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

TZU CHI 133 27 expenses. He said, “Non-citizens have to pay a registration fee of RM100 every time they visit a government hospital for treatment. This does not include the cost of medical consultation and medicine. It is a heavy burden for non-citizens who work as labourers.” However, as most of these foreigners were already used to life in Malaysia, life was still more comfortable here even though they were overstaying as compared to the struggle for food and clothing in their home countries. Therefore, most of them were unable to understand the painstaking advice of social workers. Weng Loon once assisted an Indonesian mother and son in obtaining their identification documents and the child’s birth certificate, and arranged for them to return to live in Indonesia. “Nonetheless, on the day of their return, the mother and son never showed up, and I could no longer reach out to them. I have no idea what happened to them. Perhaps the mother changed her mind at the very last minute and decided to continue overstaying.” For such a “mystery case”, Weng Loon could only choose to let go. He sighed, “Everyone thinks differently. The only thing that social workers can do is to give suggestions and provide solutions. In the end, it is still up to the service users to make the call and act upon it.” This is the never-changing principle that social workers uphold, and Weng Loon has been keeping to it till this day. Weng Loon used to work with children and youth. After joining Tzu Chi, he has the opportunities to work with families, elderlies, people with medical issues, and more. These exposures are not only eye-opening, but are also learning opportunities for him. He said, “My experience is still limited and now, I need to start learning again. I am grateful that Tzu Chi has a culture of sharing and helping each other. The exchanges of views and ideas among colleagues have strengthened my ability to handle cases.” Seeing and responding to changes Even though Weng Loon graduated from the Department of Social Work and has been working professionally as a social worker for several years, he agreed that the profession is abstract. The core of social work is to help people, but how should they help? Who should they reach out to help? There is no definite answer, and it all depends on the individual cases. Before this, most of the cases that Weng Loon dealt with involved youth and children’s social problems. As the persons concerned were under 18 years old, in cases of abuse or violence, the government social workers (DSW officers) had the right to apply to the court to place the child in a safe place. On the other hand, cases that involved adults would be handled differently. For example, when asked how a social worker would deal with drug abuse cases like the one encountered by volunteer Wong Lee Poh, he replied, “We need to talk to him in a calming tone and manner. There are some skills in conversing. For instance, we will not try to persuade him to get rid of drugs at the first meeting; this will induce ill feeling and avoidance. But after establishing a trusting relationship, we can then try to ask him whether he had thought about quitting drugs. We will care for him in a friendly way and gradually guide him to overcome the problem.” Regardless of how the persons concerned The ‘Big Dipper’ – Social Workers