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INSPIRING WOMEN OF SUBSTANCE -
#SINGAPORE'S LADY BUS CAPTAINS
Who would have expected a vibrant young woman of 25 with a Polytechnic Diploma in Molecular Biology and an
SIM University Degree to join the bus driving profession?
And that is exactly what Siti Nurul Ain Binte Hamdan did; she was the youngest of 15 lady bus captains whom I met over a simple tea session to commemorate
#NationalDay. I had been intrigued by these women when I met a few of them at a health promotion event held some weeks ago at the
Boon Lay and
Chua Chu Kang bus interchanges; I wanted to learn more.
What did I find?
Real women of substance who knew what they wanted from life.
Like Yap Fong Fong, who was a professional photographer for 20 years before switching course, and wished she had become a bus captain right from the start.
And Lim Thiam Cheu who had been a cashier until two years ago and then at the age of 56, decided she really wanted a new skill and found, to her surprise, that SBS Transit was prepared to not only hire her but train her while paying a salary.
Then, there was Khatijah Bte Aboo Bakar, 54, whose glamourous appearance would not look out of place in the a high-end boutique or even MediaCorp studios! The attractive grandmother raised 5 kids as a bus captain for 18 years, before quitting to take care of her first grandchild. Two years later, she got bored and went straight back to bus driving.
All of these women have a really inspiring boldness of spirit and sense of adventure, challenging themselves to acquire the skills to drive big public buses, which they found to be quite a breeze! Yes, they do have to deal with difficult commuters sometimes but they also feel proud to be providing an essential service to the public and know they are making an important contribution to society.
Given that there are only 6 women in every 100 bus captains, did they every feel marginalised? Never - they sang in chorus. Man or woman, skills matter most a a bus captain.
Back to Siti, I asked if she didn't think it was "sayang" to choose bus driving from among the many career opportunities available to her, given her educational qualifications.
But driving a bus had been a childhood ambition, she told me proudly. How can anyone go wrong pursuing their passions? You go, GIRL!!!
The lady bus captains took me completely by surprise. And in such a pleasant way
Thank you all! - Jo Teo
