Vijairaj Giri s/o Gosawi talks about the PC training program he’s taking and smiles.
A 47-year-old father of three, Vijairaj was severely injured in a Mumbai traffic accident in 1999. A truck rammed into the motorized trishaw he was riding with his family, killing his wife and leaving him with multiple fractures. Since then, he’s had four operations that implanted steel rods inside his body to coax the shattered bones back together. Recovery is a slow, ongoing process and today Vijairaj uses a cane when he walks.
Vijairaj’s injuries meant he couldn’t continue his job as a maintenance technician. He’s now unemployed and relies on financial aid to support his family. Finding work has been hard; with no experience using computers, employers won’t consider him for a job.
Vijairaj hasn’t given up. He’s enrolled in a computer training course organized by Singapore’s Society for the Physically Disabled (SPD). The newly developed course is designed to help disabled people upgrade their IT skills for the demands of today’s business environment. For Vijairaj, it also offers the chance to build a better life for his family.
“If I know something about computers there is a chance for me to get a job,” he said.
Since becoming independent 40 years ago, Singapore, a tropical city-state of 4.5 million, has been transformed from a developing country into a thriving, modern metropolis. Crowds of laborers who once lined the banks of the Singapore River loading and unloading cargo boats have been replaced by sharp-dressed bankers and professionals who work in air-conditioned skyscrapers.
Between 1965 — the year of Singapore’s independence — and 2006, per capita GDP (gross domestic product) rose from S$1,567 to S$46,832 (US$30,575). But not everyone in Singapore is well-to-do. Many families work hard to make ends meet on much smaller salaries, and there is virtually no government safety net for the unemployed.
In February, the Singapore Department of Statistics reported that 5.7 percent of employed households — a definition that excludes retiree households and households seeking jobs — earned less than S$1,000 per month during 2006. That figure was up slightly from the previous year, when 5.3 percent of households earned less than S$1,000.
Economic hardships can be greater for the physically disabled, who may lack the skills needed to find jobs.
The SPD training course is designed to help, offering trainees the opportunity to earn a certificate in basic information technology skills, such as how to use Microsoft Office and surf the Internet, said Kong Kook Wai, deputy director of the SPD’s Infocomm Accessibility Center. The year-long course aims to help trainees find jobs that pay at least S$500 to S$600 per month, he said.
The course, which includes an internship with a local company, wouldn’t be possible without backing from Microsoft Corp., which is providing S$1 million to SPD over the next three years. That amount includes S$480,000 raised by the company at a charity dinner hosted in May by CEO Steve Ballmer and attended by Singapore President S.R. Nathan. This funding allowed SPD to develop a curriculum that was more structured and comprehensive than its existing computer training programs.
After just two months, the program has made a difference in the trainees’ lives. Vijairaj has started using e-mail, often exchanging messages with his kids, who range in ages from 12 to 15, during their lunch break at school. He’s also used the Internet to research recipes for his kids, downloading instructions to make Malay, Indian and Chinese dishes. “I cook dinner for them everyday,” he said.
During the training sessions held three times each week, Vijairaj sits next to Irene Toh, a housewife who hopes the computer course will smooth her entry back into the workforce after a 20-year break. Toh, who contracted polio as an infant and now uses a wheelchair to get around, worked as a receptionist until 1987, when she opted to stay home and raise her three children, aged 13 to 23.
Toh wants to return to work as an office administrator, but felt she had some catching up to do first. “I decided it’s high time to upgrade my IT skills,” said Toh, who had some previous experience using Microsoft Word as a volunteer at a community center near her home.
Like Vijairaj, Toh found the training class has done more than help prepare her for a new career. It’s helped bring her closer to her children. She used Google to search for Maple Story, after hearing her daughter mention the online game, which is popular here. Now, Toh plays the game with her children and has gotten her sister involved as well.
“I am a level 94 dragon,” she said, laughing.
