Returning to Her Profession After Years Away

In 2000, Priya had moved to Mauritius shortly after marriage, because of her husband’s job. The birth of first her son, and then her daughter three years later, kept her fully occupied, with little energy to consider anything else.

 

It was only when her son turned eight that Priya and her husband decided it was time to return to give their children a better education, even though her future back in Singapore was uncertain.

 

Moving Back Home

“Frankly, I was worried about coming back alone. I knew I definitely needed a job to manage our living expenses. But having been away for 10 years, I didn’t know if I was still relevant and employable,” Priya recounted of her early fears.

 

All Priya could count on then was her training and prior experience as a nurse. To improve her chances, she wrote to most of the hospitals in Singapore while preparing for their return.

Bringing Knowledge From Home to the Workplace

 

Jasmine Lai has been a home maker since she got married, and became a stay-at-home mum to look after her kids. Now, with all her children in school, it did not take Jasmine long to realise she wanted a more meaningful activity in the mornings. “Ever since my youngest son entered primary school, I considered seriously about going back to work. But I was not sure what I could do as I had lost touch with the job market during the 14 years I stayed at home to look after my three sons,” she shared about her early doubts.

The QIANG Way Forward

Stream Peak International, the largest desiccant converter in Singapore, is one of the organisations that has benefited from the "SME Quality Initiatives to Assist, Nurture and Grow" (SME QIANG) programme SME QIANG is a new customised productivity and innovation training programme under Productivity Initiatives in Services & Manufacturing (PRISM) which is a cluster of productivity-related Continuing Education and Training programmes .

Mr Jeffrey Foo, General Manager of Stream Peak International shared, “At first it was difficult to identify the areas for improvement. But after a few workshops with the Singapore Manufacturers’ Federation consultants , where we did project scoping and data collection together, we realised that the underlying problem was two under-utilised high performing machines that we had.“

Implementing New Tools Of The Trade

From daily dealings with machine tools, the general manager of Makino Asia, Simon Yim, took to productivity tools at the workplace for a change. It was a change that was met with marked success.

Makino Asia is a global machine tools manufacturer with fully integrated operations in Singapore, encompassing Research and Development, Manufacturing, Supply Chain Management and Business Development activities under one roof. So, it was of concern when Simon Yim and his team discovered discrepancies between the company’s assembly elapsed hours and the standard hours. He also noticed that at the middle management level, there was a need to improve the knowledge and skills needed to understand, analyse and implement initiatives to improve productivity and quality.

 

Triumphant In Shaping Service Innovation

The only European brand that produces intimate apparel designed and tailored to suit Asian women, Triumph upped its game with the launch of a brand new, innovative shapewear experience in Singapore through a Singapore Workforce Skills Qualifications (WSQ) programme under the Productivity Initiatives in Services & Manufacturing (PRISM).

The ‘Shapewear Cocoon’ concept was born when forty-three executives and managers from its Singapore office participated in a 3-day training module on service innovation called ‘WSQ Set Up and Implement Systems and Strategies that Support Service Innovation’.

 

The Esplanade of his dreams

The Esplanade of his dreams

A former porter and also a pizza deliveryman, Firdaus never imagined that one day, he’d be watching kampung huts flying in and out of a musical from a coveted seat not sold at the ticket office.

The staging technician at Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay recalls one of his most exciting work experiences, behind the scenes of Laskar Pelangi Musical in September 2011 held as part of Pesta Raya – Malay Festival of the Arts. “There was a real van, water was used as rain effects and a small kampung hut was ‘flown’ in and out during different scenes of the show.”