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It was a Wednesday morning like no other. Laughter could be heard echoing beyond the walls of the meeting room at Jurong Point’s Centre Management Office. Members of the Jurong Point team were playing host to guests of a different kind that morning – 21 children and youths from Sunbeam Place @ Children’s Society aged 10-15 years. The reason for the guffaws – one of the youths had asked Olivia Gan, from the Marketing team who was sharing about her team’s work, how the vehicles at the car show they had witnessed on their arrival were transported into the atrium at Jurong Point. This led to a boisterous exchange among the participants who got busy shouting out their rather creative theories.
“Were they dropped in to the atrium from a retractable roof?” asked one.
“Or is there a special lift that they use to rise up from the basement carpark?” guessed another.
The real answer was far less exciting than that, as Olivia revealed how the safety bollards at one of the entrances of the mall were temporarily removed to facilitate the cars’ movement into the mall after operating hours.
It was heartening to witness such exchanges between the Jurong Point team and the youths, who are not exactly “strangers” to each other. For the past years, the Link team in Singapore have been playing Santa Claus to fulfil the Christmas wish lists provided by the home, gifting items such as toys, bags or clothing to bring festive cheer to these youths. This was, however, the first time both parties had met face-to-face.
This visit had marked the culmination of months of discussion between Link and Sunbeam Place @ Children’s Society on how else Link could help uplift the youths. As the adage “teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime” goes, Link’s offer to share a glimpse of what goes on behind-the-scenes at Jurong Point may prompt the youths to consider the career pathways available to them within a retail environment.
Also on hand to share insights were Kelvin Goh, head of operations and his team members. They took turns to speak about the security and safety, housekeeping and tenancy design functions. Curiosity abounded as the team was peppered with questions such as the qualifications needed and even the salary levels for the various roles. What the team had found especially challenging was to ensure that the content was kept simple and easy to understand, so as to keep the youths engaged. To build up momentum for the session, a pop quiz on Jurong Point with questions such as the mall’s age and number of tenants it has, also generated buzz amongst the participants.
It was heartening that Link could count on the support of tenants like Don Don Donki who had welcomed the participants to tour their premises, for a closer look at how processes such as sushi-making, and preparations for the fresh food sections were carried out. The visit also enabled them to understand the various roles such as store manager, merchandiser, packers and food handlers.
Having worked up an appetite, the party trooped over to Mamma Mia, a Halal-eatery in Jurong Point, who sponsored a delicious lunch of pasta and sides like chicken wings and fries, all washed down with refreshing iced lemon tea.
During lunch, some of the youths shared with the Jurong Point team about their aspirations. 13-year-old N chatted about how she was enjoying her first year in secondary school, having made many friends during those first few months.
“I want to work in the medical field, maybe be a doctor,” the bubbly girl said.
F, who was taking his Primary Six Leaving Examination (PSLE) at the end of this year, shared that he found the visit very interesting and while he was nervous over the upcoming exams, he was most confident about his best subject in school – the Malay language.
With filled bellies, the visit continued with a showcase of the security and housekeeping functions at Jurong Point. First was a visit to the Fire Command Centre (FCC) where the youths were amazed at the sheer number of screens showing what the CCTVs (more than 400 of them!) were capturing for the security officers to monitor the mall on a 24/7 basis. Located near the FCC were fire-safety equipment and outfits, where the youths were briefed on how security officers are always on standby to react to fire or other incidents that may occur at the mall.
Next, the housekeeping team provided a demonstration on how technology was being used to boost efficiency while conserving resources. The youths were introduced to one of the cleaning robots, which one of them affectionately named “Bobby”, which helps the team maintain cleanliness standards at the mall.
In terms of managing food waste generated by the tenants at the mall, the team makes use of a food digester machine. Eager volunteers got to operate the machine to participate in the process – with a press of the button, food waste collected in bins from the F&B outlets or supermarkets was poured into the food digester for it to break down the food waste into grey liquid.
To wrap up the learning journey, the marketing team arranged for the youths to witness one of Jurong Point’s vloggers Daniel Dunn in action. During the session, he was filmed introducing one of the new tenants at Jurong Point – Dabba Street – showcasing the food they serve and also tasting the food on camera. Daniel had nothing but encouraging words for the youngsters keen to pursue content creation after hearing how one of them proudly declaring, “I want to be a Youtuber”. Indeed, in this day and age, being a content creator can also be a one of the feasible career options for the youths of today.
As the youths headed back to Sunbeam Place @ Children’s Society each armed with a Link goodie bag filled with useful items like stationery and sports gear, it is hoped that the learnings from the visit inspire them to consider the possibilities and carve out a brighter future for themselves.
