Seven years ago, Madam Sabariah Haron was laid off by the manufacturing firm where she worked as a quality assurance officer. Unable to find a new job, the 44-year-old chose to become a full-time housewife.

But in 2004, after her leg was badly injured in a motorcycle accident, her relationship with her husband began to sour.

'My husband's attitude towards me changed. To him, I became useless.'

She became determined to find a job after her leg healed.

Late last year, the secondary school dropout started applying for a job in the manufacturing line but had no replies.

Then in November, she saw a newspaper advertisement about a recruitment exercise organised by NTUC and decided to give it a shot.

She was later offered a position as a security officer at Premier Security Co-operative Society, a leading security agency. She had no experience in this field but was willing to embrace the challenge.

'I was in the National Police Cadet Corps while I was in secondary school, and I know there are women working in this line, so I thought, if they can do it, I can do it too,' she said.

To prepare for the job, she took a week-long Workforce Skills Qualifications licensed module training course tailored for new security officers. She passed and Premier Security deployed her to the Health Promotion Board in December.

During her 12-hour shift at its Outram Park office, she patrols the building's grounds and records visitors' particulars, among other duties. She works six days a week.

As she is in the process of getting a divorce, her monthly salary of $1,400 will come in handy, she said.

She is also looking forward to furthering her career by taking other security-related courses.

'I'm very happy now. I don't bother with negative feelings any more,' she said. 'I just want to focus on building a future for myself and for my 15-year-old daughter.'

Jamie Ee Wen Wei

This article was first published in The Straits Times.