From The Straits Times
By Royston Sim
Published 25 Feb 2011
WHEN Madam Tangammal Vaithilingam approached her Community Development Council in August 2009 for help in landing a job, she was met with a deluge of possible job openings.
Its job consultant referred her to 22 career fairs and sent her for training courses.
From that came a position as a call-centre agent last April for the 59-year-old, who had not held a full-time job since 2003.
The CDCs, working with the Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA), successfully placed six in 10 job seekers in employment last year - in raw numbers, the figure was 14,500 out of 24,200 job seekers.
This was 28 per cent fewer than the 20,000 placements in 2009, a recession year, but higher than the 12,700 job placements achieved in 2008, before the economy slumped.
Last year's improved economy accounted for there having been 36 per cent fewer new job seekers who registered for employment at the CDCs - 24,200, compared with 2009's 38,000.
But the CDCs do not just help with job placements: They are also places where people turn to for training and financial aid.
Last year, the CDCs referred 5,800 job seekers for training, fewer than the 7,200 in 2009, but more than the 3,600 in 2008.
The economic turnaround last year also brought down the number of applications for financial aid to 55,600. This was 11 per cent fewer than the 62,300 in 2009. Even so, the proportion of approved applications rose; 39,500 or 71 per cent of applicants were successful, up from 42,100, or 67 per cent, in 2009.
North East District mayor Teo Ser Luck said that although the economy is back on track, the CDC will soldier on in its efforts to help those still struggling to make ends meet.
The CDCs had help last year from their 1,700 community and corporate partners, receiving $10.4 million in donations in all, up from $8.5 million in 2009.
The CDCs also run programmes to create bonding in the communities. More than a million residents took part in 1,200 programmes and events last year, a 23 per cent increase from 874,900 residents in 2009. These included events like brisk-walking and
qigong sessions.
Said North West District mayor Teo Ho Pin: 'We aim to build a community where residents care for one another and where people are active, and to continue to involve citizens in community events.'
News & Opinions -
News Updates
