Outreach, Welfare

Awards, promotions for MWS staff

ON SEPT 25, 2012, Methodist Welfare Services (MWS) held its inaugural Staff Recognition Awards to celebrate the dedication and service of the staff of its 14 welfare services and centres through the conferment of Long Service Awards and promotions.

The event at the Methodist Centre saw 39 staff receiving their Long Service Awards and 29 staff receiving promotions, which adds up to almost one-fifth of the staff in the MWS family.

When asked what drove their unwavering commitment over the years, two MWS staff exclaimed: “Passion!”

They were Ms Susan Quah, Senior Welfare Executive of Christalite Methodist Home, who was receiving her award for 10 years of service, and Mr Christopher Rinopa Ravelo, Senior Nursing Aide of Bethany Methodist Nursing Home, who was receiving his award for five years of service.

Channels of God’s blessings

Indeed, passion inspired by God’s love is the driving force behind the dedication of these shining examples and many others like them.

Ms Esther Ong, who received her five-year Long Service Award, is a social worker of Daybreak Family Service Centre (DFSC). Ms Ong has been a channel of blessing to families. Her cheerful and helpful disposition has been an asset to DFSC.

Her dedication to help families has been exemplary. She was even willing to provide special care to a beneficiary’s child beyond her usual working hours when there was an emergency situation. Taking this in stride, she said that it “helped her to build a stronger bond” with the beneficiary she was helping.

Ms Ong has expressed that her work has been “enriching and given her personal growth”, as the process of working with clients in handling their relationships with family has helped her to gain insights about her own life.

Ms Ruth Ng, a Senior Social Worker at Covenant Family Service Centre, has been able to walk the extra mile with her beneficiaries by “drawing strength from God every day”. In one particular case, to ensure that the children of her client attended the Student Care Centre after school, she waited for them outside the school and accompanied them personally to the centre every day for a few months.

Her proactive and responsive attitude in helping to meet the needs of the beneficiaries is admirable. Her cheerful demeanour and mastery of skill in intensive casework management has helped prevent the shattering of lives.

When approached to share her inspiration for working with the families in such a tireless manner, she said that “the resilience of the human spirit” has kindled her passion.

Career development at MWS
A common thread among staff responses was also a sense of gratitude to the organisation, a desire to give back to an organisation that recognises their needs, be it work-life balance, training or career development. As Mrs Jenny Bong, Group Executive Director of MWS, said in her congratulatory message to the staff, MWS is committed to the development and training of staff.

Mrs Bong pledged that MWS will continue to invest in the staff and will “do ADR – Attracting, Developing and Retaining the right staff – rather than performing the emergency manoeuvre of ‘CPR’ (Cardiopulmonary resuscitation) in response to crisis situations”.

She explained that this means MWS will have in place systems that match talents and skills of staff and positions, especially in meeting the impact of the “silver tsunami” that will hit Singapore.

There is still much to do amongst the needy in Singapore, especially with lower-income groups and families under stress. Mrs Bong noted that there are many unexplored and under-served segments of society, hence an urgent need to enhance staff capabilities at MWS to serve these people.

If you are interested and have the relevant qualifications for the social service sector, write to hr@mws.org.sg or visit www.mws.org.sg for more information.

Cheryl Goh is the Senior Executive (Communications) of Methodist Welfare Services.

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A special service for Advent

PAYA LEBAR CHINESE METHODIST CHURCH (PLCMC) will begin the season of Advent with a worship service that reverently anticipates the coming of the Lord.

“Come, Lord Jesus: An Advent Service of Lessons and Carols” will be held at PLCMC on Dec 1, 2012, at 7.30 pm. e Voices of Praise, an inter-church choral group under the direction of Mr John Ang, will be singing alongside other choral groups from PLCMC, and a special offering will be taken to support the church’s mission fund.

The service will include selections from Handel’s Messiah, along with advent hymns and anthems to express the wonder and hope of Advent. It will be conducted in English with some parts in Mandarin, and will be held in the second-floor sanctuary. For more information, call PLCMC at 6286-7243.

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