Congratulations and welcome to FASS, NUS.

My name is Esther Goh. I am the associate professor and head of the Department of Social Work in FASS.

Our Department offers a professional degree. That is, you will be ready to practice as a qualified social worker upon graduation.

Let me be quite transparent in sharing with you what social work entails: both the pain and pleasure.

For 12 years I practiced in the frontline as a social worker. I worked with children from broken and disadvantaged homes, single mothers, and parents who are deeply bound by drug addiction. Some of these drug addicts spent more than half their life-time incarcerated and left their children fatherless or motherless.

One of the toughest aspects of social work is the heart-wrenching stories that we must engage with in our day-to-day work. These stories could touch the very vulnerable parts of our own lives. It may even trigger our own unhealed wounds from the pain we might have experienced in our own growing up years. Therefore, to face the underbelly of our society requires boldness to face our own wounds,and courage to seek healing for ourselves as we journey with the pain of our clients.

To be a social worker, one also needs to have the capacity for relentless optimism in the face of intense negativity.

Yes, optimism!

Even in the most broken life, I was often surprised to see strength, joy, and beauty amidst darkness. These are the windows through which we social workers enter and anchor our work. Our eyes are trained to discover strengths and shine the spot-light of hope on these strengths to those we serve. Our pleasure comes when they start to believe in themselves. Such pleasures in our work are intangible and yet so precious and priceless.

You are very welcome to register for the social work introductory SW1101E this coming semester. I will be teaching the fundamentals of social work and how social work responds to societal needs and challenges.

At the end of the semester, you may put your head on your heart and ask yourself: is social work for me?

I look forward to seeing you on campus very soon.

Please feel free to view the video for the welcome message here.

Thank you.

Warm regards,
Esther C. L. Goh, Ph.D.
Head, Dept. of Social Work
National University of Singapore