The demands of the social work profession have recently been in the spotlight, in part because of the pandemic, as well as highlighted in Parliament. The heavy caseload and long working hours are just some of the problems social workers struggle to deal with. What are the pitfalls of working in a job that focuses so greatly on passion? What policies can be put in place to alleviate the challenges social workers face, and encourage them to stay in the profession?

In this episode, host and Associate Director at the Institute of Policy Studies Liang Kaixin chats with two of our guests Louis Ng, Member of Parliament for Nee Soon Group Representation Constituency (GRC) and Cindy Ng-Tay, Director of Home at Children’s Aid Society. They discuss how the community can support social workers, what the government can do to help the industry and what needs to change in the industry itself to retain younger social workers.

Find out more about social worker burnout: 
CNA (17 April 2022): Back-to-back crises, days that end at 4am: Why some social workers in Singapore are burning out
The Straits Times (14 December 2021): S'pore social workers' mental health badly hit during Covid-19 peak in 2020: Study

About our guests:

Louis Ng 

Member of Parliament (MP)

Nee Soon GRC 

Louis was elected as MP for Nee Soon GRC in 2015. In 2001, he founded the ACRES (Animal Concerns Research and Education Society), an animal protection charity. He currently chairs the Government Parliamentary Committee for Sustainability and the Environment and is a member of the Government Parliamentary Committee for National Development.

In 2014, he received the Advocate of the Year award in the inaugural Singapore Advocacy Awards in 2014 and the Inaugural Yahoo! “Singapore 9” award in 2011. Louis has been advocating on the issue of social worker burnout in Singapore since May 2021, pushing for legislative change in parliament.

Cindy Ng-Tay

Director of Home

Children’s Aid Society

Cindy is a social worker by training with extensive experience working with low-income families and persons experiencing violence and abuse. Over the years, she has developed and executed programmes that aim to address poverty, violence and abuse in families and the community.

Cindy is passionate about issues relating to early childhood trauma, poverty, income inequality and social mobility. She is an active advocate for disadvantaged communities in Singapore, where she contributes commentaries to local publications. She is also passionate about good social work practice and has developed standards framework to guide programmes and services and competency framework to guide the development of Social Workers and Social Service Practitioners.

On Diversity is a podcast inspired by the Institute of Policy Studies Managing Diversities research programme. In each episode, we chat with guests to explore what diversity means to them, the changes they are making, and the changes they hope to see in an increasingly fragmented society.

More from On Diversity
Season 3 Episode 5: Leaving the Law Profession with Andrew Chan, Partner at Allen & Gledhill LLP and Michelle Yeo, Of Counsel at LVM Law Chambers LLC
Season 3 Episode 4: Racism at Work with Dharesheni Nedumaran, Head of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, APAC, at Mediabrands and Shamil Zainuddin, Research Associate at IPS Social Lab
Season 3 Episode 3: Ableism at Work with Cassandra Chiu, a vision impaired counsellor and advocate for PWDs, and Justin Lee, Senior Research Fellow at IPS
Season 3 Episode 2: Ageism at Work with Heng Chee How, Deputy Secretary-General of the National Trade Union Congress (NTUC), and Associate Professor Helen Ko of the Master & PhD in Gerontology Programmes at the Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS)
Season 3 Episode 1: Sexism at Work, with Corinna Lim, Executive Director of the Association of Women for Action and Research (AWARE) and Simran Toor, Chief Executive Officer at SG Her Empowerment Limited (SHE) 
Season 2 Episode 9: Youth Mental Health, with Dr Jacqueline Tilley, Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychology at the National Institute of Education (NIE) and Asher Low, Founder of Limitless
Season 2 Episode 8: What Makes Us Singaporean, with Matthew Matthews, Principal Research Fellow of IPS and Head of IPS Social Lab, and Oon Shu An, Singaporean actress and host
Season 2 Episode 7: Homelessness, with Harry Tan, IPS Research Fellow, and June Chua, Co-founder of T Project

