Publications from ODSW Social Insights: Letters by DSW (Vol 2) | Page 127

Special Editions
The Soul of Nation Building in Singapore:
Contributions from Social Work
This chapter examines how the field of social work has contributed and
can contribute to nation building in Singapore. The chapter focuses on
the “soulful” part of nation building, which is a necessary aspect of nation
building and complements other critical aspects such as those related to
military and economic efforts.

The Soul of Nation Building
A nation is built through a complex confluence of conditions and cultures
under a distinctive set of pressures. One view is that nation building in
Singapore, quite like others in this region, started with a decolonisation
experience. Post-colonial leaders had the arduous task of engineering a
sense of nationalism among our population. Singapore’s approach towards
nation building could be said to have begun in the wake of the Republic’s
separation from Malaysia. Singapore’s leaders then were faced with the task
of shedding Singapore’s pre-independence identity and replacing it with a
viable “progressive” identity, with social welfare as part of the foundation
for a new nation.
For progress to take place, the social well-being of people has to be taken
care of and social welfare institutions are often used to respond to the
needs of society and its members for health, education, and economic
and social well-being. Some view social welfare as a “first-line support
to enable individuals to cope successfully with a changing economic and
social environment and to assure the stability and development of social
institutions” (Romanyshyn & Romanyshyn, 1971, p.34). Many societies use
the institution of social welfare to provide all citizens with opportunities
to participate fully in society and to achieve their maximum potential. In
this regard, social welfare includes those provisions and processes directly
concerned with the improvement of the quality of life, the development
of human resources and the treatment and prevention of social problems.
It involves social services to individuals and families as well as efforts to
strengthen or modify social institutions and social welfare functions to
maintain the social system and to adapt it to changing social realities.
Social welfare provisions therefore encompass diverse public and private
social services. For example, the social welfare system may provide family
and child welfare services, medical and health provisions, legal services,
criminal justice activities and income supports. Social welfare may provide
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