15 receive social service honours, including founding member of S'pore's first inclusive pre-school
Awwa chief executive J.R. Karthikeyan received the President's Award for Social Service Professionals at the inaugural Social Service Professional Awards on July 2.
SINGAPORE - When Awwa chief executive J.R. Karthikeyan first thought about starting Singapore's first inclusive pre-school, he was sceptical about whether it would last as he thought it would be mistaken for an early intervention care programme.
'I wasn't sure we had the right playbook to set it up right,' he said.
But he added: 'Because there are no existing rules to play by, you have more control over setting standards that are aspirational and possibly meaningful.'
He went ahead to set up Kindle Garden Preschool in 2016, and nine years on, more than 650 children have attended the pre-school, located at the Enabling Village in Lengkok Bahru.
Mr Karthik received the President's Award for Social Service Professionals at the inaugural Social Service Professional Awards on July 2.
This is the highest accolade conferred to social service professionals with more than 15 years of experience, who have made significant contributions to the sector.
'The award is incredibly valuable to me because it affirms my contributions, and it's spurred me to do even better by my staff and the clients we support,' said Mr Karthik.
In his 17 years with Awwa, he has also opened a therapy hub, set up a 300-bed adult disability home, and started an initiative that engages seniors with dementia to take on volunteer work.
The
Social Service Professional Awards recognise the contributions of social service professionals in Singapore, including those in the fields of social work, youth work and counselling, among others.
Held in conjunction with the Social Service Summit organised by the National Council of Social Service, it recognised 13 individuals and two teams at the ceremony held at the Sands Expo and Convention Centre.
The Ministry of Social and Family Development has designated 2025 as the Year of Celebrating Social Service Professionals to honour their contributions. Singapore currently has more than 20,000 social service professionals.
President Tharman Shanmugaratnam, who was the guest of honour, presented the President's Award to three individuals: Mr Karthik; Ms Priscilla Lim, medical social work lead at the Singapore National Eye Centre; and Ms Chan Lay Lin, principal medical social worker at the Institute of Mental Health.
Minister for Social and Family Development Masagos Zulkifli presented the Excellence, Merit and Team Awards.
One of those who received the Excellence Award was Ms Charlene Heng, deputy director of SOS Academy at Samaritans of Singapore (SOS).
She recalled how she was inspired to start the charity's Be-A-Samaritan programme, which equips participants with the skills to respond to suicide distress, when she walked past a neighbour who was crying several years back.
She realised many people could encounter a suicidal person but not approach them, as they do not know what to do or say, and are afraid to trigger the person.
'Sometimes a person just needs human companionship at that critical point,' she said, adding that neighbours, friends and colleagues could be trained to help those around them who are in distress.
The Be-A-Samaritan programme has trained close to 6,000 participants since it was set up in 2022.
Ms Charlene Heng, deputy director of SOS Academy at Samaritans of Singapore, was one of those who received the Excellence Award.
PHOTO: SAMARITANS OF SINGAPORE
Ms Heng also developed SOS into a SkillsFuture-recognised training provider. The academy has trained over 2,000 social service, mental health and community healthcare professionals.
She said fund raising for new initiatives was a constant challenge in her 20 years in the social service sector, requiring 'painstaking' advocacy work.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, her team started a 24-hour text-based helpline, CareText, after finding that young people preferred texting as a form of communication.
There was no funding, and many risks around confidentiality and the worry that clients would screenshot and post their messages online, she said.
But the team decided to start it anyway due to the urgent need during the 2020 circuit breaker, as people were confined to their homes and needed someone to text when they felt distressed.
The service has since grown to respond to about 20,000 CareText messages every year.
Ms Heng said that some companies wish to donate to the Samaritans, but are afraid to be associated with the suicide prevention cause.
She hopes to break the stigma against suicide prevention, and work with more communities to tailor training to different contexts such as workplaces.
'If everyone is equipped with the skill set, I truly believe that is an answer to suicide prevention,' she said.
Correction note: The headline of this story has been edited for clarity.
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