SINGAPORE: With a combined age of nearly 200 years old, these three seniors continue to work past the retirement age of 62 with elderly-friendly companies.
All three work for early adopters of a voluntary tripartite standard launched last week that identifies progressive employers with age-friendly practices.
Madam Chua Ai Gek, 67, is one of the two elderly bar assistants at The Other Room, a bar at the Marriott Tang Plaza Hotel. She left her job as a hotel cleaner earlier this year due to underemployment and joined the bar.
Between Mdm Chua and her 78-year-old colleague, they prepare, cut and hand-squeeze 8kg of lemon and lime to extract their juices each day.
After that, the freshly-squeezed juices have to sit and settle for four hours before being vacuum-packed and left in the freezer. The juices will then be used by bartenders for their cocktails on the same night.
The laborious tasks were previously done by bartenders themselves but human resources director Mr New Kheng Tiong decided to outsource them to part-time workers so that the bartenders can be freed up to tackle other chores and perform research for their cocktail creations.
AdvertisementAdvertisement“The task doesn’t require high-skilled workers but it takes up a lot of time … and the consistency and quality of the juices are very important to us,” Mr New said. As to why Mr New decided on older workers, it’s because “mature workers tend to be a bit more loyal and punctual”.
“We see that the older workers will be more prudent and they will squeeze the lemons to the last drop to avoid wastage,” Mr New added.
JOB REDESIGN JUST TO FIT THE PROFILE
The bar initially met with some resistance from the older workers they approached. “Their children said, ‘but you will have to work until midnight, don’t take it’ or they found the Orchard location too rowdy,” Mr New added.
Mdm Chua was one of those initially uncertain about accepting the job because of the working environment.
Apart from hand-squeezing the fruits for juice extraction, Mdm Chua and her colleague had to be trained on operating the machines used to vacuum pack the juices. (Photo: The Other Room)
“I was concerned because I’ll have to work the night shift at a bar and it will be dark so it’s quite difficult for older folks like us. We are not able to see well in dark places,” Mdm Chua said.
The Other Room found a compromise by moving the lemon-squeezing work to their head office in Aljunied, and letting their two elderly workers start their work in the morning.
“Over here, it’s more convenient. I start at 9am and end at 2pm. After that I have time to cook for my children so I’m very happy about it,” Mdm Chua said.
Apart from Mdm Chua, 65-year-old Mr Zakaria Abdullah Boey also appreciates the extra time he gets from shorter hours at work.
Mr Zakaria had spent more than 15 years at Suntec Singapore, and his last full-time position was assistant manager in the security and fires safety department. He left in 2016 when his health took a tumble and spent the next two years recuperating.
After getting better, self-professed “workaholic” Zakaria wanted to return to work but was looking for something new with shorter hours to spend more time with his family. However, he was rejected by several companies.
“I wanted a change of job from security so I went to look for a job in the food and beverage industry but unfortunately because of my age and partially because of my medical condition, I was not successful,” Mr Zakaria said.
65-year-old Zakaria Abdullah Boey is back with his former employer but in a different job role. He walks around Suntec Singapore's convention centre and makes sure it's in a pleasant and presentable state. (Photo: Fann Sim)
He approached his former employer and was hired as a quality control supervisor, a role that was specially created for Mr Zakaria. He works 20 hours a week and patrols the convention centre to check on its safety and security, while also making sure that the centre is pleasant for visitors.
Suntec Singapore’s CEO Arun Madhok said they jumped at the opportunity to rehire Mr Zakaria as a mentor for younger staff.
“It’s that healthy mix of experienced and new staff that we put together in our company that brings us success,” Mr Madhok said.
IT MAKES FINANCIAL SENSE TO HIRE OLDER WORKERS
Other than Mr Zakaria, Suntec Singapore has also re-hired its executive sous chef Foo Shee Fong after he turned 62 last year. Chef Foo was offered the same salary and terms he previously enjoyed.
62-year-old Chef Foo Shee Fong was converted to the re-employment scheme last year and is one of eight workers re-employed beyond retirement at Suntec Singapore. (Photo: Fann Sim)
His daily roles include planning his team’s deployment and roster, as well as playing mentor to a younger chef who will take over his position in the next two to three years. As his protege slowly takes over his daily duties, Chef Foo said that his job has become less tiring.
“I have more time to look after the kitchen’s operations instead of doing the paperwork. Last time I used to work for 12 hours a day, now I can go home after eight hours,” Chef Foo said. This is one way of balancing his family’s financial needs and also having more time with his family in his golden years, he said.
While the companies have the option of hiring a younger worker in lieu of Mdm Chua, Mr Zakaria and Chef Foo, their employers said they are worth the money.
“If you look an excel sheet, you might come to the wrong conclusion. I think it’s the intrinsic value of an individual that must be taken into consideration. It’s the total contribution of an individual, it’s the experience, the capability that we must add in,” Mr Madhok said.
“If we don’t hire the two aunties, we would have hired a bar assistant who would have worked in the outlet,” said Mr New of Mdm Chua and her colleague.
