Global panel recommends Singapore's hawker culture be added to Unesco

https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/global-panel-recommends-singapores-hawker-culture-to-be-added-to-unesco-list

HAWKER CULTURE SINGAPORE

Origins of Hawker

- Traces back to Early Immigrants, to be able to have a ready market of consumers with generally lower capital outlay without prerequisites of certifications. 

- The mobility of the stalls gave rise to "Hawking" where it is defined as Touting to Attract Customer in a Portable Stall.

- Hawkers would gather in Cross Junctions to maximize the Traffic Coverage therefore "Hawker Centre".

- 1971 first Government Built Legal Official Hawker Centre to consolidate the Hawkers in 1 area to operate legally with license such that they do not have to face problems of "protection money" while cleaning up the Sanitation of Streets. 

- Initially, people hated Hawker Centre Buildings as it lost the flexibility of travelling and have to travel far for Hawker Centre.

- It took us until 1986 before the last Hawker was resettled to a Hawker Centre

Characteristics of Hawker

- Caters to many Social Classes

- Becomes a Lifestyle 

- Where humans interact and mingle

- Topic of Conversations 

- Choice of Meeting Venue (social)

- Entrepreneur without Certification / Capital

- Innovative Creation of Food due to Space Constraints 

- Laissez-Faire Economy

- Upholding Intangible Legacy

- Part of the Ecosystem of Agriculture Locally, Regionally and Internationally

Hawker as a National Identity

- 114 Hawker Centres today, dependency on it in a Socio-Economical sense

- Display of Globalized Nation with Innovative Amalgamation of Food Culture

- In a cacophony of sounds and action, Hawker has stitched into the social fabric of Singapore

- This represent cultural creativity, and cultural exchange of human values in the Oral Traditions of Culinary Art

- It involves through time, invites platforms for Hawkerpreneurs, for continuity through Upward Mobility

- Testimony of Urbanization (Sanitary, Facilities, Urban Landscaping, Employment)

- Fun Fact : Instant Food is one of the 1st item cleared during the Pandemic, partly due to dependency on Hawker

International Recognition of Hawker

- Culinary Skills (Gordon Ramsay Hawker Cook Off)

- Michelin Guide (Plate, Bib Gourmand, Star)

- BBC / Netflix / CNA Documentaries 

- Submission for UNESCO 

When Michelin is concerned, a Michelin Hawker strips all the fancy ambience and service to the bare minimum of "Good Food". Master of Culinary Skills, Understanding of Flavours, Unique Personality of the Dish, Consistency, are among the criteria. Food is not just about 

UNESCO doesn't require the Contested Heritage Site to be original, because nothing in Singapore is truly original. But whether or not it defines our National Identity and therefore matches the criteria is probably more important. Can we Singapore survive without Hawker? Cost of Living will increase again, higher unemployment rates due to higher entry barrier for skilled labours, lost of Oral Traditions and Culture passed down through Hawker Food. What can we benefit from UNESCO? More recognition to attract tourists to give them a try, more support for Hawkerpreneur to operate and enjoy subsidized rental of stalls, more National Pride.

Freedom finally! After 2 weeks within 4 walls! 

Well, again another update. So my Dad is the Covid Positive Patient working as Security Officer at Changi Airport, receiving treatment at TTS now. As for recovery progress, it seems like it's not very good because of other Health Complications. And to make things worst, his pessimist mindset probably placed some placebo effects too. So I guess, we can only hope....... I mean, 50,000 recovery cases, I don't see why the big fuss is all about.

Luckily though his life routine is "Workplace-Coffeeshop-Home", unlike myself, I cant imagine the contact tracing if I am positive, the industry will shutdown hahahhas, too much at stake. 

So anyway, served my Quarantine Order at Hilton Garden Inn Little India, 23 Oct to 06 Nov, swab results Negative both on first day and last day of QO. 

