I remember the time when I was about to complete my National Service and one of the most common problem amongst my peers was – “what’s next?”. The “luckier” ones who already had an admission ticket to university managed to dodge this bullet (for a while) while the rest who didn’t were feeling lost and simply called it the quarter-life crisis i.e. the stage where you do not know what to do next. Was it really a case of quarter-life crisis or was it simply a case of poor planning? Life is full of uncertainty and wouldn’t it be nice if you have someone to point some directions to you. I guess that is also one of the many reasons why people choose to visit fortune tellers be it tarot cards, palm reading, face reading, or even fortune cookies. But seriously, how much can we trust these “solutions”? And how many fortune cookies can we eat?
I do not belong to the group that has everything planned out but I have always been in good hands. My own hands. I was never afraid to fail and that got me trying. Some of my friends would say that I am at a rather good place today but I always tell them that I can still be at a better place and I could have gotten here more easily – maybe. I took a very long path, I met a lot of failures and several rough patches as well, but I got lucky (not the way you guys are thinking. Or maybe I did too actually ) along the way. I’ve met the right people at the right time that gave me opportunities to set things right but I don’t suppose that is a good tip to share because luck comes and go but hard work is forever.
I was at Todo Todo Skills Marketplace recently. The event is a joint effort by the People’s Association (PA) and the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) to form a new career support initiative, specifically for fresh graduates and young professionals, managers, executives (PMEs). The two partners, with a combined youth network of 750,000, launched the new integrated online-to-offline approach to help new job entrants achieve professional success.
With this initiative, youths no longer need to wait for luck and opportunity to meet the right people to guide them but instead they actively seek help within the network. The network does not provide you with successful businessmen telling you about how good they are but instead, we are talking about fellow young adults who have been in the workforce for about 10 years where they can share their own experiences that are more relatable.
Todo Todo @ Skills Market Place was held at none other than my very own “hometown” - Tampines. The new building Our Tampines Hub was pretty impressive with tenants such as Fairprice to eateries that made me wish that I was still living in Tampines.
The event consists mainly of 4 different zones – Explore, Excite, Equip, and Embark. Finish these 4 steps and I guess you are pretty much ready to face the world. Note, I said ready, not own. Hard work to success is a long journey.
The event was officiated by Mr Chan Chun Sing, Minister, Prime Minister’s Office, Mr Masagos Zulkifli Bin Masagos Mohamad, Minister for the Environment and Water Resources and Advisor to Tampines GROs, Mr Desmond Choo, Director of Industry Transformation and Productivity and concurrent Director of Youth Development Unit at NTUC and current MP for Tampines GRC who has recently been appointed as Mayor of North East CDC and Mr Desmond Tan, Chief Executive Director of People’s Association. The initiative is brand new and so is Mr Chan Chun Sing’s polo tee. :x
They were given a tour after officiating the event and the friendly residents of Tampines were all so excited to see them. It’s really not easy to get pictures of them and I managed to steal a shot off a resident’s phone and this picture is probably my favourite of the lot.
Remember the game we used to play a lot during school camps - Big fish, Small fish? No lah, Minister Chan wasn’t playing that game. He was at the “Equip Zone” where an activity was ongoing and he was giving his 2 cents on it.
This is Rondy. He is a very close friend of mine. We have been friends since secondary school and he is one of the many volunteer youth career guides. I was rather surprised to see him there to be honest. (So much so for claiming that we are close friends right?) Let me clarify myself, it’s not because I think he doesn’t have a heart or because he isn’t good enough, but you see, Rondy just got married recently, and is in the midst of settling his new house, and being a volunteer youth career guide needs a certain amount of commitment. You have to attend a course and of course, after that tend to your mentee. It’s really heartwarming to see a close friend of mine believing in the same cause. Sacrificing a little bit of his own time to help Singaporean youths and make their tomorrow an easier one. He will be attached to some mentees and share with them his own career experience as well as to give opinions on their career choices.
The excite zone as the name suggest is a place that excites the crowd. One of the programs that was lined up was the L4D tournament. Nah, I kid. It was a segment by Singapore cybersports online gaming association (SCOGA) where they uses gaming to share the importance of leadership and communication. The segment not only attracted gamers but also people of all ages and genders to try it out. See mum, gaming ain’t all just about the game itself. We do have some important takeaways too!
Workshops and talks were also held within the excite zone for the 2 days event. People from all walks of life were gathered together to listen and share their experience and areas of concern.
Daniel Ong, serial entrepreneur or we better know him as “ex-DJ” was there as well to share how turned his life around from zero to hero. How he seized every opportunity that came his way and how he converted his skills from one job to the other. Did you know - how he actually realised that he has what it takes to be a DJ was actually from his part-time job at the bowling alley where he got to speak a lot into the PA system. “Hello, the boy at lane eight, please do not throw two balls at once into the lane.” I’m not saying this just because he is a friend of mine. In fact, I was quietly taking pictures of him until he went “Hey Smith, you are here too!” Too big to hide. LOL.
Local YouTuber Eden Ang was there as well. He was sharing his experience on how to make a good video resume. Although I highly suspect that the idea was largely inspired by Barney Stinson from How I Met Your Mother. He also shared his journey about his influencer life. I was very jealous of him when people actually went up to him to take photos. Why? Because nobody ask me lah.
I really like where this event was held, in the public and right in the heartlands. Many participants were just residents from the area who decided to join in. This event might be catered for youths but many senior folks were given a chance to be part of it as well. After all, learning is a lifelong journey isn’t it?
I personally really like this initiative. Looking back, I believe I would have benefitted from such an event which allows me to interact with people who can give me some guidance. (Could have saved a lot of money buying all those fortune cookies. LOL) One of the examples that I always share with people around me is that this is pretty much similar to technology. How people took years to invent the first phone, took half the time to make the first mobile phone, and eventually shorter time to create a mobile phone with coloured screens and even today’s smart phone. We build on each other’s experience and things get done easier and faster over time.
I might not have a lot to give but I am actually looking into volunteering my knowledge and experience as well. Todo Todo Skills Marketplace is over for now but Todo Todo still has a series of events lined up for those who are interested.
4 comments:
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Very inspiring and motivating initiative! I like it!
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