Social Worker Mr Billy Loh Rong Shun was featured in the National Council of Social Service Website as part of the nation-wide campaign to attract interest in pursuing a career in Social Service

“It’s my privilege to journey with my clients and help them through hard times.  Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”

This is Mr Billy Loh’s mandate and one he uses to encourage his clients to gain self-reliance. 32-year-old Billy is a social worker at Rotary Family Service Centre (FSC). On a typical work day, Billy meets with clients and families on their difficult situations. His clients grapple with a myriad of issues, such as poverty, domestic violence, crime, drug abuse, divorce and problem gambling. Billy helps them evaluate their life options and develop a plan of action, working with community partners to seek necessary resources to empower his clients. Billy has always enjoyed helping people since young but he knows that just having a good heart is not enough in his profession. “Yes, compassion and kindness are important traits. But on top of that, you also need to be academically and professionally trained as well,” said Billy. While Billy already has a Bachelor degree in Counselling and a Graduate Diploma in Social Work (the minimum education qualification for Social Worker is a Bachelor degree in Social Work), he strongly believes in continuous learning to step up his game and is all set to be enrolled into the Master programme in Social Work at UniSIM with the support of Rotary FSC. “I believe that in the social service sector, especially when you are working closely and directly with clients, it is important to keep learning, be it through my supervisor, colleagues or regularly attending professional courses,” emphasised Billy.

(This article was first published by National Council of Social Service on http://www.ncss.gov.sg/social_service_jobs/billy.asp)