I REFER to Mr Farhan Ali's letter, 'Malay middle class, not the poor, must buck up' (April 30) and thank the writer for his feedback and timely reminder on the importance of skills upgrading to make us relevant and employable in this new economy.
The main objective of the policy forum was to discuss what more could be done to help lower-skilled and low-income workers grab the various training and upgrading opportunities available so they can be better equipped for higher-level jobs with a salary package that is commensurate with living standards in Singapore.
This issue of upgrading is relevant not only to Malay workers but to the national workforce as well. According to 2005 adult training figures released by the Ministry of Manpower, the training participation rate among those who earn $2,000 or more is generally higher than among those earning $1,000 or less.
Being lower skilled means they are more susceptible to structural unemployment when their skills set does not match the demands of the new economy.
We agree with Mr Farhan that more can be done to motivate Malays to upgrade and explore new and exciting growth areas such as the life sciences, research and finance.
So we urge our workers to leverage on the national incentives available to upgrade themselves with relevant courses.
This year, Sense, the training arm of Mendaki, will leverage on the national continuous education and training masterplan, and offer courses to cover all levels of workers - from rank and file to executives.
Ten per cent of our targeted 8,000 training places will be allocated to diploma courses - more than double the number last year.
We are also enlarging our scope of assistance to include professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs) to help them move to other jobs, especially those in emerging and growth markets.
This shows that, when spreading the word on the importance of upgrading, we do not just target low-wage workers, but workers in general.
This article was first published in The Straits Times on May 14, 2008
