Senior bus driver Chew Kok Wee (right) of SBS Transit explains to Mr Stephen Tan what it takes to do the job. Mr Tan, 45, was an assistant engineer until he was retrenched and was among several people applying to be bus drivers. In a sign of the times, more Singaporeans are applying for a job many once shunned.

A Spur to hire local drivers

SBS Transit and SMRT have received a boost in their efforts to hire local bus drivers, with the Government set to pay up to $3.2 million to fund the training of new hires over the next two years.

Ninety per cent of the operators' training costs for new drivers who are Singaporeans or permanent residents will be subsidised, giving them more incentive to hire locals.

The $3.2 million, set aside by the Workforce Development Agency and the Employment and Employability Institute (e2i), is expected to help recruit about 560 local drivers.

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