Experience is boring. But coping way better than Circuit Breaker. Binge watching Netflix, Variety Shows, and MeWatch. Attended online day courses as it becomes more available. Grabfood is available so been ordering food every supper, thats the perks of being in rather heart of city. Service is great by Hotel. Welfare check everyday. Boring part is cant step out of room. Skin is getting dry due to aircon. But thus no need for any maintenance cuz no shaver no nail clippers no lighters no sharp objects. Other than zoom, no need for clothes too 

So then now that Im finally out, impulse splurge on myself. Booked One Farrer Skyline Suite for a night, and booked for Spa, Movies and a Scrumptious meal. Not the most wallet-friendly but I guess my mum deserves some luxury now and then la. 

Ofcoz, we talked about business too, about how the world is changing fast, AI taking over, and the importance of Transferable Skills and Personal Branding or Connections over Technical Skills and Traditional Career Progression Model. I am pretty sure that in the future where information is easily available online and precision or production is easily done by automation, bosses no longer are interested in investing on humans to deal with all the human factor but rather investing on a controllable predictable robot. So they would probably only hire people if their reputation is good. That means visionary skills, leadership skills, foresight skills. Or involvement in many many successful projects. 

Therefore I am truly grateful how this nation starts to shift the education framework to criterion based, a decade ago, gradually from tertiary to secondary and now to primary schools. While I personally do not believe in not having bell curve because I think that we should teach people how to fail, whats the feeling of being loser, instead of bubbling them, but I guess the negative consequences from pressure weights more than the nurturing of resilience. Oh well, there are other ways, enrichment, sports, etc. So back to the point, we are all working towards a holistic development future, where transferable skills are valued more than anything, problem solving and critical thinking, prepared us for AI industry. I am truly amazed.

Then is about some business acumen here and there. I was just thinking about inheriting the Lapis recipe for mum to do it myself because firstly is heritage, secondly, their reluctance to step out of comfort zone irritates me alot. I guess that is the reason Im probably the poorest pathethic indonesian chinese you know. My entire family has history of being cheated, of not innovating, of clinging on to hopeless matters, and all......... Cant blame them. Its fate, its generation, its trauma for them. And here I am, trying to make things work, but doesnt seem to go anywhere from here. I can only hope. But its tiring, trying to prove, but the result is not showing, and constantly, their simple-minded-brains are taking things too superficially and idealistically against their set of expired utopia. 

 It has been 2 months. 2 very busy months. 

So a little update, so I quit Monster Day Tours for good, joined Lets Go full time, to develop my own tours, to decide on the resources I need, with support with the marketing and other backend. It's an "ownself feed ownself" model. Working on this team for 2 months, I started to feel like this is a home I never had. I really enjoyed the dynamics and creative control I have, but that being said, I always felt I have done not well enough to reignite the drive and the passion of the existing team. Nevertherless, we need a breakthrough, a paradigm shift, to trail braze uncharted waters. So I felt that the only way this could grow is when I prove that Domestic Tourism could work, then perhaps the team could then grow, motivated and swift.

So I handle the Educational Tours for Domestic Audience and Private Themed Tours for International Arrivals; C should spearhead Lets Go Cook, a series of Cooking Classes series with Tour Element; and also D in to spearhead a Theatrical Tour, so storytelling way to convey historical events and facts; A to develop the Bicycle Tours with themes, and R to focus on Boat. So far, many hiccups, but in a way, a little silver lining at every misfortunes we had, pretty much like this Pandemic. Im for once hopeful, of a brighter 2021. 

The hindrance I had now, is that Dad is tested Covid Positive, recovering in TTS now. Not recovering well, seems like he has high accumulation of Covid. He doesnt sound optimistic since his fever is periodical. So I'm under Quarantine Order till 7 Nov at Hilton Inn Little India. Myself, my Swab on 24th Oct Noon resulted Negative, pending on more at the end of QO. Really lucky to be Negative, else my industry would shut down. 

