Kids wowed by workplace

Kids wowed by workplace
By Goh Chin Lian


The National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) deputy secretary-general Halimah Yacob, who was on the tour, applauded the effort, saying it should not take a back seat in an economic downturn. --ST PHOTO: CHEW SENG KIM

STANDING in silence, 10-year-old Denise Lim could not take her eyes off the giant computers at TransitLink on Wednesday morning.

The machines, twice her height, worked 30 times faster than her personal computer, she was told by an officer of the service company of public transport operators SBS Transit and SMRT.

Awe-struck, she blurted 'Those big computers', when asked what impressed her most during her visit TransitLink, where her mother works.

Denise was among 48 pre-teens who toured the company today as part of its efforts promote a healthy balance of work and family life. The visit is to give them a taste of their parents' work.

The National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) deputy secretary-general Halimah Yacob, who was on the tour, applauded the effort, saying it should not take a back seat in an economic downturn.

'It's a long-term investment,' she told reporters after the 30-minute tour.

'In a downturn or a better economic situation, you still need people to perform their best. And they will only perform their best if they are able to take care of both their needs at work and at home.'

Promoting such a balance is arguably even more important in a prolonged downturn, she said, citing added pressures on families who fear job losses and pay cuts.

Such pressures have led the NTUC Women's Development Secretariat, which Madam Halimah leads, to introduce a programme earlier this monthto encourage work-life integration through visits like TransitLink's.

She recalled being impressed when she saw young children in Japan being taken around a factory and briefed on work there.

That visit inculcated positive work ethics in the children and helped them better understand their parents' work, she said.

It also reminded employers that 'workers are not just digits at work, but also human beings and also have to take care of their families', she added.

Three companies are on the NTUC programme.

While TransitLink and property company CapitaLand have organised similar visits, it was a first for construction company HSL Constructor.

Madam Halimah hopes at least 20 companies will hold such visits during the June 2009 school vacation.

Source: http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_320533.html