By now, you might have heard that the government is giving everyone over the age of 25 $500 to spend on skills upgrading courses under the SkillsFuture scheme. To my surprise, most of the people around me have reacted with indifference. After all, it’s not like you can use that $500 to do anything other than sit through mind-numbing industry seminars that your boss would pay for anyway if you didn’t have the credit, right?
Well, there’s nothing stopping you from using your SkillsFuture credit for personal gain. Even if there are no career upgrading courses you want to take at the moment that your company wouldn’t already be open to paying for, there are some courses you can take just for fun.
1. Cooking
Do you feel as helpless as an infant when faced with a stove and kitchen utensils? Intimidated by all those hoity toity cooking classes conducted by chefs and filled with housewives who already cook on a daily basis anyway? Want to learn how to just not poison your friends and family instead of prepare fois gras? Then you might benefit from taking a basic cooking course. Shatec runs classes that will have you learning to prepare Chinese, Malay and Indian, amongst other types of cuisine. If you’re ambitious, you might even want to enrol in a WSQ certificate course, which is only $730 after WDA subsidy, and most of which can be paid for using your SkillsFuture credit.
2. Business Chinese
Not Chinese and sick of hearing aunties gossip about you in the lift thinking you can’t understand a word? Here’s your chance to shoot a witty comeback. Amongst the many courses that can be paid for with SkillsFuture credit are language classes in Basic Chinese and Business Chinese. While that’s not going to turn you into Confucius overnight, you’ll probably learn enough to order food at a hawker centre and perhaps pick up an ah lian or two.
3. Photoshop
Have you ever wanted to start a blog showcasing your colourful fashion sense but were held back by your lack of photoshop skills? Or maybe you want to make your holiday photos to Johor look more like Japan. You, my friend, need some Photoshop skills. If you hate watching instructional videos on YouTube or just want to be spoon-fed, then we really recommend that you just enrol yourself in a Photoshop class using your SkillsFuture credit. The readers of your blog will thank you for it.
4. DJ techniques
So you’re a hardcore clubber and now you want to take things to the next step—by making the club your workplace. Well, believe it or not, there’s a WDA-approved course taught by Ah-Ha! Events Academy designed to help budding DJs master mixing basics. With just the basics, you would probably already know enough to moonlight as a DJ at Thai discos and the like, though we’re not suggesting you do that.
5. Ikebana
Are you the house-proud sort who just loves prettying up your surroundings so as to impress your friends and in-laws? Then you might want to school yourself in the fine art of Ikebana or Japanese flower arrangement, courtesy of your SkillsFuture credit. You might not be looking for a career in the florist industry or as an interior decorator, but hey at least you’ll have a nice home and be a really sought-after housewife or house husband.
6. Tour guide
Want to make a bit of quick cash on the weekends? Become a freelance tour guide. No, we’re not suggesting you go about it the Yang Yin way. But licensed tour guides in Singapore can earn quite a generous amount in exchange for taking tourists around and telling them about the various sights on the island. You need to take a 6 month course to become a licensed tour guide, but subsidised tuition fees are just $780.00, most of which your SkillsFuture credit can cover. Even if you don’t actually end up becoming a guide, the course will have you reading up on Singapore history and learning about many lesser-known attractions in town, which doesn’t sound like such a bad thing.
What are you doing with your SkillsFuture credit? Tell us in the comments!