SME Fiesta: Finding the right job fit with People Search

Being the link between businesses and the job seeker, People Search, a job placement company, recognizes the number one need of their clients: to be understood.

With a group of professional consultants from different industries like banking, engineering and healthcare, the needs and skills required by different companies are matched with job seekers who fit the requirements. Having many years of recruitment experience and expertise, the consultants understand the clients’ needs.

Seeing this need for jobs in the present economic crisis, People Search aimed to reach out to both business clients and job seekers during the SME Marketplace Fiesta held from 10 to 12 April 2009.

“We realised that the Marketplace Fiesta was an opportunity to reach out to clients looking for candidates, and we know that there are some out there who are looking for jobs. What we do is, depending on the kind of position, the consultants will match the candidates’ positions and skills to the jobs,” said Peggy Toh, a Human Resource Manager at People Search, which has been established since 2000.

To ensure that the job seekers are matched with a job that fulfills all their needs, a short questionnaire on their work preferences and skills had to be completed.

“Depending on the type of positions that you could be looking for, you could find a job in days or weeks. Sometimes, the company could just be looking for a contract staff, and if you do specify that you’re open to other job types, you could find a job easily,” explained Toh.

People Search goes beyond job placement services — talks and workshops are also regularly held to empower the public. For example, an upcoming leadership workshop will be held in May.

“During this time, there are also individuals who want to learn about leadership. It is also a chance for them to network and to share experiences with other people from other industries. They can get to see things in a different light,” said Toh.

YK Family Day at Roland Seafood Restaurant

Over 200 people from YK Zone, comprising cell group members and new friends, went for an afternoon of bonding, good food and music at Roland Seafood Restaurant on 19 May 2009.

Popular and highly recommended, Mr Roland Lim, Managing Director of Roland Seafood Restaurant, dons a motto, which is to offer his customers a culinary experience that they will never forget. Truly, Mr Lim did not disappoint.

The fun-filled afternoon kicked off with an exhilarating game, titled “City Harvest Church”. Each table was required to spell out “City Harvest Church” with the first letters of individuals’ names, or objects within their possession. The table that achieved this in the shortest time would attain a $50 Coffee Bean Voucher for themselves. The game promptly brought the house down through the squeals of excitement and laughter generated.

Whilst nibbling away at the tantalizing entrees, the audience was treated to a live jazz performance comprising a trio on the bongos, electric guitar and tenor sax. Rousing applause filled the air as the trio showcased compelling renditions of classic oldies such as “What a Wonderful World” by Louis Armstrong and “La Bamba”, a famous Venezualen folk song. Other notable genres included a good mix of jazz, such as “Sway” by Michael Buble, pop rock, such as “Jailhouse Rock” by Elvis Presley, bossanova and reggae.

Appetites were whetted as the aroma of exquisitely prepared dishes wafted through the air. Each specialty, impeccably crafted, represented a gem of ingenuity. The diners rated stewed Shiitake Mushroom with Leafy Vegetables and Teochew Style Steam Fish the best amongst all the courses.

The highlight of the event was undoubtedly the appearance of Taiwanese Pop Star, Wing. He shared that his life was heading down nowhere before accepting Christ into his life. However, his life took a turn for the better when he gave his heart to Jesus at New Life Church, a local Taiwanese church. Under the mentorship of Liu Geng Hong and close friend JJ Lin, he found confidence in himself to pursue his passion in making music for God and people. Wing’s personable and friendly nature wooed and won the audience as he performed some of his famous hits such as “Good Day” and “Ai Qing”.

NSF Terence Lee, 19, sums up our reflections on the event, “I think that these follow-up programs are a good way to build relationships with the new friends and to help them feel at home”. Indeed, both members and friends alike shared an enjoyable and memorable session of feasting, laughing and singing together.

Seeing Yoido Full Gospel Church in Action

On 20 May, a group of six City Harvest Church (CHC) staff travelled to South Korea to visit the world’s largest church — Yoido Full Gospel Church (YFGC). The five-day trip may have been short, but it was certainly impactful.

YFGC was founded by David Yonggi Cho and his mother-in-law, Choi Ja-shil in 1958, in a living room, with just six people. It has since grown exponentially into a congregation of about 830,000, making it the world’s largest Protestant church.

PHOTOS: Tan Kim Hock

The Singapore team was invited to Hansei University for a theological symposium. The University was founded in 1953 to nurture leaders in the Christian faith. Besides offering courses in theology, humanities and social sciences courses are also available.

The theme of the symposium, presented by Dr Cho, was “the understanding of social salvation”, which is the sharing of love and happiness with others.

