Tag: Diploma

Ibu 51 Tahun Jadi Graduan Tertua Ngee Ann Politeknik

Usia bukan penghalang bagi seorang ibu memburu cita-cita dalam bidang sains kesihatan.

Pada usia 51 tahun, Cik Serimaryati Abdullah, seorang jururawat berdaftar, menjadi graduan Politeknik Ngee Ann yang tertua.

Selama tiga tahun, kampus politeknik itu menjadi sekolah bagi pelajar sepanjang hayat itu.

Malah, usaha belajar sepanjang hayat itu turut membakar semangat anaknya yang meraih diploma dalam kejuruteraan komputer.

Berkat kesedaran tentang pentingnya meningkatkan kemahiran dan kelayakan, Cik Serimaryati hari ini (11 Mei) menjadi lulusan tertua daripada kohort lebih 5,000 graduan Politeknik Ngee Ann.

Cik Serimaryati, yang menerima diploma dalam Sains Kesihatan (Kejururawatan) dari politeknik itu, berkata: “Saya ingin mencabar diri saya sejauh mana saya boleh mencapai cita-cita saya.

“Apa-apa pun, kita harus duduk berbincang kerana kita tidak hendak separuh jalan dan cita-cita kita tergendala. Dan Alhamdulillah saya diterima bekerja di dalam unit jagaan rapi, sebuah bidang yang begitu intensif sekali.”

Bahkan, setiap kali menghadapi masalah merungkai esei, Cik Seri merujuk kepada anaknya yang ketiga, Muhd Nur Aniqq Ab Rahim, pelajar di politeknik yang sama, yang merangkul diploma dalam Kejuruteraan Elektrikal & Komputer semalam.

Aniqq berkata: “Saya rasa bangga kerana dapat sama-sama belajar dengan ibu saya. Selepas saya menjalani Perkhidmatan Negara (NS), saya akan meneruskan pembelajaran saya dalam bidang ijazah kejuruteraan komputer.

“Ibu saya banyak memberi saya inspirasi dan mendorong saya, beliau kekalkan langkah pembelajaran sepanjang hayat dan saya ingin jadi macam beliau.

LAGI PASANGAN IBU DAN ANAK TAMAT PENGAJIAN DIPLOMA SERENTAK

Cik Seri serta Aniqq ternyata bukan satu-satunya pasangan ibu dan anak yang berjaya menamatkan pengajian diploma mereka serentak.

Ibu tunggal berusia 44 tahun, Cik Norizan Azin dan anak sulungnya Nurulhayati Saimen, 21 tahun, juga tamat kursus politeknik selang sehari.

Pelajaran Cik Norizan dulu tertangguh kerana tidak mahu membebani ibunya yang juga ibu tunggal.

Maka, bak impian jadi nyata apabila Kastam Singapura menaja 100 peratus pembelajaran Cik Norizan selama 2.5 tahun.

Ketua Pegawai Kastam itu kini pemegang diploma Amalan Perniagaan daripada Politeknik Temasek, sementara anaknya meraih diploma Aplikasi Bisnes daripada Politeknik Republic.

Kisah inspirasi ini diharap akan mendorong lebih ramai ibu bapa mengikut jejak langkah Cik Seri dan Cik Norizan yang terus memburu pengetahuan sepanjang hayat – usaha yang kini dibantu inisiatif Pemerintah, Kredit SkillsFuture.

Source: http://berita.mediacorp.sg

May 12, 2016
Difficult To Get A Job With General Degree And No Work Experience

Hi Mr. Tan,

I came across your blog and would like to share my thoughts and experiences with you.

I have a diploma in business (merit) from a local polytechnic. After NS, I was rejected by NUS for a place in Business School but was offered sociology instead. Because of my interests in business, I did a minor in management and realised to my shock that 30% of those in business school were foreigners – from Vietnam, China, Malaysia who don’t even understand business terms!

After a year, I lost interest in my course and just breezed through and scraped by with a basic pass degree. Although I admit this is my fault for not working hard and securing a comfortable government job like a few of my peers, but the whole idea is that the private sector is a completely different ball game although.

When I graduated, I sent in hundreds of resume but only got two interviews. The reality for fresh graduates is that unless you have a law, accountancy or medicine degree where you have secured a training contract of some sort then you are safe. Civil service aside, the private sector is very unwilling to take on someone with a general degree with no experience.

In fact, I have been unemployed for 2 years after graduating and helping our my mother in her restaurant. This has made me feel very inferior towards the S-pass holders from third-world countries!

Eventually, I decided to put my diploma as my highest educational level and secured a part-time job as an admin executive earning $1,200 a month with a local SME working about 20 hours a week.

I can tell you for a fact that the graduate employment surveys are bullshit! It is done on a voluntarily basis and only those who have secured jobs would have sufficient information to fill such as basic salary and so on. The reality is that the unemployed like myself are too ashamed to fill up the survey.

Even for those who do, what does 15% of FASS (faculty of arts and social science) graduates who are unemployed SIX months after graduation is no joke, considering the amount they spent on their education. I would personally estimate that around 30% of my peers are unemployed and another 30% are like me underemployed doing jobs like estate and insurance agents which do not even require degrees!

In my free time, I am also studying for an ACCA to enhance my future prospects after seeing how general degrees have no value in the job market while there are so many foreigners competing with Singaporeans who have served NS.

