The Second Shift: How a SkillsFuture Course Turned a Retrenched Executive into His Own Boss
The course wasn’t just theoretical. It included a practical assessment where Kenny had to navigate a passenger with a visual impairment and a mother with a pram. “You learn that a five-star rating isn’t about speed. It’s about the little things: the angle of your air-con vent, the silence of your phone, the scent of your car.”
“The instructor, Mr. Raj, didn’t treat us like kids. Half the class were former managers, technicians, even a chef who lost his restaurant during COVID. Raj told us: ‘You aren’t just drivers. You are mobile business owners.’ That changed my mindset.” skillsfuture pdvl course
Kenny used his (the $500 top-up provided by the government) to cover the entire cost of the $350 course fee. He didn’t pay a cent out of pocket.
SINGAPORE – Six months ago, Kenny Lim, 52, was staring at a blank calendar for the first time in three decades. After 31 years in logistics management, a company-wide restructuring had left him with a retrenchment letter and a lingering question: What now? The Second Shift: How a SkillsFuture Course Turned
“I sent out 40 resumes. I got three replies. All of them said I was ‘over-experienced’ or asked for a salary I couldn’t live on,” Kenny recalls, sitting in the driver’s seat of his silver Hyundai Ioniq. “At 52, you aren’t ‘retraining.’ You’re just ‘expensive.’”
That is, until he discovered the at a community centre in Tampines. It’s about the little things: the angle of
“There is a shame in retrenchment. You feel obsolete. But when you pass that PDVL test, you get a physical card. It says you are qualified. It says you are still useful.”