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SCHOOL-LEAVERS from low-income Chinese Singaporean families will be given a hand in finding their first jobs.
An internship programme will be introduced by the Chinese Development Assistance Council (CDAC), in which the company taking them in will not be required to pay them.

Instead, the CDAC will give the interns a monthly grant of $500 for the duration of their internships.

This programme for former students who have benefited from CDAC programmes was announced by Tanjong Pagar GRC MP Baey Yam Keng, who chairs the CDAC's youth committee.

He said about 100 internships are in the pipeline and the CDAC has begun discussing the arrangement with companies.

As the recession bites, 'the challenge for young school-leavers is not about being retrenched but finding work', said Mr Baey.

'Hopefully, when the economy recovers, such internships can become full-time jobs,' he added.

The internship programme is among several help measures the CDAC is working on.

Others include helping elderly Chinese Singaporeans to find jobs, as their children may be struggling to support them now.

The council is looking at placing them in jobs close to their homes, and three areas have been targeted: Radin Mas, Whampoa and Bukit Panjang.

Jobs suitable for such seniors include those in park management and town council maintenance, as well as cleaning jobs in neighbourhood schools, said Senior Minister of State for National Development and Education Grace Fu, who chairs the CDAC's Silver Talent Programme.

However, a 'holistic, family-centric approach' is also needed, beyond just targeting individuals, said CDAC executive director Sam Tan.

To that end, the council will stretch the period of its Workfare help schemes for single-parent or dysfunctional families, from 12 to 18 months.

Families with a monthly household income of $1,500 or less can apply for these schemes, which come with subsidies for childcare fees and utility bills, food vouchers and counselling assistance.

The CDAC will also be extending its working hours at its Tanjong Katong Road headquarters during this downturn.

It will operate until 9pm on Wednesdays and until 5pm on Saturdays. Its hotline number is 1800-6843-5599.