So filling my time with more courses as usual, and watching random webinars and all. Binged watched lots of drama, including a 73 episodes series I finished in 3 days. Food wise, so far so good, but my spoilt stomach made me order grab for every supper and sometimes breakfast too. Sigh, it's like CB all over again but Im coping a lot better now, ironically, with lesser freedom. At least my mind is still sane. But well, hopefully the situation gets better, 50,000 recovery, please be another full recovery........ im not ready for more responsibilities yet. Aissshhhh que sera sera, whatever will be will be........

The past month was crazy.

Since Phrase 2, my schedule is suddenly packed. Mainly because other than the Courses I am taking, I'm on a project to look at Domestic Travel too. On top of that, I'm doing part time at Red Dot Brewhouse. However, I am very grateful that despite my busy schedule, I have friends who tries to squeeze in some time before or after my work, for a Birthday treat. Unlike past years where I throw huge parties and invite my entire social network over, this year is initiated by my friends. Feels great, that the entire month of July has been filled with such breaks.

So this year National Day feels very weird to me. As I am working, I am surrounded by Non-Singaporean colleagues, and the patrons are half expats, an the other half nonchalant about it. For once, I felt alone. I guess I'm probably the only one humming over the familiar tunes as the music plays in the background.

Every National Day, I would either be in a KTV, or somewhere with friends. I'm not the one who would physically join the crowd for the fireworks, nor rush to some pinnacle or book a table at a rooftop bar for the fireworks, but at least I would be with people who have at least a sense of belonging, a little hype about the special day. Last year, due to Tourist Guiding, I'm with a guest at Mr Stock, full of praises, full of joy.

So in the spirit of SG55, Robin and I gathered a few guides who are available for a quick 3h video shoot on Hari Raya, and took a half day filming segments at his house and mine, to put up a Music Video. Hilariously, the guides available turns out to be all guys, so we joked about Let's Go Boy Band hahhahas! Historically, no Tourist Guide groups have done a Music Video like this. I must thank the spontaneous spirit of Robin to agree on this less than 2 weeks before National Day, and that he sacrificed 2 sleepless nights for the editing. I dream that one day, the entire Tourist Guide community can piece together some kind of theater show having Tourist Guiding as the theme.

https://www.facebook.com/kyanta.yap/posts/10157414485170060

This entire year, makes me even more grateful that I am here in Singapore. The support I get, the people I meet, the sights and sounds around me. I'm also excited to be part of the next 20 years, for when I look at the current revised syllabus in Primary and Secondary schools, I am very optimistic about the next generation.

Though sweeping statement, but generally, my generation has been what they called the Strawberry generation, for we were raised by those who went through the industrial revolution, and thus we were brought up to expect good grades = good job = good life. So my generation would choose stability and career progression over risk and entrepreneurship. The kind of self employed are usually financial consultant rather than start ups too. But Singapore being at the plateau, this mindset hinders progress, we need breakthroughs and innovations. Therefore the infrastructures and ecosystems supported for the future. Financial literacy, exposure, design thinking, are even taught on secondary level. The access to information, the convenience, the avenues of groupthinking and networking, is plenty in the next generation. Though before that, we might need to deal a little with the "Ice Cream" generation first, where I defined as people raised by my generation who have everything taken care of thus privileged, entitled, and fragile, so much so that it actually takes effort to hold them up else they would just melt.

Truly excited for the next half of the year, when I see my project into completion, and a little glimpse of hope that I will be back in action for Guiding again, though not tourist, but at least I hope I would be on the ground.

Ciao,

So now we entered Phrase 2.
That was a Friday.
It was rather surreal.
I honestly was not expecting this to happen so soon.
As I was at the open staircase outside my unit
on that Saturday morning, I saw life............
The traffic didnt increased much on sight,
But the coffeeshop was brimming with people,
Sounds of the little metal spoon clanging on their cups,
And I kid you not, slurping sounds! Heard from my unit.
I felt great!

