Jurong Country Club staff urged to find new jobs as closure looms
Jurong Country Club has organised a job fair to help its 111 employees — who include (from left) senior golf operations supervisor Mazlan Mamat; housekeeping attendant Santhi Munsamy; membership assistant Jubaidah Dollah; and accounts assistant Lynnda Goh — before it closes down. Photo: KOH MUI FONG
SINGAPORE – As the clock counts down to the last day of operations for Jurong Country Club (JCC), its staff members have started weighing their options for the future, although some are in no hurry to look for a new job.
And the country club — which will have to hand over its 67ha site to the Government after it winds up at the end of the year to enable work on the high-speed rail (HSR) project to start — has organised a three-day job fair to help its 111 employees find new jobs.
JCC is also preparing to call a tender to sell off some of its equipment, such as its golf buggies.
The Government announced in May last year that it would be acquiring the land occupied by JCC for the Singapore-Kuala Lumpur HSR terminal station.
The career fair, which started yesterday, has 23 booths, manned by the Attractions, Resorts and Entertainment Union, country clubs and recruitment agencies, among others.
JCC’s human resources manager, Ms Teo Peh Yen, noted that some of its long-serving employees may have difficulty adapting to the external environment, having worked with the club for two to three decades.
“Organising this career fair is like a push factor for them. We’re trying to push them to attend it, so they can grab themselves a job,” she said.
Its general manager, Mr Farrock Ebrahim, added: “We’d like to see every one of them fully employed after JCC ceases operations.”
After the shutters come down on Dec 31, the country club will have to hand over the land to the Singapore Land Authority. However, storage space will be allocated for the club’s equipment — which includes about 120 golf buggies — till August next year. The administration and finance teams will stay on to facilitate the sale of these equipment, Mr Ebrahim said.
Speaking to TODAY at the career fair, he said: “We’ll open up (the) tender (in late November or December) … There are different types of machines for different uses. There are quite a lot, so (the items have) to go through a tender.”
While the closure is just three months away, some JCC employees are in no hurry to secure a new job.
“I’m planning to work until the last day. The market is very bad outside ... I’m prepared to be unemployed for one to two months,” said senior golf operations supervisor Mazlan Mamat, 54.
Accounts assistant Lynnda Goh, 28, said she had sent out a few applications for accounting positions over the last three months, but with limited success.
Ms Jubaidah Dollah, a 56-year-old membership assistant, became teary-eyed when asked about her job search.
She started working at the club as a golf receptionist in 1981, fresh out of school. After leaving JCC for seven years, she returned as a membership assistant and has worked there ever since. “I feel so sad. I thought I’d retire here,” she said.
Housekeeping attendant Santhi Munsamy, 51, is confident that she can find a new job in the same industry. However, she plans to stay on until the last day of operations, citing the close ties she has with the country club’s members. “After I gave birth to my second son, the members gave me a lot of advice on feeding him and taking vitamins. They also came to my place to visit me. They treat me like one of their own,” she said.
