offences. Three years ago, Mr Quek decided to turn his life around and voluntarily admitted himself into a halfway house for drug addicts and ex-offenders. He then enrolled himself in the Institute's social service diploma programme. Now a qualified youth worker with the Lutheran Community Care Services, which serves children and youths-at-risk, Mr Quek intends to pursue a higher diploma in social service at the Institute to upgrade his skills.