Office of the Director-General of Social Welfare

SOCIAL INSIGHTS

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Social Insights

Written by the Director-General of Social Welfare, Ms Ang Bee Lian, this series of letters are for anyone hoping to find out more, and answer any questions you might have about Social Work. These are free for reproduction and distribution in its entirety or unaltered excerpts, as long as you do not charge a fee. Acknowledging the source of the letters on any distributed material is also appreciated.

You may download the e-books for Social Insights here: Volume Three, Volume Two and Volume One.

2022

2021

2020

- Practice Issues
Framing Social Issues and Perspectives
No. 1 / 2020
Oftentimes as students or even social workers, you may become frustrated that social work becomes interpreted into a profession that is...
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- Practice Issues
- Special Editions
Compassion: At the Heart of Management and Leadership
No. 2 / 2020
I hope you have learned about our journey towards recognition as a profession in the first letter. One of the challenges for social work...
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- Practice Issues
- Children and Family
- Fundamentals of Social Works
- Youth
Our Responsibility in Child Abuse Cases
No. 3 / 2020
In the course of your work, you may sometimes come across children with injuries (which do not look accidental in nature) or behavioural...
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- Practice Issues
- Special Editions
A New Better
No. 4 / 2020
The “New Normal” is a term that has been used so often to describe the times we live in now. The pandemic has brought...
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2019

- FUNDAMENTALS OF SOCIAL WORK
- PRACTICE ISSUES
Collective Learning and Co-creation
No. 1 / 2019
Many of us would have heard about the need to prepare for a future that seems to have more complex problems and challenging dynamics...
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- FUNDAMENTALS OF SOCIAL WORK
- PRACTICE ISSUES
Good Listening
No. 2 / 2019
Those of us who have been trained as social workers or counsellors would know the importance of listening when working with clients....
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- FUNDAMENTALS OF SOCIAL WORK
- PRACTICE ISSUES
Multi-disciplinary Team (revisited)
No. 3 / 2019
In recent years, discussions over the medical-social divide have shifted towards health-social integration in a welcomed move...
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- FUNDAMENTALS OF SOCIAL WORK
- PRACTICE ISSUES
Lessons from the Journey
No. 4 / 2019
As we commemorate Singapore’s bicentennial year, we take time to remember Singapore’s history and the people and events that have shaped our lives to be what it is today...
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- FUNDAMENTALS OF SOCIAL WORK
- PRACTICE ISSUES
Identifying Leaders and Talents
No. 5 / 2019
Identifying and deploying leaders has been a recurring topic in the social sector. This is not surprising, given that our sector relies heavily on people such as social workers, counsellors...
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- FUNDAMENTALS OF SOCIAL WORK
- PRACTICE ISSUES
Medical-Social Integration
No. 6 / 2019
Increasingly, we are recognising that health and social integration must gain more prominence to ensure that discharged patients continue to receive care ...
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- FUNDAMENTALS OF SOCIAL WORK
- PRACTICE ISSUES
Applying Integrative Thinking to Complex Social Issues
No. 7 / 2019
Many of you would have realised in the course of your work that there are often few simple solutions to complex social issues...
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2018

- PRACTICE ISSUES
Setting Key Performance Indicators
No. 1 / 2018
Performance measurement is part of good service delivery as it helps promote improvements and ensures accountability to funders and service users...
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- PRACTICE ISSUES
Setting Key Performance Indicators 2
No. 2 / 2018
In my last letter on setting Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), I elaborated on the various types of KPIs. As the term indicates, KPIs measure....
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- VULNERABLE PERSONS
Multi-Disciplinary Teams for Older Persons
No. 3 / 2018
Why is a multidisciplinary team (MDT) especially important in complex cases? Through experience, we know that the range of perspectives...
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- PRACTICE ISSUES
Innovation in Social Services
No. 4 / 2018
We live in an unpredictable world with a volatile economy as well as shifting social demographics, trends and cultural practices. In Singapore...
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- PRACTICE ISSUES
- VULNERABLE PERSONS
- CHILDREN AND FAMILY
Caregiving for Elderly
No. 5 / 2018
Many of you would have handled cases with elderly clients who rely heavily on caregivers for assistance in their activities of daily living...
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- PRACTICE ISSUES
- VULNERABLE PERSONS
- CHILDREN AND FAMILY
Vulnerable Adults Act
No. 6 / 2018
The Vulnerable Adults Bill has recently been passed. It aims to protect vulnerable adults from abuse, neglect or self-neglect, and to provide timely and effective interventions...
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- PRACTICE ISSUES
- Special Editions
- Fundamentals of Social Work
Reflections on Social Service Practice
No. 7 / 2018
In recent months, there has been much discussion about the subject of inequality. Academics to political office holders have actively contributed...
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- PRACTICE ISSUES
- Vulnerable Persons
- Fundamentals of Social Work
Ageing and Family
No. 8 / 2018
With improvements in science and health, people now live longer. This means that there will be more older persons in society...
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- PRACTICE ISSUES
- Vulnerable Persons
- Children and Family
- Fundamentals of Social Work
Dilemmas of Protective Work
No. 9 / 2018
Child abuse or neglect can have a long-standing impact across the whole spectrum of the child’s development and life span...
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- PRACTICE ISSUES
- Fundamentals of Social Work
Factors that Affect Change
No. 10 / 2018
As social service practitioners, many of you would have been introduced to various techniques and models of interventions...
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2017

