THE Sars outbreak put Madam Susan Wong's training on hold for more than two months, but she stuck it out and starts work next Tuesday as a health-care assistant.
When their free nine-month course was interrupted, Madam Wong, 43, and about 30 others clamoured to help with contact tracing or taking temperatures.
Speaking like a seasoned pro, she said yesterday: 'It's OK really, as long as you take proper precautions.'
During their training, they work beside nurses, helping patients and picking up medical terms and procedures.
Madam Wong, once an administrative manager, is among the fourth group of workers to be helped by the Skills Training and Employability Enhancement for Retrenched Workers (Steer) programme. It trains retrenched or mid-career workers for new jobs. The National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) worked with the National Heart Centre on the programme for the health-care industry.
Since 2000, Steer has trained about 340 and placed 269, or 79 per cent, in health-care jobs. The industry has 3,000 vacancies.
Yesterday, NTUC assistant secretary-general Halimah Yacob called on more Singaporeans, especially the jobless, to fill these vacancies.
This sector remains important, partly because people in Singapore are ageing fast, and also because the industry is an engine for economic growth.
Most health-care assistants here are foreigners, mostly from the Philippines.
She said: 'You see, the job opportunities are there. So, now what we want to do is to get Singaporeans to come into the sector.'