AT 47, he accepted an offer of early retirement after 25 years with Singapore Customs, when he found he was unable to cope with his new job scope. His prospects were bleak. He tried out several jobs, including that of a security officer and even went jobless for nine months. Then, two years ago, Mr Shahril Sulaiman (picture) sought help from the Workforce Development Agency, which enrolled him in a three-month course at education provider Healthcare Management International (HMI).
With a certificate in in-patient care, he became a healthcare assistant with the Institute of Mental Health. Today, the 50-year-old is training to be an enrolled nurse, sponsored by his employers for a full-time course at the Institute of Technical Education.
Yesterday, Mr Shahril was commended by Manpower Minister Ng Eng Hen for excelling in a field he started out in with no experience. Mr Ng launched HMI's new training centre "the HMI Institute of Health Sciences". It offers mature workers, who are making a mid-career switch, an alternative healthcare education that is more basic and simpler to grasp.
With efforts ongoing to get Singaporeans to continue working beyond 65, the healthcare sector seems a natural field offering opportunities for them. For instance, the target of drawing a million medical tourists a year to Singapore by 2012 will mean an additional 13,000 jobs, Dr Ng said.
A Community Health Care Assistant course has also been launched at the new training centre. Its aim is to boost the employment of local healthcare assistants and enhance the standard of healthcare support in step-down care institutions.
Currently, foreigners comprise a whopping 85 per cent of healthcare workers in such institutions, which include community hospitals, nursing homes and voluntary welfare organisations.
By Daphne Chuah
Copyright ©2005 MediaCorp Press Ltd
