Reference Letter from Ellie

Date: 8 May 2012

To whom it may concern,

I have been supervised by Elizabeth Quek  since joining the THK Family Service Centre @ Tanjong Pagar in June 2011.

As a new social work graduate, I was rather daunted by the responsibilities of a social worker in a Family Service Centre setting. However I was fortunate to have a supervisor like Elizabeth who was empathetic and created a very positive and encouraging atmosphere for me.  This enables me to trust her and have honest discussion regarding my work whenever we meet for supervision. Elizabeth is also very open in sharing reading materials and ideas she gained from talks. And her enthusiasm is certainly infectious!

One trait I observe of Elizabeth is her belief in empowering clients and focusing on their strengths and this belief of hers sometimes challenges my perception of clients. For example, I was initially sceptical about Elizabeth’s idea of getting clients to volunteer for us in events as I assumed that volunteerism is the least of client’s priorities. However Elizabeth believes that most clients would like to give back in some way to the FSC and volunteerism presents a good opportunity. Hence I made my call to my clients, bracing myself for rejection, To my surprise they say yes and after getting their feedback for volunteering, it is always almost the same – they are happy to do it and even asked that I contact them if I need help in future!

I see Elizabeth as a good role model professionally and aspire to be like her as she is ever-ready to make changes to her practice for the benefits of her clients.

Best regards,

Elizabeth Thambidurai

Social Worker

Reference Letter from Feng Ying

30th September 2016
To Whom It May Concern,

Reference Letter

It is with great pleasure to provide this reference letter for Miss Elizabeth Quek, who was my supervisor while I was having my first Social Work practicum, as part of my university’s Social Work requirements, at Thye Hua Kwan Family Service Centre (Tanjong Pagar) from 1st May 2014 to 31st July 2014.

During this period, I have truly benefited from Miss Elizabeth’s supervision. She has the necessary managerial skills and main qualities of a good supervisor. She has great communication skills, which allows me to communicate with her at ease regards to my work. She is also approachable when I come to her for questions and feedback. This makes her an efficient supervisor as it brings in the trust and openness between her employees and herself.

Additionally, Miss Elizabeth is more than willing to share her wisdom, knowledge and experiences with the interns. She is to be commended for her professionalism, specifically the concern for her students and quality of instruction. She plans well and works diligently at being organized. Miss Elizabeth has creative methods when she teaches the students. I was taught on various visual tools such as, the strengths cards and feelings cards, which were not taught in school. These have helped me on my social work journey and I applied what I have learnt into my second social work practicum, which the clients have benefitted from the sessions. Miss Elizabeth also values the interns, as she understands the interns’ worth and treats them accordingly. The interns were touched and appreciative when she encouraged us with sweet treats and words of care and concern, because it is the small gestures which makes a big difference.

As Miss Elizabeth is trained in Narrative Therapy, I was blessed to learn more about it from her. It was an insightful and eye-opening experience for me after I watched a demonstration of “externalization in narrative therapy” in one of her sessions and eventually used it in my session with my clients. Miss Elizabeth is also an empathic social work practitioner, as seen from her sessions with clients. This is particularly important, because having the empathy for clients is one of the fundamental elements in social work practice. Miss Elizabeth has her clients at heart and it can be seen from the case conferences where she advocated for them. My time with Miss Elizabeth has created a positive impact on my life journey and as a person.

Miss Elizabeth’s 10 years of experiences in the social service sector has proved that she has a good understanding of social workers’ roles, values and knowledge, as seen from her high standard of quality in her sessions and supervision. Miss Elizabeth is valuable to any employer and a great asset to the social service sector. Should you require any further information about Miss Elizabeth’s skills and talent, please feel free to contact me.

Sincerely,
Tan Fengying