Stories to Inspire
Irene Toh
A GCE ‘O’ Level certificate wasn’t enough for Irene Toh, a mother of three. The wheelchair-user known for her positive outlook enrolled for the Certificate in Infocomm Technology course in SPD’s new Infocomm Accessibility Centre (IA Centre) in April 2007 to add to her basic knowledge of IT. Recently, she joined a company providing safety solutions in Singapore and Asia as an administration executive. She writes about her stint in SPD.
Having left the work force for more than twenty years, I decided to upgrade myself first before joining it again. Knowing that computer knowledge is now an important and necessary skill, I enrolled myself for the Certificate in Infocomm Technology course at SPD’s IA Centre.
With a positive ‘I CAN’ attitude, I was able to overcome all my fears while undergoing the IT course. It did help too that my trainers and course mates were really wonderful people. I learnt programmes in MS Office which I’d use frequently in administration work. I also had the opportunity to learn more advanced IT skills like using Dreamweaver to design and create web pages. Having completed the course and learning web design using Dreamweaver, I am now able to understand the IT terms when communicating with my children and friends. I am now taking a graphic design course in Adobe Illustrator and a desktop publishing course in Adobe InDesign.
Armed with my new IT skills, I am very excited and delighted that I have been offered a position with Fischer Bell, an industrial safety company, as an Administration Executive. I have just started work in December 2007 and am confident that the skills I learnt from the IA Centre will be put to good use there.
I would like to take this opportunity to convey my heartfelt thanks to many people for helping me through this period of transition. Firstly, to SPD for providing me the opportunity to pursue my IT knowledge, then Microsoft Corporation for funding the Microsoft Accessibility & IT Center where I attended my lessons, Mr Lim Yee Ming, my IT Trainer and Mr Oh Wei Loong, my ex-IT Trainer, for their wonderful and informative teaching. Ms Jess Ho, my social worker, for all her patient help, support and encouragement, and lastly my mum, godma, my sisters, my husband Esmond and children Anne Marie, Joseph and Gabriel, for their support, understanding and encouragement. Thank you all for helping me to where I am today. I’m off to work now!