The world of Tzu Chi April 2021 (Vol.133)

2021 • 04 10 Translated by Ten Zhe Xin A search on the Internet for the term “social worker in Malaysia” yields the name “Teoh Ai Hua”, a senior lecturer in social work, Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM). A further search revealed his notable background, which included being the press secretary to former Malaysian Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. “Working as a press secretary for those few years was actually a ‘sabbatical’ from social work,” he laughed during a phone interview. In 1996,Ai Hua graduated fromUUMwith a bachelor’s degree in Public Administration. In university, he was keen in social work and participated in a community service project organized by the Young Buddhist Association of Malaysia. He recalled a conversation with his father that led him to work as a social worker educator. “UUM established the Social Work programme in 1997. I told my father that I wanted to apply for that course and that worried him! I understood my parents’ concerns for my future if I worked as a social worker. ‘If I can’t be a social worker, I can at least be a social work educator, right?’ I thought to myself.” Ai Hua successfully got a job at UUM as a tutor for the social work programme. In the same year, he was sent to the UK for a one- year master’s degree studies in social work. He returned in 1998, and has been engaged in social work education to this day. During his career, he once served as press secretary to the Prime Minister. He has also worked closely with government agencies, especially with the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development (KPWKM), where social welfare is one its portfolios. Moreover, he is also involved in many of KPWKM’s training and planning on enhancing social work professionalism. A perplexing job? What exactly is a social worker? “This is a profession that often perplexed the general public. Social workers are professionally trained personnel, who are able to use their knowledge, skills and values to help others. They play different roles in different occasions. To put it simply, this job is about going through a process of accompanying and promoting positive change in the recipients or service users.” The social work profession covers a wide scope, including children, women, people with legal problems, the elderlies, drug addicts, the homeless, healthcare patients and others. Helping the poor and needy is only a part of the social workers’ job scope. They must actively seek out solutions for different social issues and accompany recipients through them. “The work of a social worker has many aspects. They can help a person in any stages of life, from birth to death, so to speak.” As mentioned earlier, what are the eature Composing a Social Workers’ Lullaby —Teoh Ai Hua, Senior Lecturer in Social Work, UUM “Like many parents, my father was very worried when he knew that I wanted to enrol in the social work course. Since I could not be at the frontlines, I will step back and support social work in the background.” ——Teoh Ai Hua