Apart from some aspects, I do enjoy the major part of my work - really. Pay may not be great, but at least you feel that you are contributing something tangible to other fellow humans who just need that extra help from you to make things better for them.

Yet whenever I receive yet another edition of the NUS Alumni magazine, AlumNUS, social service seems to be a taboo word that is seldom uttered. All featured people belong to prominent industries - IT, Banking, Finance, Business, Research, Bioscience, Medicine... Social Services have no place in their proud line-up of alumni. Thy're probably even ashamed that so many of their graduates have ended up in dead-end jobs like those in the social service sector. Can't feature anyone of them and damage their own reputation as a 'leading' provider of tertiary education.

People in the helping profession are such invisible people in society, aren't we? As invisible as the people we try to help. But don't we contribute to the society as well?

Maybe it's because local education has numbed our ability to relate to humans. Sure, one natural disaster and aid pours in, one article about a poor destitute old woman living in awful conditions and people donate. But actually facing up to the reality of being in a world of humans who come in all shapes and sizes is not something many seem to want to do.

Recently a newly-appointed high-ranking personnel previously from the commercial world talked to us about how society is changing and we should learn to do things differently. He explained how in his previous jobs they communicated effectively through email without ever seeing each other and everything worked out perfectly well. The same goes to the future of our sector.

How convenient. Where will social services go then? Perhaps eventually they'll be no more face-to-face counsellors who would provide you with personal warmth and genuine care and concern in your darkest days. Perhaps eventually, the only way to seek help for your personal problems is through the email, where help comes 3 days after you commit suicide in the form of words on the computer screen.

Many people just do not understand the social service sector. And because they don't understand, to them social service is like a road-sweeper - just keep the trash out of sight from our perfect society and that's all you need to do. How difficult can sweeping away 'trash' be?

Not when the 'trash' is human. It takes so much more to work with humans than many think. I know that not only because I am in social service, but also because I was a 'trash' before. Yet few actually appreciate what we do, and even fewer are willing to try and understand what we do. They expect miracles, but are not willing to give recognition to the work.

A thinking fostered by education? I'm sure. Since when do you see schools inviting people from the social service sector to give career talks?

I admit I'm extremely biased against the local education system. Whatever it is, the social service sector is an invisible part of society that everyone needs but few are willing to acknowledge.

That's why I said - where is the love?