Feelings of burnout can be unsettling or even terrifying, and around the world social work burnout has been very well-documented. Over time, we hope to better understand the causes of burnout, including the structural causes, but for now, as a start, it feels important to normalise such discourse in Singapore. Therefore, in this episode, we speak to two young Singaporean social workers, “Jing” and John Lim (savethesocialworker.com) about their experiences of burnout and self-care.
It has been more than 18 months since Singapore’s first climate rally at Hong Lim Park in September 2019, and the COVID-19 pandemic, as we have documented time and time again in this podcast, has only highlighted and exacerbated existing socio-economic inequalities in the country. With one of SG Climate Rally’s founding members, Estella Ho, we talk about intersectional climate justice and the unequal effect of climate change. In addition, we also learn more about her activist and advocacy work with the movement, in terms of her experience working with government agencies, working with other groups and organisations in the same space, and dealing with burnout.
With the aim of improving the way the National University of Singapore handles sexual misconduct through community-led efforts, Students for a Safer NUS – or safeNUS – was formed by a group of concerned students in 2019. With one of its co-founders, Carissa Cheow, we learn more about the initiative and its work to cultivate a safer and more inclusive campus, as well as the challenges the team faces, including coping with burnout and working with the university.
If you’re not on the Telegram channel OpenJio, you might be missing out on the latest events and causes in Singapore’s social sector. But in addition to learning more about the initiative, how do we sustain the interest of youths and young adults in these social events and causes? In our conversation with core team member Amos Liu, we also talk about his personal volunteerism journey and some challenges OpenJio faces.
The last time we discussed mental health on this platform was in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. With former nominated member of parliament Anthea Ong, we examined the levels of awareness, acceptance, and action. Today, with Chirag Agarwal, co-founder of Talk Your Heart Out, we focus on mental health at the workplace. In addition, we discuss the state of professional services and the structural, policy, and cultural changes for the future.
socialservice.sg 