<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR>Wanted: S'poreans to deliver papers
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->There are 2,500 vacancies for newspaper deliverymen. But Singaporeans are not grabbing these jobs even in a downturn.
Singapore Newspaper Distributors Association president Samuel Tay said newspaper vendors are still facing a manpower crunch despite several recruitment exercises in the past 10 months.
Of the 1,000 deliverymen recruited, fewer than 10 have stayed on. The vast majority quit after a few days, he told The Sunday Times.
He reckons that the early working hours of 4.30am to 6.30am may be a turn-off.
However, he believes this time slot can benefit those with nine-to-five jobs, but who wish to supplement their income with part-time work.
The adviser to the association, MP Seng Han Thong, noted that a person could earn $500 a month, after factoring in Workfare. This is the income supplement scheme for low-wage workers.
'For low-income families, if both husband and wife work, they can earn $1,000,' he said in Mandarin.
The main requirement is that they must be physically fit, with the stamina to cover typically six HDB blocks. The newspapers are usually distributed to a fifth of the units in each block.
'Some do it for pocket money. Some take it as exercise,' said Mr Tay.
Faced with a worker shortage, some vendors had resorted to hiring foreigners without valid work permits and were arrested for the offence.
Mr Tay still hopes to find deliverymen. The association may look to senior citizens who gather for morning exercises, or the mute and deaf community. Goh Chin Lian
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->There are 2,500 vacancies for newspaper deliverymen. But Singaporeans are not grabbing these jobs even in a downturn.
Singapore Newspaper Distributors Association president Samuel Tay said newspaper vendors are still facing a manpower crunch despite several recruitment exercises in the past 10 months.
Of the 1,000 deliverymen recruited, fewer than 10 have stayed on. The vast majority quit after a few days, he told The Sunday Times.
He reckons that the early working hours of 4.30am to 6.30am may be a turn-off.
However, he believes this time slot can benefit those with nine-to-five jobs, but who wish to supplement their income with part-time work.
The adviser to the association, MP Seng Han Thong, noted that a person could earn $500 a month, after factoring in Workfare. This is the income supplement scheme for low-wage workers.
'For low-income families, if both husband and wife work, they can earn $1,000,' he said in Mandarin.
The main requirement is that they must be physically fit, with the stamina to cover typically six HDB blocks. The newspapers are usually distributed to a fifth of the units in each block.
'Some do it for pocket money. Some take it as exercise,' said Mr Tay.
Faced with a worker shortage, some vendors had resorted to hiring foreigners without valid work permits and were arrested for the offence.
Mr Tay still hopes to find deliverymen. The association may look to senior citizens who gather for morning exercises, or the mute and deaf community. Goh Chin Lian
