SINGAPORE: Workers’ Party chair Ms Sylvia Lim shared in a Tuesday (Nov 14) Instagram post about how she put her SkillsFuture credit to good use. The Aljunied GRC MP posted a photo of herself appearing to be in deep concentration in front of not one but two laptops, an open textbook, and a stack of notes.
Ms Lim wrote, “Used my SkillsFuture credit for a course on Intellectual Property Law @ SUSS, that covered the basics of copyright, trade marks, patents and designs.” She noted that the exam for the course was scheduled the next day and added a crossed-fingers-for-luck emoji and the hashtag #YesWeCan.
Ms Lim’s fellow WP MP Assoc Prof Jamus Lim (Sengkang GRC) wrote about the SkillsFuture program in a Facebook post earlier this week, saying that he has suggested that it “could be further refined, with stronger input by industry over course content, so that workers become equipped with the practical and experiential skills that employers truly need.”
SkillsFuture is Singapore’s national movement to promote a culture of lifelong learning through skills mastery. It also aims to support the country’s quality education and training. Singapore citizens aged 25 and up may access a SkillsFuture Credit account and, once their accounts are activated, may submit claims for the courses they take.
Introduced in 2015, the SkillsFuture Credit carries “an important message that every Singaporean is in charge of their own pursuit of skills mastery and their lifelong learning journey. It is meant to instil individual agency, encourage individuals to take up training, and develop the culture of lifelong learning,” the program’s website reads.
Ms Lim has a background in both law enforcement and law. She graduated from the National University of Singapore in 1988 with a Bachelor of Laws and obtained a Master of Laws at the University College London the following year. In 2014, she also completed an online master’s degree in criminal justice from Michigan State University.
Before embarking on her political career when she joined The Workers’ Party in 2001, she first served in the Singapore Police Force. She later worked as a law lecturer at Temasek Polytechnic. She became chairwoman of the WP in 2003 and was a Non-Constituency Member of Parliament from 2006 to 2011. For the past 12 years, Ms Lim has been an MP for Aljunied GRC, representing Serangoon from 2011 to 2020 and Paya Lebar from 2020 to the present. /TISG
Read also: PMET worker talks to Jamus Lim about difficulties of getting a job after being laid off