Training programme helps the disabled find jobs

WHEELCHAIR-BOUND Lee Pei Ling used to sit at home and play computer games because the challenge of finding a job she could do seemed impossible.

But the 30-year-old is now gainfully employed as a graphic designer after undergoing a programme by the Infocomm Accessibility Centre. The centre is managed by the Society for the Physically Disabled.

The IT Apprenticeship Programme (ITAP) provides training and internships in corporate services, multimedia or music and video production for people with disabilities.

The programme, which started about a year ago, has 34 enrollees. Twenty others have completed the course and received their certificates recently at a ceremony. Of them, seven have found jobs.

Ms Lee, who became wheelchair-bound at age 18 after a failed operation, started on ITAP's multimedia programme last year. Since last December, she has worked from home for an education consultancy company, producing designs for items such as posters and murals.

'Every piece of work that is accepted makes me happy. It's a sense of satisfaction,' she said.

Another graduate who has found a job is Mr Desmond Hou, 53, who lost a leg to bone cancer in 1995 and was retrenched in 2007. He is the main breadwinner of the family with two school-age children.

He studied corporate services earlier this year and found a job as a part-time telebet assistant.

'It helped a lot. I was basically very scared of the computer but after ITAP, I got to know better how the computer works,' he said.

Employment for the disabled has been given a push in recent years due to greater awareness and government support such as the Open Door Fund, said Dr Ow Chee Chung, executive director of the Society for the Physically Disabled.

The fund was launched in May 2007 to disburse grants to encourage employers to redesign jobs, modify workplaces and train the disabled.

One such employer is Mr Alvin Nathan, 45, director of Eureka Call Centre Systems. He has hired eight visually impaired or physically handicapped staff and finds that some of them make more calls than regular telemarketers.

At the recent ceremony, three scholarship awards, funded by Microsoft, were also given for the first time. The awards were given to students with disabilities who are studying IT-related courses in local universities and polytechnics.

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Overseas scholarship trio all set for police career

THREE young men took their first step towards careers in the police force yesterday by formally accepting the Singapore Police Force Overseas Scholarship.

Justin Ong Wei An, Jonathan Au Yong Kok Kong and Wong Keng Hoe, who are all 19, will soon be heading to prestigious universities in the United States and Britain for their undergraduate studies.

They were picked from among A-level school leavers keen to serve in the police force and who have also demonstrated outstanding academic performance and leadership qualities.

They received their scholarship awards from Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs Wong Kan Seng in a ceremony at the Istana.

Mr Ong and Mr Au Yong are from Raffles Junior College, and Mr Wong, from Dunman High School.

Asked how his interest in police work arose, Mr Ong said: 'I used to watch Jackie Chan movies and Hong Kong serials and thought the roles of the policemen there were interesting and cool.'

He will read biochemistry at University College London.

Mr Au Yong will study ethics, politics and economics at Yale; Mr Wong will take up economics at the University of Chicago.

WENDY HUI

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MOE to offer more teaching awards

THE Ministry of Education (MOE) is handing out more undergraduate and master's scholarships to give teachers more opportunities to improve themselves.

Yesterday, 420 students received undergraduate scholarships and awards - the most given out by MOE since 2003.

Last year, 300 teaching scholarships and awards were given out.

One scholarship winner, Tan Mei Hui, 19, will study music at the Royal College of Music in Britain. She said: 'Not many Singaporeans are exposed to music or can learn it as a subject. I hope that by teaching music, I can help to expose more people to music.'

Education Minister Ng Eng Hen said MOE will also pay for postgraduate studies for more teachers.

From next year, at least 50 more teachers will be eligible for master's scholarships each year. This year, 16 teachers were awarded such scholarships.

Master's scholarships are now open only to those who previously received undergraduate scholarships or teaching awards. But from next year, MOE will open the scholarships to other undergrads.

Those with first-class honours degrees from the Bachelor of Arts/Science in Education programmes at the National Institute of Education (NIE) and those who have graduated with distinctions in NIE's Postgraduate Diploma in Education programme can apply for the scholarships.