The demands of the social work profession have recently been in the spotlight, in part because of the pandemic, as well as highlighted in Parliament. The heavy caseload and long working hours are just some of the problems social workers struggle to deal with. What are the pitfalls of working in a job that focuses so greatly on passion? What policies can be put in place to alleviate the challenges social workers face, and encourage them to stay in the profession?
In this episode, host and Associate Director at the Institute of Policy Studies Liang Kaixin chats with two of our guests Louis Ng, Member of Parliament for Nee Soon Group Representation Constituency (GRC) and Cindy Ng-Tay, Director of Home at Children’s Aid Society. They discuss how the community can support social workers, what the government can do to help the industry and what needs to change in the industry itself to retain younger social workers.
Find out more about social worker burnout: 
<ul>
<li>CNA (17 April 2022): <a href="https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/social-workers-burnout-job-hours-passion-2553816">Back-to-back crises, days that end at 4am: Why some social workers in Singapore are burning out</a></li>
<li>The Straits Times (14 December 2021): <a href="https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/community/spore-social-workers-mental-health-badly-hit-during-covid-19-peak-in-2020-study">S'pore social workers' mental health badly hit during Covid-19 peak in 2020: Study</a></li>
</ul>
About our guests:
Louis Ng 
Member of Parliament (MP)
Nee Soon GRC 
Louis was elected as MP for Nee Soon GRC in 2015. In 2001, he founded the ACRES (Animal Concerns Research and Education Society), an animal protection charity. He currently chairs the Government Parliamentary Committee for Sustainability and the Environment and is a member of the Government Parliamentary Committee for National Development.
In 2014, he received the Advocate of the Year award in the inaugural Singapore Advocacy Awards in 2014 and the Inaugural Yahoo! “Singapore 9” award in 2011. Louis has been advocating on the issue of social worker burnout in Singapore since May 2021, pushing for legislative change in parliament.
Cindy Ng-Tay
Director of Home
Children’s Aid Society
Cindy is a social worker by training with extensive experience working with low-income families and persons experiencing violence and abuse. Over the years, she has developed and executed programmes that aim to address poverty, violence and abuse in families and the community.
Cindy is passionate about issues relating to early childhood trauma, poverty, income inequality and social mobility. She is an active advocate for disadvantaged communities in Singapore, where she contributes commentaries to local publications. She is also passionate about good social work practice and has developed standards framework to guide programmes and services and competency framework to guide the development of Social Workers and Social Service Practitioners.
On Diversity is a podcast inspired by the Institute of Policy Studies Managing Diversities research programme. In each episode, we chat with guests to explore what diversity means to them, the changes they are making, and the changes they hope to see in an increasingly fragmented society.
More from On Diversity
<ul>
<li><a href="https://ipscommons.sg/podcasts_uri/ips-on-diversity-podcast-s3e5-leaving-the-law-profession/">Season 3 Episode 5: Leaving the Law Profession with Andrew Chan, Partner at Allen &amp; Gledhill LLP and Michelle Yeo, Of Counsel at LVM Law Chambers LLC</a></li>
<li><a href="https://ipscommons.sg/podcasts_uri/ips-on-diversity-podcast-s3e4-racism-at-work/">Season 3 Episode 4: Racism at Work with Dharesheni Nedumaran, Head of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, APAC, at Mediabrands and Shamil Zainuddin, Research Associate at IPS Social Lab</a></li>
<li><a href="https://ipscommons.sg/podcasts_uri/ips-on-diversity-podcast-s3e3-ableism-at-work/">Season 3 Episode 3: Ableism at Work with Cassandra Chiu, a vision impaired counsellor and advocate for PWDs, and Justin Lee, Senior Research Fellow at IPS</a></li>
<li><a href="https://ipscommons.sg/podcasts_uri/ips-on-diversity-podcast-s3e2-ageism-at-work/">Season 3 Episode 2: Ageism at Work with Heng Chee How, Deputy Secretary-General of the National Trade Union Congress (NTUC), and Associate Professor Helen Ko of the Master &amp; PhD in Gerontology Programmes at the Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS)</a></li>
<li><a href="https://ipscommons.sg/podcasts_uri/ips-on-diversity-podcast-s3e1-sexism-at-work/">Season 3 Episode 1: Sexism at Work, with Corinna Lim, Executive Director of the Association of Women for Action and Research (AWARE) and Simran Toor, Chief Executive Officer at SG Her Empowerment Limited (SHE) </a></li>
<li><a href="https://ipscommons.sg/ips-on-diversity-podcast-s2e9-youth-mental-health/">Season 2 Episode 9: Youth Mental Health, with Dr Jacqueline Tilley, Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychology at the National Institute of Education (NIE) and Asher Low, Founder of Limitless</a></li>
<li><a href="https://ipscommons.sg/ips-on-diversity-podcast-s2e8-what-makes-us-singaporean/">Season 2 Episode 8: What Makes Us Singaporean, with Matthew Matthews, Principal Research Fellow of IPS and Head of IPS Social Lab, and Oon Shu An, Singaporean actress and host</a></li>
<li><a href="https://ipscommons.sg/ips-on-diversity-podcast-s2e7-the-homeless-in-singapore/">Season 2 Episode 7: Homelessness, with Harry Tan, IPS Research Fellow, and June Chua, Co-founder of T Project</a></li>
</ul>

"On Diversity" is a podcast series of new insights and fresh discussions, inspired by IPS’ Managing Diversities research programme.

In each episode, IPS Associate Director Liang Kaixin will chat with guests to explore what diversity means to them, the changes they are making and the changes they hope to see in an increasingly fragmented society.

On Diversity features new episodes every week.

"On Diversity" is a podcast series of new insights and fresh discussions, inspired by IPS’ Managing Diversities research programme.
In each episode, IPS Associate Director Liang Kaixin will chat with guests to explore what diversity means to them, the changes they are making and the changes they hope to see in an increasingly fragmented society.
On Diversity features new episodes every week.

IPS On Diversity Podcast

"On Diversity" is a podcast series of new insights and fresh discussions, inspired by IPS’ Managing Diversities research programme. In each episode, IPS Associate Director Liang Kaixin will chat with guests to explore what diversity means to them, the changes they are making and the changes they hope to see in an increasingly fragmented society. On Diversity features new episodes every week.

"On Diversity" is a podcast series of new insights and fresh discussions, inspired by IPS’ Managing Diversities research programme. In each episode, IPS Associate Director Liang Kaixin will chat with guests to explore what diversity means to them, the changes they are making and the changes they hope to see in an increasingly fragmented society. On Diversity features new episodes every week.

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