Social work heroes recognised at Istana

SINGAPORE - In just five and a half years of social work, Promising Social Worker Award (PSWA) winner Kristine Lam, 27, has seen enough to want to make a bigger difference in her job.

The young social worker recalls a client she worked with early in her career, whose story has stuck with her since.

During a home visit, Ms Lam said she met the family of a young man in his early 20s who was mentally disabled.

The family had partitioned a room with a gate and walls, big enough for just one mattress that the man slept on.

Ms Lam said: "It was really a sight. The family allowed him to 'pee' and 'poo' on the mattress and they cleared it every few days."

She said the family genuinely tried to take care of him, but because they did not know how to care for and manage him properly, they ended up treating him like an animal.

Ms Lam added: "Seeing these things in the world do not make me sad or disillusioned, but makes me so angry."

"That is why I wanted to be a social worker, because this is the occupation where we can make a difference."

The assistant manager and senior social worker of Project StART, which falls under Care Corner Singapore, received a certificate from President Halimah Yacob at the Istana on Friday (Dec 1).

Ms Lam said she and her team eventually helped the family relocate the young man to a nursing home, where he is now able to receive proper and professional care.

But that is not all she has done in her field. Her citation says she has been dedicated to family violence-related work and also forged partnerships with crisis shelters, local police divisions and the Family Court, to enhance the programmes and services available to victims of family violence.

Besides Ms Lam, two others - Ms Zahara Mahmood and Dr Vincent Ng - received the Outstanding Social Worker Award (OSWA).

The OSWA is given to social workers who have displayed passion and made outstanding professional contributions to the improvement of the social service and healthcare sectors in Singapore.

Winners of the OSWA award received $31,000 in grants from the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF); and a $10,000 grant from ExxonMobil.

The PSWA award is given to social workers who are newer to the field but have made a notable difference in the lives of their clients as well as the community.

Besides the certificate, the winner receives $15,000 in MSF grants; and an $8,000 grant from ExxonMobil.

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Ms Zahara Mahmood, 48

With 26 years of experience, Ms Zahara has been actively advocating for women's rights and healthcare needs for the poor and needy.

The mother of three also helped set up a shelter for abused women and their children.

She related a case she handled: The mother of three young children, who also had to look after her elderly mother, was unable to leave her abusive husband because she had nowhere to go.

Ms Zahara, Assistant Director, Community Care, Eastern Health Alliance, said: "In the case of abused women, they often feel trapped in their situation because they cannot leave behind their children and family. So we set up a shelter that allows such women to take those under their care along."

Since entering the shelter with her children and mother, the woman has managed to get a job and was recently promoted to the role of sales supervisor at a major department store.

Beyond her work with vulnerable women, Ms Zahara has also contributed in other areas - including helping Muslim patients better understand organ donation matters and developing a community programme where the sick and elderly are cared for to reduce their rate of hospitalisations.

Having worked over 22 years as a social worker, Dr Ng is currently the chief executive officer of a family service centre. He has developed and run multiple initiatives to help marginalised individuals, including the elderly and children from vulnerable backgrounds.

He also developed the Bakery Hearts programme in 2010 which helps unemployed women learn a skill and become financially independent by selling baked products. Under the programme, 20 per cent of the earned income is put into a Maybank account which is matched by the bank to encourage good saving habits.

The programme was borne out of Dr Ng's work with families where he noticed that while the women were financially strapped, they had immense caregiver responsibilities and often had few employable skills.

He developed Bakery Hearts to allow the women to use skills they had, like baking, and earn an income by selling the products. The programme affords the women flexible working hours so they can still look after their families.

Dr Ng said: "It is very encouraging because over the years, we have had women able to move on into full time employment. Some women even launched their own baking businesses."

"They even come back to help train new bakers."