BEING a senior citizen does not mean losing the zest to work. More than 700 job seekers aged over 50 proved this as they gathered at Bishan Community Club for a job fair held by the Chinese Development Assistance Council (CDAC).
More than 1,300 jobs, which included positions in the food and beverage, retail, cleaning, hospitality and security industries, were put up by 25 participating companies looking to entice senior job seekers.
Mr Ong Kong Eauw, 59, for instance, was looking to work as a store assistant. Having worked before as a store supervisor until six years ago when his company closed down its warehouse, Mr Ong decided to search for a similar job as he felt more comfortable in this line of work.
'Previously I was drawing about $2,000, but now I'm willing to settle for less. My two children are both working; I'm just looking for a job to keep myself active,' he added.
Information on skills upgrading courses was also provided at a fair booth. These CDAC-subsidised courses, which aim to help seniors who want to acquire skills such as word processing or to brush up on conversational English, attracted scores of applicants.
This is not the first such job fair by the CDAC. Jobs For Seniors was first held last November at Sengkang Comunity Club, drawing more than 500 applicants then.
- The Straits Times
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