Childcare matters: the role of an early childhood educator

Unknown to many, there is a lot of thought and rigour that goes into designing curriculum for and nurturing young children. There are also many childcare educators and professionals out there who are keen and ready to make a difference.

One such educator who has joined the early childhood education industry very early in her career, is Nurshahilah Bibi Bte Husin Shah. The 25 year-old chose to enter this field upon completing her studies at the Singapore Institute of Management. She had a business degree and had planned for a career in a related field. However, other options soon became available.

“When I graduated, the career options available included jobs in the finance industry. But I didn’t rule out a career in teaching, if the opportunity arose,” says Nurshahilah.

An Eye for Visual Merchandising

For Willie Teoh, design has always been a focal point of his life. Starting with a Multimedia and Animation course when he was in his teens, the 24-year-old is now studying at First Media Design School for an Advanced Diploma in Visual Communications, majoring in Graphic Design.

He confesses that his world is ruled by the “3-Ds”, namely “Design, Dance, and DJ-ing” and it is through these interests and activities that he discovers his identity. Willie enjoys trying new things and adopts a “if you never try, you’ll never know” attitude towards life.

Foray into Visual Merchandising

In August this year, upon hearing about a three-day, fully subsidised Visual Merchandising Course organised by the Textile and Fashion Industry Training Centre (TaF.tc) and the Singapore Institute of Retail Studies (SIRS), Willie was immediately keen.

The course that Willie attended was the "Develop and Implement Creative Concepts for Visual Merchandising" module. It is one of seven Visual Merchandising Modules under WDA's Retail WSQ framework set up to ensure a trained pool of Visual Merchandisers ready to meet industry demand.

Transforming Fine Arts Skills Into Digital Virtuosity

Art has always been Yeo Qing Cong’s first love. As a young boy, he had dreamt of being a painter and had looked forward to selling his works of art after graduating from the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts.

The necessities of survival however, brought him to the gym as a personal trainer, the classroom as a children’s art teacher and even to the casino as a dealer – until he stumbled upon the WSQ Diploma in Animation from the 3dsense Media School.

Trading work experience for formal qualifications

Sng Choon Kok first joined Regent Singapore (formerly known as the Pavilion Intercontinental Singapore) sometime in 1982 as a security officer. Today, he is now the hotel’s Director of Security responsible for the safety and security of all the guests and employees of the hotel as well as its physical assets.

Besides day-to-day security issues, his work also includes strategy planning for the hotel’s strategic security needs, where he designs and implements safety and security programmes, policies and procedures that have to be adhered to by all staff members, from the board of management down to the ground crew.

“My team and I face new challenges every day and we have to be quick to adapt,” explained Choon Kok. “With security threats evolving all the time, we have to constantly update ourselves with the latest technologies and news. And we have to stay ahead with effective preventive and crisis management strategies.”

Turning A Moment of Chance Into A Jem

Early in 2012, Gillian Shen was devastated when she failed to get a place in one of the local universities after graduating from Ngee Ann Polytechnic with a Diploma with Merit in Mass Communication. It was the lowest point in her life, but it was also a catalyst for an undiscovered and exciting path.

Around the same time, Gillian had signed up for ‘Project Jem’, a nationwide uniform design competition by an upcoming mall in Jurong. In preparation for the competition, she attended the WSQ Develop Design Collection course by the Textile and Fashion Industry Training Centre.

“I really wanted to go for the course because I wouldn’t have known how to start working on my design entry. I didn’t even know what certain terms in the competition brief meant.” she said. “I called the Jem management and was told that the class was already full. But they assured me they would try to get me a place, and thankfully, I did get one.”

Helping Women Look & Feel Beautiful

Her passion is to help her customers look and feel beautiful. Meet Christina Goh, a lingerie specialist with over 10 years of experience in dressing ladies with the best intimate apparel.

As a Senior Sales Supervisor with international lingerie retailer Triumph, Christina sets herself a tall order whenever she is at the service frontline – how to help every lady she serves look her best.