AMELIA TAN

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Scholarships for 3 who rise above disabilities

DESPITE being wheelchair- bound from cerebral palsy, Mr Adrian Tan, 22, worked to support himself during his polytechnic days.

And he did well enough to get a place in the National University of Singapore (NUS), where he will study computing from next month.

He is one of three recipients of the Asia Pacific Breweries Foundation Scholarship for Persons with Disabilities, awarded to local undergraduates who have physical or mental disabilities.

The scholarship, launched in partnership with the National Council for Social Service last year, gives each recipient $11,000 a year, which covers tuition fees and an allowance.

The others who received this year's scholarship are Mr Elvin Koh, 20, who is hearing- impaired; and Mr Alex Chan, 23, who is deaf in his right ear.

The three were selected based on their academic record, involvement in community work and positive attitude.

For example, simple tasks like commuting to work and school and even opening doors are difficult for Mr Tan, whose condition has also left his speech slightly slurred. But he did not let this stop him from graduating from Nanyang Polytechnic with a diploma in business informatics, or from working in a maid agency.

He started working there in 2005 to reduce the financial burden on his mother and elder sister after his father, who had owned the agency, died that year.

'Everything is a challenge for me, but you don't have to be a genius to succeed,' said Mr Tan, who hopes to become a software developer.

Similarly, Mr Koh, who will begin his second year in life sciences at NUS next month, has not let his disability impede his passion for biology.

He is part of a team that makes monthly treks to Pulau Semakau to collect samples for biodiversity research, which will help in the conservation of the island's species and their habitat. This volunteer project is carried out by the Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research.

'It is my aspiration to be a top- notch researcher,' said Mr Koh, who hopes to pursue postgraduate studies in life sciences and molecular biology.

Mr Chan, who will start his third year in business management and accountancy at the Singapore Management University, has completed three full marathons and five half- marathons since 2004.

He has also volunteered on overseas community service trips, and will be in Indonesia to build homes for the needy this December. Mr Chan, who hopes to do research in social entrepreneurship, said: 'I'm trying to live life to the fullest. A disability doesn't have to be a disability unless you think of it as one.'

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Scholarships for 3 who rise above disabilities

DESPITE being wheelchair-bound from cerebral palsy, Mr Adrian Tan, 22, worked to support himself during his polytechnic days.

And he did well enough to get a place in the National University of Singapore (NUS), where he will study computing from next month.

He is one of three recipients of the Asia Pacific Breweries Foundation Scholarship for Persons with Disabilities, awarded to local undergraduates who have physical or mental disabilities.

The scholarship, launched in partnership with the National Council for Social Service last year, gives each recipient $11,000 a year, which covers tuition fees and an allowance.

The others who received this year's scholarship are Mr Elvin Koh, 20, who is hearing-impaired; and Mr Alex Chan, 23, who is deaf in his right ear.

The three were selected based on their academic record, involvement in community work and positive attitude.

For example, simple tasks like commuting to work and school and even opening doors are difficult for Mr Tan, whose condition has also left his speech slightly slurred. But he did not let this stop him from graduating from Nanyang Polytechnic with a diploma in business informatics, or from working in a maid agency.

He started working there in 2005 to reduce the financial burden on his mother and elder sister after his father, who had owned the agency, died that year.

'Everything is a challenge for me, but you don't have to be a genius to succeed,' said Mr Tan, who hopes to become a software developer.

Similarly, Mr Koh, who will begin his second year in life sciences at NUS next month, has not let his disability impede his passion for biology.

He is part of a team that makes monthly treks to Pulau Semakau to collect samples for biodiversity research, which will help in the conservation of the island's species and their habitat. This volunteer project is carried out by the Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research.

'It is my aspiration to be a top-notch researcher,' said Mr Koh, who hopes to pursue postgraduate studies in life sciences and molecular biology.

Mr Chan, who will start his third year in business management and accountancy at the Singapore Management University, has completed three full marathons and five half-marathons since 2004.

He has also volunteered on overseas community service trips, and will be in Indonesia to build homes for the needy this December. Mr Chan, who hopes to do research in social entrepreneurship, said: 'I'm trying to live life to the fullest. A disability doesn't have to be a disability unless you think of it as one.'

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