- PRACTICE ISSUES
- Special Edition
Strategic Thinking
Special Edition 1 / 2017
At the Roundtable on The Stewardship Edge organised by Stewardship Asia in August last year, the exchange of views centred on values...
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- PRACTICE ISSUES
- special editions
- Children and Family
- Vulnerable Persons
National Family Violence Networking System Conference Closing Plenary
Special Edition 2 / 2017
We have done much in the last two decades in systematically building a system for responding to family violence in Singapore...
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- PRACTICE ISSUES
Monitoring, Benchmarking, Impact
No. 1 / 2017
Very often, we hear responses such as “we will monitor,” “why not monitor it for a while?” and “what have we done with the monitoring?”...
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- PRACTICE ISSUES
- Vulnerable Persons
- Fundamentals of Social Work
Early Access to Services by Older People
No. 2 / 2017
A common theme among students and practitioners about service delivery is how to better integrate services from the client’s perspective...
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- PRACTICE ISSUES
Shared Measurement and Values in Working Together
No. 3 / 2017
As part of working on the ground, gatherings such as town halls, engagement sessions and partnership networks are convened in order...
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- PRACTICE ISSUES
- Fundamentals of Social Work
Social Work: From Direct Practice to Administration
No. 4 / 2017
The growing complexities of social needs call for social administrators across the public and private sector to have a good grasp...
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- PRACTICE ISSUES
Data Storytelling
No. 5 / 2017
The current decade is filled with discussions about outcomes, evaluating social impact and translating research into improved service...
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- PRACTICE ISSUES
- Children and Family
- Vulnerable Persons
Early Intervention & Stability
No. 6 / 2017
There has been a lot of interest in preventive work, and especially so in the area of early intervention. One of the challenges of early intervention...
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- PRACTICE ISSUES
- Fundamentals of Social Work
Social Work Supervision
No. 7 / 2017
With the growing complexities faced by our clients, it is essential for social workers to be well supported in their practice. Social work...
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- PRACTICE ISSUES
Collaboration
No. 8 / 2017
Collaboration is often a common response to the constraint in resources for services and programs. Agencies are commonly exhorted to...
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- PRACTICE ISSUES
Behavioural Economics and Change in Social Behaviour
No. 9 / 2017
We often hear of several topics being mentioned within the social service sector. These include topics such as volunteerism, how to better...
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2016