It was then a couple of days before I went down for dinner,
the Makcik asked me "Makan or Packet",
I was shocked so half a second!
SOOOO great to savour my Mee Rebus and Satay in the wet market.
The noise of the space, people shouting across,
The stench, the fragrance...... everything.

So I resumed working in Red Dot, but deployed at Dempsey.
Due to people cooping up at home,
Though our capacity is at 60% or so, maybe 70%,
But sales increase prior in relation to Pre-Covid.
I guess this really proved the purging period of Covid,
But then, hidden cost and diminishing returns come.
As much as we are grateful we can resume business,
It's really hard to juggle Customer Service with limited manpower,
and hard to juggle Customer Retention with Flouting of Rules,
If we chase customer, customer not happy,
If we dont chase, we get fined,
In my opinion, SDA should deal with customer direct because :
1) Everyone knows the rules
2) Restaurant already stated clearly about closing at 10.30pm
3) Reminders have been given to customer and last order was an hour before already.
But apparently is always Service Provider problem -.-

Then the hot news nowadays is GE2020, I come from an Immigrant background who became Singaporean, I really loved this country thus far, no where is perfect but Im comfortable here, not saying im living a luxurious live, but neither I have to worry about my 3 meals, ofcoz all these with much initiatives to hunt jobs, multiple jobs, tap into grants, etc.... at least there are ways to survive even in covid. I shall not debate argue etc, since im just 1 person stating my own opinion, but gonna state my unpopular views:

- CPF works because we are using a pool money to generate investment returns to get us more money, most accounts in Ordinary and Retirement can be transferable to children, and how many percentage of citizen actually have enough CPF to retire? this means that even the CPF is not enough for a comfortable retirement, imagine without it who shall be taking care of you? Solely on your next generations? Such burden..... I agree though, for older people who felt they were promised to withdraw CPF, if they can proof their future gen can take care of them and have enough personal insurance, enough safety net, ok la let the withdraw ba....... their well deserved lump sum. But when the time comes when money is squandered and then some reason need money, on what moral grounds should we then help? on who's expense?

- Is Healthcare managed well? Looking across the world, I would say it's managed really well considering quality, cost, subsidy, avenues for help. Inefficient when getting money? Yes, unfortunately, shall we improve on this?

- GST is great to get money to build infrastructures, though I think in Covid situation this should be put on Halt, should have no plans to increase and even consider decrease to cushion economic impact, I think progress and development can make way to recovery for now? Im not expert in economic this is just my opinion. Ofcoz the issue comes with where do the money come from, that, i wont have comments on that.

- COE too high, but public transportation is done well, land space is small, we dont get to be stuck in traffic for hours, just compare with the neighboring country, compare also with developed country. Occasional breakdown (probability of 1 person gets repeated breakdown is how many percent? Ive only experience once in my entire 20 years here), so okay another hour of your time, will die?

- Foreigner influx, but in ALL my FnB experience, I dont see much locals doing the job, how to not let foreign workers in? Mindset? Stigma? What's wrong with foreigner is they have the hunger you dont? Foreigners fight against their entire country to get this 1 place leh. Lets look at PMET then, people getting displaced, yes, unfortunately, this is a highly competitive country where people are indispensable, if not replaced by cheaper foreigner, then is higher qualification or more prominent portfolio, or my technology, or by the young bloods. We only got to rely on our own hunger to upgrade, do we have avenues to do that? Yes, skillfuture, CET framework, HR compulsory upgrading hours, etc etc, or....... migrate to a country where you can work 30 40 years and enhance your skillset without worrying too much on change?

- Fresh grads now do grab, where is the promised jobs. I guess this MAY be attributed to the mindset of the previous gen. Again im not expert in economics nor sociology. During our economic pursuit, it seems that the higher your education, the better job, the better future. The more effort you put in, the more likely to succeed. Was it the case now? no. Capitalist, rich getting richer, big getting bigger, economies of scale, high entry barriers. For someone who jumped 3 industries, I think it's not easy without High Qualification, Rich Industrial Experience and Remarkable Leadership Qualities. Ridiculous to demand for a fresh grad, but well, thus I advocate youths now to exercise foresight, to evaluate choices, because "go with the flow" or "go with your heart" may not be suffice anymore in this ever-changing ever-evolving society. Price Penetration dont work now, it's Market Disruption, is Innovation.

