Events and Seminars

Centre for Social Development Asia

2019 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013

2019

Book Launch Event: Doing Good Better in Singapore

Date: 15 April 2019
Guest-of-Honour: Mr Desmond Lee, Minister for Social and Family Development

The book launch event was jointly organised by the Charity Council, Centre for Social Development Asia (CSDA), and Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), on 15 April 2019, to launch 2 publications - Doing Good in Singapore, and Accounting and Finance Handbooks for Charities.

The event was attended by a total of 156 participants from 86 charities. The authors/editors of the publications presented the topics and content covered in the books, and presented the publications to the Guest-of-Honour, Mr Desmond Lee, Minister for Social and Family Development. There were 2 panel sessions during the book launch event. The first was on 'Transforming the Singapore Charity Sector – Leading Towards Future Readiness', where panelists shared their insights on the trends and challenges facing the Singapore charity sector, and how charities should adapt for the future. The second session was on 'Best Practices in Accounting and Finance for the Charity Sector', focusing on the importance of good accounting practices.

Participants also visited the booths set up by Baker Tilly, CNPL, CFA Society Singapore, e2i, NCSS, RSM and Zeles, during the event.

Speakers/Panelists:

A/P Corinne Ghoh
Department of Social Work, NUS

Dr Ang Hak Seng
Commissioner of Charities

Dr Isabel Sim
Senior Research Fellow, Department of Social Work, NUS

A/P Alfred Loh
Department of Accounting, NUS Business School

Prof Teo Chee Khiang
Department of Accounting, NUS Business School

Ms Peh Kim Choo
Chief Executive Officer, Tsao Foundation and Director, Hua Mei Centre for Successful Ageing (Moderator)

Mr Sim Gim Guan
Chief Executive Officer, National Council of Social Service

Mr Tim Oei
Chief Executive Officer, National Kidney Foundation

Dr Gerard Ee
Chairman, Charity Council

Ms Susan Foong
Partner, Baker Tilly

Ms Woo E-Sah
Partner, RSM

Mr Simon Ng
Deputy President, CFA Society Singapore

Ms Choo Shiu Ling
Chief Executive Officer, Assisi Hospice

Mr Venkkat Ramanan
Regional Vice President – Asia Pacific, Chartered Institute of Management Accountants

Dr S. Vasoo
Associate Professorial Fellow, Department of Social Work, NUS

For more resources on the event, please refer to the following:

2017

Interactions between Non-profit Finance, Governance and Investment Style: Are Non-profits Active Equity Investors?

Date: 21 October 2017, 10.30am to 11.30am
Speaker: Eeva Ahdekivi, DBA from Aalto University in Helsinki, Finland, and Managing Director of Hartwall Capital Ltd

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Seminar on Research by Social Work Students

Date: 4 August 2017, 2pm to 5.30pm

This seminar showcases research by Social Work Honours students and covers two major themes - i) Child Development and Implications for Social Work, and ii) Social Work with Youth-At-Risk. The presentations in Panel 1 will discuss some of the issues relating to child development, as well as examine how relationships between children and family could affect a child’s development. Implications for Social Work will be discussed. The presentations in Panel 2 will examine issues relating to how programmes and services impact youth-at-risk and effects on successful outcomes.

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Click here for the presentation slides.

2016

Seminar on Research by Social Work Students

Date: 5 August 2016, 2pm to 6pm

This seminar showcases research by Social Work Honours and Masters students and covers two major themes - i) Caregiving Experiences in Mental Health and Eldercare, and ii) Social Work with Low-Income Families. The presentations in Panel 1 will examine the beliefs, attitudes, relationships and meanings in care-giving, and discuss the approach of person-centeredness. The presentations in Panel 2 will discuss the vulnerabilities of individuals and families from low-income backgrounds, including single parents and young mothers, while examining parent-child relationships and debt management. Implications for social work will be discussed.

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Click here for the presentation slides.

S R Nathan Professor Public Lecture on 'Social Innovation: The Renewal of Social Work Practice and Policy'

Date: 21 March 2016, 10am to 11.30am
Speaker: Prof Michael Sherraden, S R Nathan Professor of Social Work, NUS
Chair: A/P Ngiam Tee Liang, Department of Social Work, NUS

The S R Nathan public lecture was well attended by 95 participants, from the social service sector, social work students, and academic staff from NUS.

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Click here for the presentation slides.
Click here for the video recording of the lecture.

2015

Seminar on Research by Social Work Honours Students

Date: 6 Aug 2015, 3pm to 5pm
Chaired by: A/P Irene Ng, Department of Social Work, NUS

The seminar was attended by some 80 participants from field practitioners, students and staff. Four research projects were presented on the relationship between Social Work and Spirituality or Religiosity, and Youths in Care (see abstracts). Mr Muhammad Ilham Firdaus presented about the lived experiences of older Malay end-stage renal disease patients. Ms Siti Nur Diyanah Binte Hardy presented about how religious or spiritual persons affect the help-seeking behaviour of Malay persons with mental illnesses. Ms Ng Jinning Janine presented about the experience of independent living for youths from residential care. And Ms Zoe Tee Wan Ting presented about what makes an effective non-profit board in the voluntary children’s home sector.

