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I REFER to Madam Eldin Tan's letter, 'Don't shun elderly and houswives' (April 14). I agree with her comment that 'most employers are particular about applicants' age. If companies are willing to give mature applicants a chance and allow flexible hours for housewives, many jobs will be filled by Singaporean too'.
I experienced frustration and depression in the course of job hunting. I am an aged retrenchee and have been looking for a job and re-employment opportunities for more than two years. I have attended a few interviews. However, the negative comment from interviewers was that 'your qualifications and working experience meet the job requirements but regrettably, your age is a disadvantage'. As a result, my applications were rejected.
My frustration was that my attempt at continuous working was unsuccessful because of 'old age'.
As I am an active community volunteer who has helped with constituency activities for 13 years, I thought I could seek job placement with a community centre-related organisation. I sent applications for various jobs which suited my qualifications and work experience to the People's Association and the Workforce Development Agency. But I have received no reply from these organisations.
The tripartite committee formed to get older Singaporeans back to work has implemented a re-employment policy and is urging companies to help retrenchees and retired job seekers to return to the workforce. But how can this re-hiring policy succeed if companies and statutory boards do not show support and offer employment opportunities to retired workers? How can retirees be self-reliant if they have no income?
I applaud the comment1 made at a recent forum on employability: 'Employers were given four to five years lead time to implement the policy of rehiring workers beyond the retirement age. But on other issues like electronic road pricing, the Government is quite quick to implement it.'
Tony Xuan
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