25/11/2021
This week's Journey of Resilient Singaporeans edition by Workforce Singapore - WSG, featured the story of one of our colleagues, Roger Ong.
Journeys of Resilient Singaporeans
Caitlyn rocks the world of 34-year-old Ong Soo Jie, Roger. And she’s all of 5 months!
Roger is married to his school sweetheart, Peifen who has had an invitro fertilisation journey of over 6 years to have Caitlyn here today. There is gratitude, there is relief, there is a lot to work towards. A pregnancy during a pandemic, living with the worry of contracting COVID-19 and all the financial outlays of a newborn brought many things into sharp focus. “It’s fairly simple. I have always worked towards finding something that is stable, that offers me a better salary. As a father-to-be, together with a pregnant mum-to-be, we just felt that we should stay close together and make sure we stayed protected.”
The first step toward securing that stability came when he completed his degree in Hospitality and Tourism Management in 2009. He stayed in the hospitality industry for about 2 years. The push factor for Roger as he moved across various companies within the events and exhibitions sector was always about a better move up the corporate ladder. That has helped him land in Plover Trip as the Assistant Vice President, Client Management. He has been with the company for almost 4.5 years. Roger is part of the co-founding team and is an employee shareholder of the startup.
And when COVID-19 came along, it hit this travel company significantly. Everyone in the company of less than 20 people agreed to a pay reduction during the pandemic. “When I heard about COVID-19, my first fear was losing my primary income, losing my job. Because when COVID-19 hit, the biggest impact was felt in the travel industry. So, the other thing that came into my mind was what am I going to do next?”
To this end, Roger is grateful to the company’s management team for keeping him involved and informed about the way forward. “We used the time to develop and enhance our current technology, our current products that we have, like the mobile app.” In line with that, Roger was placed on Workforce Singapore’s (WSG) Digital Marketing Place-and-Train programme last year.
In Roger’s eyes, the course was his insurance against the future which was changing rapidly. “What this COVID-19 has actually taught us is you cannot always depend on what you already know. There’s always opportunity for you to upskill yourself, learn something different.” His personal message to everyone who is looking towards this uncertain future, “Don’t live in a world where you are easily contented. Challenge yourself. What COVID-19 has taught me is to be resilient, to be tenacious and pick yourself up when you are really down.”
There’s no room for feeling down now for Roger. His world continues to rock with Caitlyn in his arms and his wife by his side!
https://conversion.mycareersfuture.gov.sg/Portal/ProgramDetails.aspx?ProgID=P00001378