- PRACTICE ISSUES
- Fundamentals of Social Work
Social Work Practice
No. 1 / 2016
Social work practice is very much about context and addressing social concerns and issues which are often at the nexus of the environment...
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- PRACTICE ISSUES
Designing Participation
No. 2 / 2016
Participation is a common word in many initiatives at the ground. But what exactly do we mean when we say we want to build collaborations...
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- Fundamentals of Social Work
Blended Economic and Social Approach
No. 3 / 2016
Very often, we hear responses such as “we will monitor,” “why not monitor it for a while?” and “what have we done with the monitoring?”...
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- PRACTICE ISSUES
Missing Conversations
No. 4 / 2016
You may have come across situations where much effort is involved in the process, but the outcomes may not necessarily be good. Or there...
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- PRACTICE ISSUES
- Children and Family
Working with Partners for Child Welfare
No. 5 / 2016
We often hear about working together for the well-being of children and also about the strengths-based approach in doing this. What might be...
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- PRACTICE ISSUES
- Vulnerable Persons
Promoting Integrated Help for the Elderly
No. 6 / 2016
It is common to hear the exhortation to promote integrated care and collaboration. What do people generally mean when they say this?...
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- PRACTICE ISSUES
- Vulnerable Persons
Social Work and Mental Health
No. 7 / 2016
As practitioners, we play a key role in managing risks and complexities that occur in the lives of our clients who are often those who have...
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- PRACTICE ISSUES
- Fundamentals of Social Work
Social Work, Social Policy and Social Change - Part 1
No. 8 / 2016
A common question that arises among practitioners in the social service sector is the relationship between social work, social policy...
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- PRACTICE ISSUES
- Fundamentals of Social Work
Social Work, Social Policy and Social Change - Part 2
No. 9 / 2016
In the previous letter, I had looked at the relationship between policy and micro practice and the six lessons that practitioners have garnered...
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- PRACTICE ISSUES
- Fundamentals of Social Work
Standards of Care and Due Diligence
No. 10 / 2016
Leaders, supervisors and organisations need to be mindful of safe practice when delivering services to clients and to ensure that there...
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- PRACTICE ISSUES
Behavioural Economics and Social Work
No. 11 / 2016
We often hear of several topics being mentioned within the social service sector. These include topics such as volunteerism, how to better...
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- Special Edition
- PRACTICE ISSUES
- Fundamentals of Social Work
Capacity and Capability Building
Special Edition 1 / 2016
We hear quite a lot about capacity and capability building in the sector but what do people usually mean by this? Most of the time...
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- Special Edition
- Fundamentals of Social Work
Social Change and Capacity Development
Special Edition 2 / 2016
This letter builds on the ideas brought up in two previous letters titled “designing participation” and “capacity and capability building”...
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- Special Edition
- Practice Issues
Managing Change
Special Edition 3 / 2016
Leaders are often asked how they manage change. Most leaders would find this topic an uncomfortable one especially when change entails...
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2015

- FUNDAMENTALS OF SOCIAL WORK
The Role of Social Work in Modern Social Care Models
No. 1 / 2015
With the rising number of frail older persons needing care, someone asked me where social work fits in the modern models of care. One can...
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- Disability
- Vulnerable persons
- Practice issues
APS Casework
No. 2 / 2015
You would have, of late, been reading about protecting vulnerable adults particularly the elderly. The services provided will include...
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- Children and Family
- Vulnerable persons
Understanding Policy Issues on Poverty
No. 3 / 2015
By and large, we are fortunate that in a city-state with broadly speaking, good housing means that we do not have to grapple as intensely...
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- PRACTICE ISSUES
- Vulnerable persons
Helping Those With Debt
No. 4 / 2015
Social workers in the course of their work will come across individuals and families who face debt payment problems. Debt payment problems...
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- Fundamentals of social work
- Practice issues
Ethics and Accreditation Part 1
No. 5 / 2015
One of the greatest concerns among professionals is the occasion when the conduct of a fellow professional calls public attention to the...
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- Fundamentals of social work
- Practice issues
Ethics and Accreditation Part 2
No. 6 / 2015
This is a follow up to the earlier letter on the code of ethics for social work. Breaching the Code is not necessarily breaking the law...
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- Children and family
- Youth
- Practice issues
- Vulnerable persons
Helping Families with Low Income
No. 7 / 2015
In an earlier letter (“No. 3/ Vol 2/ 2015: Understanding Policy Issues on Poverty”), I touched on how we are fortunate that social work...
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- Youths
- Children and family
Understanding the Rehabilitative Approach for Youths who Commit Offences
No. 8 / 2015
Many social service professionals are engaged in preventive and early intervention services and programmes for at-risk youth. This is the...
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- Fundamentals of social work
Community Engagement
No. 9 / 2015
In the course of your studies, you will hear about community engagement and you yourself may often refer to it. It is sometimes used...
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- Fundamentals of social work
Social Work and First Principles
No. 10 / 2015
You may have been asked what social work aims to do that requires years of training when what a social worker does appears to be common...
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- Children and family
Sandwiched Generation
No. 11 / 2015
Think demographics and we think age groups, profile of households, single or married or the number of children. Policymakers use...
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- Youth
- Children and family
- Practice issues
Social Work With Young People
No. 12 / 2015
A common topic in social policy and social work practice is the treatment of offences by young people. The treatment ranges along a....
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- Practice issues
- Fundamentals of social work
Social Empathy in Policy Design
No. 13 / 2015
Social work students are sometimes unwittingly caught in having to respond to whether they should be in direct practice or in policy work...
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- Disability
- Fundamentals of social work
- Practice issues
Working in Emergency Situations
No. 14 / 2015
Being able to carry out crisis intervention work is one of the basic skills that social workers are trained for. But what exactly does...
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- PRACTICE ISSUES
- Fundamentals of social work
Good Questions and Show of Evidence
No. 15 / 2015
It is not uncommon for practitioners and interns to rush into getting something out such as an evaluation, a survey, a compilation...
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- Fundamentals of social work
- Children and family
- Youth
- Disability
- Vulnerable persons
Re-entry and Integration
No. 16 / 2015
Social work in the criminal justice system and in particular in aftercare is crucial work although it takes place in a secondary...
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- Fundamentals of social work
- Youth
- Practice issues
Education and Social Work Training
No. 17 / 2015
Having decided to invest time and resources in a university degree in social work, what might you want to get out of it? If you have not thought...
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- special editions
Letter to Social Service Leaders 2015
No. 18 / 2015
I shared about the expanded horizons for learning in the sector with initiatives such as the sabbatical leave scheme and how this allows...
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- special editions
- Fundamentals of social work
- Practice issues
Collaborative Practice in Social Work
Special Edition / 2015
Recently, I asked Mrs Ann Wee what question she might set for an exam question for Social Work today if we were to have a chance to answer it...
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2014