- HDB issues, well, we have no fevelas, no slums, no ownership but at least lifetime of shelter, with this it prevents hoarding, prevents private developers to sky rocket the prices, able to PLAN for 10m population, why not? It's a plan for accommodation doesnt mean is a TARGET, it's not a goal.

- Minister salary, there's just so much envy in this issue, who cares who is paid what, as long as I have a livelihood, I am happy with my job and life, this relative happiness is full of toxicity, is like when you get in Harvard but unhappy cuz you're in the bottom 10 percentile. One thing for sure, some great ministers do contribute the money back for society, but not all sadly. With heart or for show im not sure but as long as it helps im not complaining.

- Candidate not competent. This is personal attacks, im not gonna comment on this. Are they as committed as our forefathers, I guess not, since our forefather is working for a better future, not sure the motivator now? So if there is a better candidate that has equal wealth, connections, experience and power, by all means, let's work towards it rather than attacking one another? If this means pushing this potential candidate into the parliament system, yes why not. I believe this is a country that is run where decisions where passed through many rounds of many voices to be passed as law, first hearing, second hearing, committee, third hearing, minority voices, then presidential approval. Whether there are majority bias, party siding, etc, I guess its quite realistic? As long as reasons where given, perspectives are considered, not flawless, but I can accept. Besides, all the 16 ministries, stat boards, judiciary, executive and legislative, are working towards a common direction, ofcoz its commonly believed to be the founders of the nation spearheading it, but I see they are doing a good job still, so.......... not a problem for me.

- Poor people cant receive help. Yes and No, I would say help is there, whether sufficient, I guess all of us would day no. I dont deny that I myself do at times things I should "deserve" more help, but that's my selfish side right? A country can have disparity and poor, in singapore, there's a HUGE middle class, which we consider ourselves heartlanders, but there should have systems where one could break the relative poverty line either by the next generation of by yourself, through education and opportunities, and altruistic community. Are we lacking? unfortunately yes. We should advocate this more, I know of Social Enterprises struggling to survive to help. Many complained about not being aware for help....... so whose fault? Multi-lingual and multi-dialects, and even multi-generational campaigns were put up, sadly there will be those overlooked, but I dont really believe its 0 avenues for help, though efficiency is lacking, but I believe help would eventually be rendered. 

- If you have brilliant suggestion, raise it up, work it out, yes may take a painful long time, but I believe change is not impossible, it's not a matter of which party, but a collective management by multi agencies and government bodies. Can we have drastic progress, maybe not, we are reaching plateau, its a product life cycle thing, it's harder to see drastic changes when your product is already of high quality than when you started off.

- Using unproven Military Generals to run GLC, okay, well this is rather elitist and very military-regime focused. I personally dont think it's fair though I understand from the standpoint that in military its a test of leadership without P&L risk, but then there's just so much difference in my opinion, and this meritocracy thingy places too much emphasis on certification over anything else, not only in this regards but the entire nation too.

- About 100 billion support leh, comes from all the years of prosperity, this is indeed the "rainy" day and they had taken care of it rather well, still unsatisfied? Who owes you your living?

- And the way I see it, if you're unhappy, change the things you can, by helping whoever, by engaging in active feedback with constructive suggestions, not just empty criticisms, if not change the mindset, or leave the country, there are plenty in line waiting to be in, in this globalized world, who is entitled to what land? No one owes us a living, it boils down to how much hunger for success, how much hunger to adapt, how much hunger to search and forage for help, for connections, for social mobility.

- Lastly, "make you vote count", "deny supermajority", really necessary? Well it seems to be in this country, it becomes a norm to diss at whatever efforts of the country to praises to the country, to attribute it to brainwashing, bribery and all, and whatever is opposing seems to be painted with "speaking of truth" and "heart for citizens".