BLESS touched many young lives in the Southwest region of Singapore

Date: 18 June 2015

Besides the mobile family day imitative, Bless has also started a community reading program, Shining Star Reads @ South West, to reach out to children in the South West district of Singapore. On a fortnightly basis, BLESS founder, Francesca Wah, and her group of volunteers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) and the National Institute of Education (NIE) visit the children at their void decks. At the program, the volunteers will read stories to teach these children values such as compassion for the community. Funded by the South West Community Development Council (CDC), Shining Star Reads @ South West has benefited more than 120 children since its launch in August 2014.

Social Isolation Seminar

Date: 18 June 2015, Southwest of Singapore

The Social Isolation Seminar featured how social isolation affects the well–being of elderly in Singapore and how it can be identified and managed. Prof James Lubben the originator of the Lubben Social Network Scale and two local speakers (Dr Angelique Chan and Dr Ng Wai Chong) shared their research and perspectives on tackling the issue of social isolation. Some 150 participants from the social service sector and academia attended the seminar. The seminar is organized by Next Age Institute, Social Service Institute and Centre for Social Development Asia.

Speakers:

Dr. James Lubben
Louise McMahon Ahearn Professor in Social Work, Director of Institute on Aging Boston College

Dr. Ng Wai Chong
Medical Director, Tsao Foundation

Ms Angelique Chan
Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School, Singapore
Department of Sociology, Singapore

For more resources, please refer to the following:

2014

BLESS launches Mobile Family Day to celebrate SG50

Date: 13 Dec 2014

Bringing Love To Every Single Soul (BLESS), a community-focused non-profit organisation managed by NUS students and alumni, launched the Mobile Family Day. This imitative aims to reach out to lower income residents in southwest Singapore in celebration of Singapore’s 50th anniversary. Through station games and exhibition booths to commemorate significant milestones in Singapore’s nation building journey, the mobile family days aims to educate the young about Singapore’s 49 years of heritage. The highlight of the event includes a 60-inch by 30-inch Lego mural put together by the community.

Launch of North West POSB SavingStars Programme

Date: 15 Nov 2014, 9:45am to 12:30pm

300 guests attended the Launch of North West POSB SavingStars Programme held at Republic Polytechnic on 15th Nov 2014. This programme is jointly organised by North West Community Development Council (CDC), POSB Bank Singapore, Care Corner Family Service Centres (FSC) within the North West District and Centre for Social Development (Asia). The 18 month programme, which has components of matched savings, experiential group work and financial literacy workshops, will enable 240 children to cultivate good saving habits and build knowledge on financial literacy. They will be supported to reach their savings goals by mentors from Care Corner FSC and also from their parents. CSDA will be working with Care Corner FSC on a research study involving the capturing and analysing of data on the impact that the programme has on the children’s knowledge and attitude towards savings and aspirations for the future.

Official Launch of Bringing Love to Every Single Soul (BLESS) and CSDA-BLESS collaboration

Date: 16 Aug 2014, 8.30am to 12.30pm
Guest of Honour: Ms Low Yen Ling, Parliamentary Secretary of Ministry of Social and Family Development & Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth

More than 100 people, including students, alumni, NUS staff, social service practitioners and elderly volunteers from the community attended the launch of Bringing Love To Every Single Soul (BLESS), a community-focused non profit organisation managed by NUS students and alumni. The event also celebrated the start of a three year collaboration between CSDA and BLESS which will set forth further initiatives on social development programmes and research initiatives. The event was graced by Singapore Parliamentary Secretary Ms Low Yen Ling, Ministry of Social and Family Development and Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth, who was the Guest-of-Honour.

To find out more about BLESS: Website, Facebook, and YouTube Channel

Seminar on Family and Child Welfare by Social Work Honours Students

Date: 5 Aug 2014, 2.30pm to 5.30pm

The seminar was very well attended with 141 participants from field practicioners, students and staff. The event started with an introduction of CSDA by A/P Corinne Ghoh followed by an introduction of the Chua Thian Poh Community Leadership Programme, who was the co-organiser of the seminar. The main presentations were delivered by four social work Honours students (see abstracts) and chaired by Dr Ngiam TL from the Department of Social Work. Their presentations covered topics such as divorce, homelessness, local reunification practice and offender re-entry process in the local context. There were active discussions on the implications for policies and service enhancements.

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S R Nathan Professor Public Lecture: Innovations in Asset Building by Prof Michael Sherraden

Date: 17 Feb 2014, 3pm to 5pm
Speaker: Michael Sherraden, Benjamin E. Youngdahl Professor of Social Development, George Warren Brown School of Social Work, Washington University in St. Louis, USA
Chair: A/P Irene Ng, Social Work Department, NUS

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Click here for the presentation slides.
Click here for the video recording of the lecture.

2013

University-Enterprise-VWO Model of Social Service for Industrial Workers in Shanghai

Date: 29 November 2013, 3pm to 5pm
Speaker: Ms Liu Maoxiang, Head, Social Work Program, Shanghai Vocation Management, College of Trade Union

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CIMA-NUS Research Partnership Signing Ceremony

Date: 25 November 2013, 2.30pm to 3.30pm

The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) and the National University of Singapore (NUS) have engaged in a research partnership to begin a three-year study on accountability in the social service sector in July 2014. The multi-disciplinary research team comprising of professors in the Centre for Social Development (Asia) (CSDA), Social Work Department and colleagues from NUS Business School aims to understand the standard and skill level of accountability of non-profit organisations in the social service sector. Recommendations for improvements to both policy makers and social service practitioners are the important goals of the study. The research study is also supported by the Office of the Commissioner of Charities, the National Council of Social Service and the Ministry of Social and Family Development.