I have really really lost faith in our PAP.

Source: http://tankinlian.blogspot.sg

September 4, 2015
Hilang Daya Penglihatan Bukan Halangan Ambil Diploma

Dunia Cik Masayang A. Samad menjadi gelap lapan tahun lalu apabila beliau kehilangan daya penglihatan akibat penyakit kencing manis.

Namun, Cik Masayang, 43 tahun, tidak membiarkan dirinya terus diselubungi kegelapan.

Beliau bangkit mempertingkat diri dan baru tamat mengambil kursus dua tahun sijil psikologi dan kaunseling Islam di Institut Pengajian Tinggi Al-Zuhri.

“Apabila saya jatuh sakit, saya telah menghadapi kemurungan dan pernah terfikir hendak membunuh diri kerana tidak mahu menyusahkan orang lain.

“Tetapi saya teringat kata-kata arwah ibu saya bahawa saya harus berdikari dan selalu berfikiran positif,” ujar Cik Masayang yang kini tinggal seorang diri di flat satu bilik.

Beliau juga mendapat sokongan moral daripada ayahnya, seorang warga Malaysia yang menetap di Johor Bahru.

Cik Masayang, anak tunggal, pula memilih tinggal di Singapura kerana lebih mudah menjalani dialisis di sini. Lulusan diploma dalam jurusan pengurusan perniagaan daripada Politeknik Nanyang itu bakal meneruskan diploma psikologi dan kaunseling dalam Islam pula di Al-Zuhri pada Ogos ini.

“Saya ingin guna ilmu itu membantu orang lain pula yang senasib dengan saya,” ujar Cik Masayang.

Beliau merupakan antara 552 keluarga yang menerima zakat daripada Darul Arqam tahun ini.

Tahun ini, persatuan itu mengagihkan sejumlah $179,400 daripada kutipan zakat dan fidyah, dengan setiap keluarga menerima $255 tunai dan baucar bernilai $70.

Seorang lagi penerima ialah Cik Nur Madiah Hidayah Lim Othman, 34 tahun, yang dilahirkan tanpa tangan dan kaki.

Sejak beberapa tahun lalu, beliau mula berdikari dengan menjual pakaian wanita menerusi Facebook.

Bergerak menggunakan kerusi rodanya, Cik Nur Madiah akan ke pejabat pos bagi menghantar barangan yang dibeli pelanggan.

“Saya fikir ini cara terbaik bagi saya mencari rezeki. Saya berpegang kepada prinsip agar sentiasa berfikiran positif dan tidak berputus asa,” ujarnya.

Majlis penyampaian zakat semalam itu turut dihadiri Menteri Pendidikan, Encik Heng Swee Keat, dan Presiden Darul Arqam, Encik Faiz Edwin Ignatious.

Dalam ucapannya, Encik Heng berkata pemberian zakat memaparkan semangat gotong royong dalam masyarakat.

“Acara hari ini mengingatkan kita bahawa kita semua memainkan peranan membangun sebuah masyarakat berihsan dan penyayang, yang membantu mereka yang memerlukan.

“Semangat membantu sama lain dalam Islam juga sesuatu yang semakin kita lihat di masyarakat Singapura yang lebih luas,” ujarnya.

Source: http://beritaharian.sg

July 6, 2015
Non-degree Holders Can Have Successful Career and Become Senior Management

SINGAPORE: Human resource practitioners say non-degree holders can have a successful career and a shot at senior management positions if they continue to upgrade themselves. The Singapore Human Resources Institute (SHRI) observed in particular that local companies are more open-minded about hiring workers without a degree compared to global firms.

In his National Day Rally speech, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong cited Keppel Offshore & Marine as an example of a company that values workers and helps them develop skills to advance in their careers, whether they have a degree or not.

Said SHRI President Mr Erman Tan: “Local bosses are more open-minded. Part of the reason for that is they face the challenge of recruiting talent and they are more open-minded in the sense that they believe on-the-job training, they believe in grooming them. From there, they build bonding with the employee and the employee would typically grow with the organisation. Local SMEs also believe in long-term relationships. They see that on-the-job training and job performance count more than paper qualifications.”

SHRI says employers also look for other important attributes like relevant experience, a proven track record, people skills and leadership qualities, as well as the individual’s ability to work in a team. The institute notes that global MNCs may not be as flexible because they could be tied to a more prescribed global HR policy.

“I think a lot employers still use paper qualifications as a filtering process,” said Mr Tan. “Typically the employer tends to give those with a degree priority. Part of the reason is because in the selection process they have to filter out some candidates, and one of the more convenient ways to filter out people is to base selection on qualifications. Unfortunately that is still the practice at this moment.”

However, there are some positions that require a degree. HR consultancy Robert Walters cites certain roles within the finance industry as an example, but says there are opportunities for non-degree-holders to take on jobs at the more operational level.

Said Joanne Chua, Associate Director, HR, Business Support, Robert Walters: “Steps must be taken along the way where training and development is being provided by the organisation, whether internally and externally, to up-skill the capabilities of these individuals. Because they may be technically savvy in a particular area, such as fixing of aero turbines, but when the individual is expected to step up to take on a managerial or leadership role, then that’s where the up-skilling of qualifications would be required.”

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August 28, 2014