Nation started off with immigrants......
Developed by trades and diplomacy.......
Relatively young nation therefore much case studies to reference to.....
Thrived with Democracy and Meritocracy........
Then benefited from the industrial revolutions.......
Quality of life increased.......... attract too much immigrant,
Xenophobic looms..........
Questions leadership........
Accused for complacency and controversies.......
Make the Nation Great Again.........

I fear that one day, someone will eventually "Make Singapore Great Again"..................

The survey states "Keep Singapore Going", not "important roles in Covid situation", with 1000 respondents, I think this is a poor sample pool.

Artist is perhaps what keeps my sanity, and all the entertainment Im glad I have to pass time, it's an evergreen industry when AI could not replace just yet. HR, BD, Social Media, are part of Industry 4.0, when Human Capital is key for progress.

And these "essentials" they pre-determined by asking the questions "cleaners and security guards" ironically may face serious threat of Automation may be obsolete. Top 5 essential Hawker and Deliveryman, but I do hear about complains about surcharge of delivery fees and making hawker not affordable etc (yet on fine dining they bother to spend worhh)

Ask if "triple salary" would you take on the job, what is this trying to show? that we should all revert to 30 years ago manual labour keeps us busy? Appreciation is one thing, helping towards vertical mobility is another. Half of this pool of respondents are rather money minded, only do jobs if highly paid, where does this "high salary" come from then? Who's paying?

And really, is there a necessity to rank? We are all but spokes in a wheel, it's just the matter of in which one moment in time, some seems more important to YOU, but that doesnt mean it is not important to "Keep Singapore Going" as stated in title of survey. It's collaboration, not competition.

Unpopular Opinion,
But here goes anyway.

So I was eating at my kitchen when the bird flew in to forage for food.
Then for some reason, all the flashbacks of "optimistic" news of
Flora and Fauna all thriving and all...... then my cynical mind starts to doubt.

Why do the birds flew in?
Why are they hungry?
Could it because the hawkers are desserted now that they couldnt find enough food now?
Could it because of the heat of the day they look for shelter?

So unlike Singapore, many countries have zoos that are constructed for profits,
They rely on visitors to feed the animals.
And there were many cases of zoos having a problem with Animals famine.
Good thing is, some may escape from captivity,
Bad thing is, the eco-balance is disrupted
and they are domesticated to not survive in the wild.

Fruits, this is the period when the wild flowers blooms again,
But what about the tons of fruits and vegetables made to matured and ripe,
But left to wither when demands decreased?
And the farmers who depend on demands for their livelihood,
Only to get "failed" investment on their yields?

The more I think about the global impact,
The more I silently wept, the more bleak the future gets........
Then again, I have not done a scientific research on the negative impact on Covid,
so these may just be my myopic, naive, deductions, but somehow I dont want to go into this,
For I fear that the devastating results may kill me more........

Cling on Netflix, cling on food,
Is my way of being an escapist.........

Finally, 2 months is almost over.
However, the progressive recovery transition is another hurdle.
Again, the pessimist me would think that 2020 is basically over until everything resumes.

So ofcoz the latest news would be the budget release again.
Yes, in Singapore, we had Unity, Resilience, Solidarity and now Fortitude budget.
Seriously speaking, in relation to many countries worldwide,
I think we are doing super fine.
And just because election is coming, every action seems to be deemed
as a political stunt. Sigh. I have no comments on this.
And those comments about tax-payer money and all,
Historically, from Imperialism, Socialist, etc etc,
To what extend are government money belongs to us?

