Mr Masagos Zulkifli, Minister for Social and Family Development, Second Minister for Health and Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs
Ms Ang Bee Lian, Member of SUSS Board of Trustees, and Senior Advisor to the Ministry of Social & Family Development
Associate Professor Ang Seng Bin, Chairman, Board of Directors of Allkin Singapore
Professor S. Vasoo, Honorary Advisor of Allkin Singapore
Colleagues and Friends
A very good morning and welcome to this morning’s Symposium. I am very happy to see the biennial event, the Allkin-SUSS Symposium, making a return to our campus after a short hiatus of two years because of the COVID pandemic.
A Proactive Vision for the Future
2. Today, more than 500 social service agencies are helping those in need to live with dignity. However, the social challenges they face are always changing, creating new and complicated problems such as increasing mental health issues, domestic abuse, and the effects of economic uncertainty. This dynamic situation requires our professionals to keep building their capabilities.
3. A lot of clients deal with several, related issues that need a multidisciplinary approach. Developing skills helps professionals to offer holistic support that covers different areas of a client’s life.
4. Good quality social work can transform the lives of vulnerable people and is an essential part of multi-disciplinary and multi-agency work1.
5. We are here today to explore new ways, learn from one another, and work together across sectors. Our goal is to improve our knowledge and impact in meeting the varied and complex needs of our communities.
Introducing SWAPS
6. We have renamed this event as the Social Work Academia-Practice Symposium (SWAPS) to show our dedication to keeping up with the changes and aligning with SUSS’ mission of advancing social good through meaningful lifelong learning, practical research and effective collaborations.
7. SWAPS was started over a decade ago, in 2013, through the collaboration between academia and practice. The idea was to foster collaboration to enhance capacity building among social work practitioners. The Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS), known for its practice-based approach in its social work programmes, has been at the forefront of this initiative.
8. I am delighted, especially, to welcome back Ewha Womans University, a distinguished partner in our collaborative network. This partnership shows our strong commitment to global engagement and innovation in social work education and practice. Based on our existing MOU, Ewha and SUSS are starting a joint journey of mutual learning, research discoveries, and rewarding student exchange experiences in social work.
Thriving against the odds
9. The main topic of this year’s symposium is Adaptive Capacity Building. This idea comes from the world of environmental sciences, and it involves developing the abilities, knowledge, resources, and strategies that are necessary for dealing with changes in the environment. Although adaptive capacity building today mainly concentrates on solving problems in our natural environment, its principles and practices are also important for us to understand how to manage complexities in our social environment.
10. Singapore is a fast-changing and diverse society, where we face constant change, instability, and uncertainty in our socio-ecological systems. This turbulence has clearly affected the field of social work, which deals with the growing complexity of the problems that arise from the social fabric. These problems are called “wicked problems” in current discussions, and they are not only complicated but also have multiple dimensions, requiring approaches that are different from traditional methods.
11. Adaptive Capacity Building is therefore a crucial tool in this context, because it helps our social workers adapt to complex and uncertain situations, overcome new and unknown challenges, and thrive. With this tool, social workers can develop the skills to handle these wicked problems, strengthening their abilities and their resilience. This transforms not only individual practitioners, but also the profession and society at large.
12. Today’s symposium brings together notable speakers, experienced social work practitioners, respected social work academics, and our students. I am sure that you will all learn useful insights and gain from this shared experience.
13. In closing, I would like to express my appreciation and thanks to Allkin Singapore and Ewha Womans University for working with SUSS on this very important area of work.
14. I wish all of you a fruitful and stimulating symposium. Thank you.
1 https://www.msf.gov.sg/what-we-do/odgsw/social-insights/2014-Refreshed-opportunity-for-social-workers