Struggle to find work helps him to identify with woes of PMETs

SINGAPORE — The plight of struggling professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs) resonates with Mr Law Kim Hwee, the self-professed “old man of the team”.

After three decades in the regional sales and marketing industry, the 55-year-old lost his job in marketing more than three years ago, and has been struggling to find full-time employment since.

“When I lost my job about 40 months ago, I didn’t realise I’ll be one of those people who would be feel-ing some pressure in getting re-employed. I have been retrenched quite a few times in the 30 years of my career, and had absolutely no problem in getting a job within six months, nine months or so,” said Mr Law, who currently is the director of Belgian firm Demcopack Davis Asia.

When he looked at comments made by others online, he realised that there was an increasing number of people “facing the same situation”. Efforts to shield Singaporeans, such as the Fair Consideration Framework, which requires employers to advertise job vacancies on the national jobs bank for at least 14 days before they recruit foreigners, have not been “not helpful”, said Mr Law, who did not elaborate when asked what he thought were possible solutions.

He added that he would like to champion retirement adequacy — a concern that is close to his heart.

Calling himself part of the “sandwich generation”, Mr Law explained that he is caught between providing for three generations — his elderly parents, his children, and his wife and himself.

“I have a lot of personal savings from my job. I had sufficient money to look after myself for more than six months. Now it’s been 40 over months and I’m still here. I don’t think there are many people who are in such a fortuitous situation,” he said. “Drawing from that, I feel that it’s time for me to step up, as the opportunity has arose.”

Law Kim Hwee, 55, Former marketing manager

FACT FILE:

• Married, with three children, two of whom are university undergraduates, while one is a full-time National Serviceman

• His wife works in the education industry

• Has more than 30 years of experience in regional sales and marketing, mainly in multinational corporations from Europe

• Currently semi-retired, but is director of Demcopack Davis Asia, a Belgian subsidiary in Singapore

• Hopes to fight for struggling professionals, managers, executives and technicians, and champion retirement adequacy

HE SAID: “You’ve heard of sandwich class, but I think that in Singapore, we have a ‘sandwich generation’. This refers to those aged between 40 and my age. We have to look after our kids, as all parents do. But I also have to look after my parents, because my father is 91 and my mother is 80. If your parents are 70 and above, in all likelihood, they don’t have a Central Provident Fund account, let alone sufficient (savings) to tide them over. Therefore, I have to look after them. But that’s not the end of the story. I still have to look after myself and my wife in retirement. We are really the sandwich class, and this is what I’ll be standing up very strongly for.”

WARD: To be announced