SOS line

Honeybunz SG

Is it true that the SOS hotline is always engaged?

My friend told me that her son's classmate was under a lot of stress. My friend's son tried to call SOS, but the line was busy. Soon after that, the classmate committed suicide. If I remember correctly, she said that both her son and son's classmate were from Raffles JC

If really like that, and now ppl are under so much stress, then how? How to save life?

Ito_^ SG

i don’t know but if its true, den i think it is very bad.

tomsss SG

if SOS is for cases like that one u mention, then i think its a bit too late already. The school itself should be responsible in advising how to handle stress... i mean they gave them so much to do with such tight deadline, like leaving them to die like that. It's like a room with no emergency exits, but only have a flare to shoot out of the window, hoping someone will spot and rescue.

ditzy SG

Not true, I called before, I got in the first try. Very Happy

tomsss SG

then you went to chat with the lady and hog the line right! Orhhhh.... *point point*

ditzy SG

I didn't hog the line, the lady on the other line was very patient. I didn't spend more than 10mins on the line. Smile

tomsss SG

oh.... is it like 24hrs? wow whoever on duty must be.... reading some comic book or something till dawn Razz

kaister SG

Lack of funding lah Confused

ditzy SG

I'm sure there is more than one person manning the lines at any one time. Smile

udontknowme SG

yeah...its ALWAYS engaged... Neutral

if someone urgently needs to talk...i think better go find some other number to call Neutral

if its really an emergency, are you allowed to call 999 in singapore?? Confused

Honeybunz SG

I heard in this line (social work), very hard to find manpower.

Even those manning the hotline are just volunteers. If the organisation is lucky, they will have regular volunteers. But so hard to come by.

Devil1976 SG

X 2. That's what I think too...

Devil1976 SG

Let's put it this way.

Volunteers have to feed themselves too... End of the day when they're having financial problems, who's gonna help them?

Another thing about being a volunteer is that sometimes people just f*ck and order you around like a useless piece of sh|t.... Talk about a more caring society...? Rolling Eyes

udontknowme SG

they are always advertising for volunteers... Neutral

but the thing is that these volunteers have to be trained. and even then, not all those who volunteer can qualify... Neutral

they also say that they DO have a few professional psychologists there just in case they are needed....

um...just random ramblings... Embarassed Razz Laughing Neutral

Honeybunz SG

Another very sad fact is that, despite all the social problems (ie. disabilities, poor, family problems etc), in Singapore we are seriously short of qualified social workers and psychologists. Even if there is a pool of them, not all will stay in this line.

FireIce SG

no call before leh......

there are not many ppl manning the lines
and one call usually talk damn long one, so hogging up the line.......

and it's very hard to justify how many ppl shd be there.....
sometimes u have 10 ppl wanting to commit suicide
sometimes u get 2 calls from some ppl whose pet dogs died
sometimes u have 5 students ranting about stress bcos exams coming
and oso, how many ppl in singapore are actually trained or have the talent to talk and offer advice to these ppl?

it's a good and bad thing the hotlines are hot.......

there are more than 1 organisation offering such assistance......
if this one cannot call thru, there are others u can try
check AA forum for the list of numbers (hope the thread is still there somewhere)