Themed “Together, We…: Overcoming Crisis, Building Resilience”, the Symposium welcomed both local and regional audiences to examine the issues and challenges in contemporary social work practice – especially amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

 

This year, we were glad to have Mr Desmond Lee, Minister for National Development & Minister-in-charge of Social Services Integration, as our Guest-of-Honour. Minister Desmond Lee shared about the importance of community partnerships in these critical times, highlighting the various efforts implemented across Singapore, South Korea, and Cambodia to help those in need.

 

He emphasised on the shift from an agency-centric to a family-centric approach in an effort to strengthen social services integration, citing our delivery riders initiative as one example of how beneficiaries have contributed back to the community by delivering necessities to neighbours in need.

 

Seeing the pandemic’s impact on jobs, livelihoods, and well-being globally, our plenary speakers Prof. Seng Boon Kheng (Singapore University of Social Sciences), Prof. Yang Ok Kyung (Ewha Womans University) and Dr. Ret Thearom (Royal University of Phnom Penh) as well as keynote speaker Ms Tracy Jarvis (PESI UK) shared their experience and research surrounding the psychological well-being of helping professionals.

 

They were joined by our CEO Dr Vincent Ng in a live panel discussion, moderated by Principal Social Worker Ong Pei Ni, where participants learned helpful takeaways on strengthening the well-being and resilience of their staff, peers, or themselves.

 

The Symposium concluded with a line-up of workshops and oral presentations by fellow ground practitioners and academics. Through these sessions, participants gained a deeper understanding of the experiences faced by ground practitioners as well as the community interventions in place to overcome crises.

 

On behalf of our partners, we would like to thank all our speakers and participants for joining us at the ASER Symposium 2021. As Ms Tracy Jarvis said: “Coming together as a community is what will get us through the pandemic.” – we couldn’t agree more!