School dropout on the road to tourism diploma

HAVING completed only Primary 6, Mr Kannan G. Manoharan was stunned when he learnt he could do a diploma in tourism.

'Are you kidding me, Madam?' he asked his career counsellor at the Central Singapore Community Development Council (CDC).

She confirmed it, and so he is heading to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas' Singapore campus in June to start his eight-month course.

The 32-year-old, who dropped out of school before completing Secondary 1, still cannot believe his change in fortune. He had approached the CDC for help two months ago, desperate after being jobless for seven months.

His last job as a cleaning supervisor ended last June. Since then, he has gone for more than 20 interviews for jobs ranging from customer service officer to store assistant to delivery driver.

'I really lost hope,' he says of his unsuccessful job search.

Ironically, his new lease of life, sparked by the CDC, comes amid Singapore's worst recession.

Initially, he was perplexed when the CDC kept sending him for training instead of getting him a job.

He went for four different courses.

The first was a Literacy and Numeracy course, to find out his level of proficiency in both.

Next was a two-day Self-Effectiveness course, in which he discovered his interest in tourism. 'It's a good fit as I like to entertain people,' he says with a laugh.

With his new-found passion, the CDC sent him for a two-day Customer Relationship and Management course to learn more about the service sector.

Finally, he went for a five-day Certified Service Professional course where he picked up customer service skills.

He received allowances under various government schemes while attending these courses.

But he was still waiting for a job.

Then, his career counsellor gave him the surprising news - she would sign him up for the diploma course and find him a customer relations job in the hospitality industry.

He could hardly contain his joy. 'I am very happy,' he says.

It is a far cry from his days of despair while working in various jobs - from fixing electrical wiring to delivery driver to cleaning supervisor.

'How long can I be a cleaner? How long will it take me to prosper in life?' he says candidly, his voice cracking with emotion. 'How am I supposed to support my daughter like this?'

He has a two-year-old daughter, and his wife is a customer service officer.

'But now I have a future,' he adds, his voice lifting.

As a youth, his future was the last thing he cared about. He dropped out of Christ Church Secondary even before completing his first year. He was 15 then.

'I wanted to work rather than study,' he recalls. His pressing concern then was supporting his mother, as his father had died when he was 11.

'She was a single mum, struggling to bring up four children,' he says. He has two elder sisters and a younger brother.

He took on odd jobs until he went for national service three years later.

After completing NS in 1997, he spent the next 11 years in a string of jobs until last June.

He is thankful for the help he has received. 'Sometimes, when you lose your way in life, there will always be an angel sent to guide you,' he says of his CDC career counsellor.

This article was first published in The Straits Times.