“In fact, it’s cost-savings to us because the aunties want shorter hours,” Mr New added. Mr New said that they are exploring the option of employing more senior workers for other restaurants under its food business.
"Of course, we will make it appropriate to their age and skills, like cutting vegetables or peeling cucumbers and we won't ask them to do the heavy work like roasting suckling pig," he said.
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All three work for early adopters of a voluntary tripartite standard launched last week that identifies progressive employers with age-friendly practices.
Madam Chua Ai Gek, 67, is one of the two elderly bar assistants at The Other Room, a bar at the Marriott Tang Plaza Hotel. She left her job as a hotel cleaner earlier this year due to underemployment and joined the bar.
Between Mdm Chua and her 78-year-old colleague, they prepare, cut and hand-squeeze 8kg of lemon and lime to extract their juices each day.
After that, the freshly-squeezed juices have to sit and settle for four hours before being vacuum-packed and left in the freezer. The juices will then be used by bartenders for their cocktails on the same night.
The laborious tasks were previously done by bartenders themselves but human resources director Mr New Kheng Tiong decided to outsource them to part-time workers so that the bartenders can be freed up to tackle other chores and perform research for their cocktail creations.
AdvertisementAdvertisement“The task doesn’t require high-skilled workers but it takes up a lot of time … and the consistency and quality of the juices are very important to us,” Mr New said. As to why Mr New decided on older workers, it’s because “mature workers tend to be a bit more loyal and punctual”.
“We see that the older workers will be more prudent and they will squeeze the lemons to the last drop to avoid wastage,” Mr New added.
JOB REDESIGN JUST TO FIT THE PROFILE
The bar initially met with some resistance from the older workers they approached. “Their children said, ‘but you will have to work until midnight, don’t take it’ or they found the Orchard location too rowdy,” Mr New added.
Mdm Chua was one of those initially uncertain about accepting the job because of the working environment.
“I was concerned because I’ll have to work the night shift at a bar and it will be dark so it’s quite difficult for older folks like us. We are not able to see well in dark places,” Mdm Chua said.
The Other Room found a compromise by moving the lemon-squeezing work to their head office in Aljunied, and letting their two elderly workers start their work in the morning.
“Over here, it’s more convenient. I start at 9am and end at 2pm. After that I have time to cook for my children so I’m very happy about it,” Mdm Chua said.
Apart from Mdm Chua, 65-year-old Mr Zakaria Abdullah Boey also appreciates the extra time he gets from shorter hours at work.
Mr Zakaria had spent more than 15 years at Suntec Singapore, and his last full-time position was assistant manager in the security and fires safety department. He left in 2016 when his health took a tumble and spent the next two years recuperating.
After getting better, self-professed “workaholic” Zakaria wanted to return to work but was looking for something new with shorter hours to spend more time with his family. However, he was rejected by several companies.
“I wanted a change of job from security so I went to look for a job in the food and beverage industry but unfortunately because of my age and partially because of my medical condition, I was not successful,” Mr Zakaria said.
He approached his former employer and was hired as a quality control supervisor, a role that was specially created for Mr Zakaria. He works 20 hours a week and patrols the convention centre to check on its safety and security, while also making sure that the centre is pleasant for visitors.
Suntec Singapore’s CEO Arun Madhok said they jumped at the opportunity to rehire Mr Zakaria as a mentor for younger staff.
“It’s that healthy mix of experienced and new staff that we put together in our company that brings us success,” Mr Madhok said.
IT MAKES FINANCIAL SENSE TO HIRE OLDER WORKERS
Other than Mr Zakaria, Suntec Singapore has also re-hired its executive sous chef Foo Shee Fong after he turned 62 last year. Chef Foo was offered the same salary and terms he previously enjoyed.
His daily roles include planning his team’s deployment and roster, as well as playing mentor to a younger chef who will take over his position in the next two to three years. As his protege slowly takes over his daily duties, Chef Foo said that his job has become less tiring.
“I have more time to look after the kitchen’s operations instead of doing the paperwork. Last time I used to work for 12 hours a day, now I can go home after eight hours,” Chef Foo said. This is one way of balancing his family’s financial needs and also having more time with his family in his golden years, he said.
While the companies have the option of hiring a younger worker in lieu of Mdm Chua, Mr Zakaria and Chef Foo, their employers said they are worth the money.
“If you look an excel sheet, you might come to the wrong conclusion. I think it’s the intrinsic value of an individual that must be taken into consideration. It’s the total contribution of an individual, it’s the experience, the capability that we must add in,” Mr Madhok said.
“If we don’t hire the two aunties, we would have hired a bar assistant who would have worked in the outlet,” said Mr New of Mdm Chua and her colleague.
“In fact, it’s cost-savings to us because the aunties want shorter hours,” Mr New added. Mr New said that they are exploring the option of employing more senior workers for other restaurants under its food business.
"Of course, we will make it appropriate to their age and skills, like cutting vegetables or peeling cucumbers and we won't ask them to do the heavy work like roasting suckling pig," he said.
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