<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>Jan 25, 2009
NEW GRADUATE
</TR><!-- headline one : start --><TR>You can't be self-reliant if you don't have a job
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Mr Goh Wee Meng is anxious to find full-time employment as his savings, and money from hongbao he expects to receive, will see him through April at most. -- PHOTOS: CAROLINE CHIA
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->Mr Goh Wee Meng, 24, lives in a five-room flat in Tampines with his parents, brother, 23, and sister, 18.
He graduated from the Singapore Institute of Management in December last year with a marketing degree. He has been looking for a full-time job since August last year so that he would have ready employment after graduation, but he has not been successful so far.
His 50-year-old father, the family's sole breadwinner, is a crane operator with PSA and earns about $3,000 a month. The family's household bills amount to about $1,000 a month.
What's for reunion dinner this year?
Every year, we gather at my grandmother's house in Kallang and have a potluck-cum-steamboat dinner. This year, my family is contributing steamboat ingredients like mushrooms and vegetables. Others may bring curry.
What was for reunion dinner last year?
We had steamboat last year as well, with about 20 to 30 family members. There were pork liver, chicken, fishballs, prawns and vegetables. We're not cutting down this year as the cost of food is shared among all the relatives.
How was the Year of the Rat for you and your family?
Near the end of last year, my father took a cut in incentives so he took home about $300 less. I realised how bad the economy was when I sent out about 40 resumes in August and got no response. We still had cash flow and savings though, so we were not that crippled.
What is your biggest fear for the Year of the Ox?
That I won't be able to find a job. I'm looking for one, preferably in marketing.
I currently have savings from my part-time job, doing administrative work, and I'll get some Chinese New Year hongbao, but these will help me survive only till April.
How did the Budget help you?
We'll definitely save some money, which will go into the pool we keep for family savings in case anything happens.
Any wish list?
I wish that the Government would implement some policies which would help with finding jobs and improving the unemployment rate. They keep telling us to be self-reliant, but we can't be self-reliant without employment.
NEW GRADUATE
</TR><!-- headline one : start --><TR>You can't be self-reliant if you don't have a job
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- show image if available --><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width=330>
</TD><TD width=10>
Mr Goh Wee Meng is anxious to find full-time employment as his savings, and money from hongbao he expects to receive, will see him through April at most. -- PHOTOS: CAROLINE CHIA
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<TABLE><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->Mr Goh Wee Meng, 24, lives in a five-room flat in Tampines with his parents, brother, 23, and sister, 18.
He graduated from the Singapore Institute of Management in December last year with a marketing degree. He has been looking for a full-time job since August last year so that he would have ready employment after graduation, but he has not been successful so far.
His 50-year-old father, the family's sole breadwinner, is a crane operator with PSA and earns about $3,000 a month. The family's household bills amount to about $1,000 a month.
What's for reunion dinner this year?
Every year, we gather at my grandmother's house in Kallang and have a potluck-cum-steamboat dinner. This year, my family is contributing steamboat ingredients like mushrooms and vegetables. Others may bring curry.
What was for reunion dinner last year?
We had steamboat last year as well, with about 20 to 30 family members. There were pork liver, chicken, fishballs, prawns and vegetables. We're not cutting down this year as the cost of food is shared among all the relatives.
How was the Year of the Rat for you and your family?
Near the end of last year, my father took a cut in incentives so he took home about $300 less. I realised how bad the economy was when I sent out about 40 resumes in August and got no response. We still had cash flow and savings though, so we were not that crippled.
What is your biggest fear for the Year of the Ox?
That I won't be able to find a job. I'm looking for one, preferably in marketing.
I currently have savings from my part-time job, doing administrative work, and I'll get some Chinese New Year hongbao, but these will help me survive only till April.
How did the Budget help you?
We'll definitely save some money, which will go into the pool we keep for family savings in case anything happens.
Any wish list?
I wish that the Government would implement some policies which would help with finding jobs and improving the unemployment rate. They keep telling us to be self-reliant, but we can't be self-reliant without employment.