In my naive worldview, I choose to live in a country,
Where I get avenues of help, straightforward, I get infrastructure,
I get stability, safety, future-oriented, progress-centric, factors of this young nation.
The price to pay, is I gotta follow all the rules and regulation,
It's a package. And I dont really care how are people using my tax money
and how much they are paid etc, and all the political stunts etc,
I know that I am happy about what I have. Period.
(reference to pre-covid la ofcoz)
If you are unhappy, can you do something other than just revolting?
Apply to some position, make some changes, start a group, disrupt system,
If you cant contribute, but only have hate speech, then just get out of the country,
Leave the resources for those who have uses of them.
*not gonna debate on political views etc, im really not interested, just suit yourself*

So many of my SEP friends were disqualified for SIRS,
though not specified which criteria was not met.
My case, I wrote in for an appeal, awaiting result.
It's a mindset thing, I am not prepared to get it,
If I do, it's a bonus, it's a supplement to my plans.
I cannot rely on such things. I need to have concrete help.

Then again, with all these budget, how much of them are useful for me?
Frankly, very very minimal. Why?
From top down perspective, the mid careers are the most at risk,
they needed to be carefully care for because they are still in the workforce,
and this loss of income is like a mid-career crisis amplified.
So in short, its about Supporting Workforce, jobs in general.
Companies that have most potential to achieve retention of jobs gets priority.

Then is about helping family, especially elderly and young. Why? Vulnerable group.

So individually, its quite bullshit, in another perspective,
actually mid career have savings to fall on,
assuming non hand-to-cash workers,
and reasonable financial plannings,
the most disadvantaged are the young people that just started career
and yet without covid-friendly skills, we are stuck,
without indoor jobs certs, and no money to pursue to diversify skill.
This would also include fresh grads, they are stuck adding to the
jobs supply without jobs demand.

My case, worst, when qualification do not match jobscope,
and then try to diversify again? hopeless, will lose out even more.
The funny thing is, when I look at things at different Sociological Perspectives,
I kindda understand the Functional side of things,
and to some extent, some Conflict side of things
But doesn't mean I get the benefits,
It's like you understand how things come about but helpless eitherway.

So looking at the next months,
My most probable steps :

Disrupt my ACLP, clear Module 3 by end July.
Job hunting in July for Aug onwards,
Just a temp job to tide over until Tourism Recovery again maybe 2021.
For a week I wanted to make this 2 years count,
To find a job that : Diversify my Skillset, Career Progression in 2 years, Future-Proof
It's impossible la.
Either takes too long and too expensive to get the pre-requisite that I'm better off waiting.
Or job is not future-relevant, or no relation to my expertise, nor complement.
I do have more windows of opportunity if I compete ACLP asap,
But financially I cannot wait that long.
And I dont really like to owe people the favour.

So now until Aug, I will be applying more courses,
As long as it is within my means, financially and time wise,
Either for the cert or for the money under SEP Training Fund.
Taking on UX Design Courses, Data Analytics and Service.
And pending on Security Courses. If can afford, maybe HR,
All these are backups qualifications for a cushion to fall on.
Then gonna start applying for jobs in July,
Not gonna be choosy, take anything that open their door for me.

But if Aug cannot find job,
Then maybe do ad hocs while completing ACLP,
So by Dec at least will have a lot of windows of opportunities.

So I have been taking on these NTUC courses,
That pays $10 an hour for the lessons fro SEP Training Fund.
But it's running out, cuz Im maxing out my $500 SkillFuture Credits.
At the max, this would give me about $1200 for all the courses I attended.

But I need a more feasible plan until Tourism Recovery.
From the look at our main target market US UK,
It's not gonna be this year for Tourism,
But my wallet is not on my side.

So all these NTUC courses are generally useless for decent jobs. I needed Diploma or something in new industries if i were to venture out. But Diploma courses cost alot due to limited funding for people below 40 years old. As a cash-to-hand worker, I cant possibility afford that on these Diploma Courses. My current skillsets involve nothing that works right now in Covid situation. My whole life is about Service - Events, F&B, Tourism, Ad-Hoc. My Diploma is towards Social Work - Service. The road to recovery is looooong, and I cant be doing nothing in months to come.