- FUNDAMENTALS OF SOCIAL WORK
What is Social Work?
No. 1 / 2014
Oftentimes as students or even social workers, you may become frustrated that social work becomes interpreted into a profession that is...
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- FUNDAMENTALS OF SOCIAL WORK
Differences from Volunteerism
No. 2 / 2014
I hope you have learned about our journey towards recognition as a profession in the first letter. One of the challenges for social work...
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- Children and Family
- Youth
Caring for Juveniles
No. 3 / 2014
When professionals appear before the juvenile court judge, their recommendations assuring that the children would be well taken care...
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- PRACTICE ISSUES
- Fundamentals of social work
Integration
No. 4 / 2014
A common topic or comment about services for clients is about integration. What do we mean by this? What does integrated services...
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- Children and Family
Family Centred Practice
No. 5 / 2014
One common topic among professionals is the discussion around family-centred practice. And while each social worker is expected...
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- PRACTICE ISSUES
- Fundamentals of social work
- Disability
Integrated Care
No. 6 / 2014
The subject of integrated care continues to be an active issue for discussion after my earlier letter on this topic. I had reiterated the...
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- PRACTICE ISSUES
- Fundamentals of social work
Basics that help bring about change
No. 7 / 2014
Social workers do many things. Primarily, we bring about changes – in the lives of individuals, families and communities. We don’t do...
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- PRACTICE ISSUES
- Fundamentals of social work
- Vulnerable Persons
Advocacy
No. 8 / 2014
Advocacy is certainly one of the key values that social work adheres to. It is part and parcel of the mission of social work which is...
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- PRACTICE ISSUES
- Fundamentals of social work
Evaluation, Contribution and Attribution
No. 9 / 2014
One of the perennial challenges of social policy, social work and social service is being able to state categorically what the direct...
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- PRACTICE ISSUES
- Fundamentals of social work
Case and Cause Advocacy II
No. 10 / 2014
Recently, I wrote about case and cause advocacy and many have said that they found the explanation helpful. One person reminded me...
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- Fundamentals of social work
Refreshed Opportunity for Social Workers
No. 11 / 2014
The world we live in now has become volatile, complex, uncertain and ambiguous. The environment has become more dynamic and complex...
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- Fundamentals of social work
Multidisciplinary Team
No. 12 / 2014
As problems are viewed more holistically, interventions need to be provided by a wider range of services working closer together...
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- Vulnerable Persons
Vulnerable Persons
No. 13 / 2014
It is common for a case involving a vulnerable person to be surfaced to an agency through a phone call or an email with some information...
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- Vulnerable Persons
- Children and Family
Older Persons and Neglect
No. 14 / 2014
There is now more news about older persons who are subjects of questionable influence, neglect and abuse or fraudulent activity...
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- PRACTICE ISSUES
- Vulnerable Persons
Risk Assessment
No. 15 / 2014
We hear about how social workers and caseworkers should conduct risk assessment and consider how to manage the risks. In reality, activities...
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- special editions
Reflections on Social Service Leadership 1 (to social service leaders)
Special Edition / 2014
As we come to the close of the year, we can say that we have strengthened the foundation for the nurturing of leaders for our sector...
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- special editions
Reflections on Social Service Leadership 2 (to social service leaders)
Special Edition / 2014
As we enter into the New Year and SG50 celebrations, it is good to sum up the attributes needed for good leadership in the social service...
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Office of the Director-General of Social Welfare

SOCIAL INSIGHTS

2022

Social Service Leadership

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

E-BOOKS Download in full (PDF)

Office of the Director-General of Social Welfare