In comparing two groups of Singaporeans – 311 millennials aged between 19 and 35 and 200 individuals aged between 60 and 69 (born between 1950 and 1959, thus part of the Merdeka Generation) – the focus of the research was on perceptions of life as a young Singaporean. In other words, the millennials were asked to reflect on their current life in the country today, whereas those belonging to the Merdeka Generation were asked to reflect on their life as a millennial during the 1970s and 1980s.
This roundup summarises the most important news stories around the world in the last two weeks (October 29 to November 11, 2019).
The collaboration (and conflicts) between social workers and school counsellors – in the school context, working with and for “at-risk” students – is (are) the focus of Lim and Wong’s (2018) study, which has the potential to offer practical recommendations for such professionals across Singapore. While some of the dynamics are well-documented, three limitations should be highlighted: First, the focus on inter-professional collaboration at the individual level ignores more structural mandates dictating the roles of the counsellors and social workers (and is thus a missed opportunity to interrogate how the professionals perceive their responsibilities); second, there was only one counsellor-social worker dyad in the sample of nine, which means professional interactions were not adequately captured; and third, persistent reliance on the label “at-risk”, in my opinion, continues to be problematic.
A study by the Singapore Management University (SMU) has found that more Singaporeans – including younger Singaporeans between 21 and 50 years old – are more comfortable with discussing death and are now “more aware and better informed of the purpose of palliative care in ‘relieving symptoms and improving the quality of life’ of older patients”. It was led by SMU’s Dr. Yeo Su Lin, who also argued that digital media and online interactions are likely explanations (or hypotheses) for younger Singaporeans to engage in conversations focused on the end-of-life or on death.
Ng’s (2019) excellent and policy-relevant research was characterised by robust data collection – using two different types of counts and involving social service agencies in the research – the creation of a base (figure) for future research and for regular counts longitudinally, as well as the pairing of the causes of homelessness with policy recommendations. Two limitations, nonetheless, should be flagged. The absence of: First, contextualisation of the 921 to 1,050 street homeless people in Singapore, especially in comparison to other developed countries or cities where, as mentioned in the publication, counts of homeless populations are part of regular policy activity; and second, substantive and empirical attention linked to the family and community networks of these individuals.
socialservice.sg 