I have zero interest in Financial Advisors and whatever along the line.
I have zero engineering and IT skills nor any software or hardware stuffs.
I have zero knowledge in IT or Construction field for Project Management roles.
Not interested in delivery and rider kind of jobs.
The manpower supplies in the market is saturated.
The job openings are very very limited.

To make things worst, my enrollment in the ACLP made me not eligible for many stable jobs that requires 5 days work week and all. I am unsure if I can change my enrollment type to Modular Staggered Cohort. I would probably postpone some modules if I can, to get some job first before resuming ACLP again when I'm on my way back to Tourist Guiding.

But who wants a temp? If  I shift to a perm, what am I gonna do with the remaining modules of ACLP?

Government funding such as SIRS and Study Awards, are not something I want to depend on for survival. Applied, but not optimistic. I need something more concrete, instant, and with continuity at least until Tourism Recovery. Or worst still, if I get a stable path, I might just forgo Tourism. I dont know.

When you're young, you got no money, and without income, you can only rely on Subsidies and Grants for Skills Upgrade, but all the Skills Upgrade are disadvantageous to being young, because useful course are not subsidized enough for me to afford.

It's few weeks to lift on Covid, but the gradual recovery is worrying. The future is worrying. Looking at Industry 4.0. Im honesty useless in it. No expertise in Data and Analytics, no expertise in Autonomous Bots and all, no expertise in and Additive Manufacturing, no expertise in AR VR domains nor any proficiency in programming languages, no expertise in Cyber Securities, and definitely not enough industry experiences to be in any kind of consultant / purchasing manager / simulation jobs.

As much as I am enjoying the current "work" to be paid to study and get certificates.
These are meaningless. With the free time today to think my next steps, I'm reminded again - I'm useless, at least in covid and the road to recovery.

I can go back to ad-hoc manual labour kind of jobs, provided I can postpone my ACLP. But is that my best option?

So, things turn out to be a little better this month.

For about 2 weeks I worked to tabao hawker food.
Was a hectic job because there would be 2 main waves,
12nn and 1pm, or 6pm and 7pm.
So orders would come in and you have to get ready the orders to be dispatched
by the stipulated time. Orders come in quantities of 30 - 100 orders.
Not easy at all due to the different preparation time of hawkers.
Meanwhile, there would be this phone who would ring when there's an order,
these orders should be ready in about 15 mins time for dispatch.

The problem also comes when 2 part timers coordinates.
Some only writes order number while some postal codes,
For me, I write both as well as Name.
It's hard when you dont have the item on your dashboard,
and have to find the food items for the rider to dispatch.
Worst is when all the plastics are of the same colour.
And riders arent empathetic too, time means money to them.
So yea though I was getting used to that,
I shall close that chapter of my life.

I am now enrolled to various courses in NTUC to get money.
Literally "work" as student.

How it works :
- For every hour of lesson, we can claim $10 from SEP Training Fund
- Course fees can utilize Skill Future Credits
- Advance Utilization of our Oct Credits is Eligible

Eg :

Course : WSQ ABC
$50.00 // 16 hours
So use Skill Future Credit to pay $50
After completion, claim $10 x 16 hours = $160 from SEP Training Fund

So by cramping myself,
I get free certificates, and being paid to study, why not?
But virtual lessons are a pain-in-the-ass.
Pace is super slow due to virtual environment,
Alot of effort to concentrate because more attention needed.
Things are worst when it comes to Adult Learners.
I am okay when there are newbies, and slow learners,
Though the pre-requisites are supposed to have certain competency levels,
But the irritating ones are the demanding learners.
Demand to get the easy way out or to get what they felt they are entitled to.
Example, they want a recorded lesson for reference but
Would be against school policy.
Walao write notes yourself very hard ah.

So yea now its a bit better, for I am earning to study,
and most of the modules though tedious its easy for my level,
and free time between classes or during classes I can do some
Own readings since i have to be in front of the camera.
So it forces me to be slightly more productivity with this webcam function.