Cho believes that when one loves his neighbor as himself, love will extend to oneself, society and the nation. He explains that this is substantiated in the Bible (John 3:16).

“It was a really enriching experience to hear the professors from various universities espousing their views and writing theological papers in response to Cho’s understanding of social salvation,” said Lee Yi Lun, part of the Singapore team and a zone supervisor with City Harvest Church.

“I feel encouraged and comforted knowing that as we reach out to the lost and needy, we will surely be blessed by God,” she added.

After the symposium, the team also had the privilege of having dinner with Dr Cho and his wife, Dr Kim Sung Hae. During the dinner, Cho shared about his trip to Siberia a few years ago, where 20,000 people, who have never heard the name of Jesus, received salvation. Miracles took place: a man who was paralyzed from the neck down was healed and could walk by the end of the meeting.

Cho has had a burning desire to preach the gospel around the world for the last 50 years — and all that time, he has not taken a single vacation. To date, he has traveled and preached in 70 countries and over 400 cities.

Cho’s dedication and love for God moved one of the team members, Bobby Chaw, the dean of students in CHC’s School of Theology (SOT).

“I feel inspired to do more for the Lord as I see Dr Cho’s great love for the lost, poor and the needy. To preach the gospel in 70 countries and 400 cities is really phenomenal!” he said.

The trip was an eventful one: the team enjoyed the opportunity to learn the history of North and South Korea during a visit to the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), a strip of land that serves as a buffer zone between the North and South. They also attended worship services and prayer meetings at the 12,000-seater Yoido Full Gospel Church.

All in, this proved an unforgettable experience for the Singapore missions team, who came back to Singapore with deep impressions of Yoido Full Gospel Church.

A Message of God’s Hope and Healing

Long-time friend of City Harvest Church (CHC), Mike Connell, Senior Pastor of Bay City Church in New Zealand is known for moving in the prophetic, deliverance and inner healing ministry. Many who know him speak of his strong love and sensitivity for God and His people.

CHC invites Connell yearly to minister in their weekend services. In May 2009, Connell devoted two weeks of his time teaching in the School of Theology, preaching in the four weekend services and on top of that, conducted a Counseling and Inner Healing Workshop together with his wife, Joy.

During the workshop Connell taught many invaluable principles on both the spiritual and emotional aspects of counseling. One of the points emphasized was the need to identify root issues to the cause of emotional problems, as well as how to effectively use the tools of the Word of God, the Holy Spirit and prayer on top of our human wisdom to minister to people. As Connell shared many of his personal counseling experiences and lessons learned in more than 25 years of ministry, he taught the participants how to connect with people, the importance of listening and understanding why God allows people to go through problems, among many others. He also emphasized that God’s people are called to bring God’s healing and hope to the hurt and broken.

PHOTOS: Maggie Chang

Said Susanna Wong, a 27 year-old real estate consultant and participant of the workshop, “I was greatly impacted by the fact that people are spirit, thinking and emotional beings and we must take these into account when counseling them. I feel more empowered to minister to people with what I’ve learned.”

During the weekend services, Connell moved powerfully in the spiritual gifts and demonstrated the love and power of God. In the midst of the service, he called upon 18 year old Desiree Peh, who was helping to minister at the altar call area, to lay hands and pray for people. Many fell under the power of God. Through this, Connell demonstrated how the power of God was able to move through anyone, no matter how young or inexperienced, as long as there is willingness and faith in Him.

Who’s Gonna Be Britain’s Biggest Talent?

This is a talent-filled week for Great Britain! The nation’s most talked-about show, Britain’s Got Talent, has packed prime time slots on national television this entire week, with the semi finals building up to the grand finals this Saturday night. The amount of buzz this show has generated has all but overshadowed the recent crowning of Kris Allen as 2009’s American Idol.

The first live semi-finals on Sunday evening was kicked off by Diversity whose incredible dance act shot them right into the finals. Another prominent contender who gained worldwide fame after the auditions is Susan Boyle. When asked whether she felt pressured to perform, the one they call the Hairy Angel (thanks to her bushy brows and wild hair) replied, ‘What pressure?’

Well. Boyle definitely will feel the pressure now as six more very promising finalists have been shortlisted. There’s 12-year-old Welsh boy, Shaheen Jafargholi, who wowed the judges so much with his singing that judge Simon Cowell, notorious for his mean remarks, commented that the lad is strong competition for Boyle.

Other finalists include 17-year-old singer, Shaun Smith, a dance group who named themselves Flawless, comedy dance act-Stavros Flatley, saxophone player Julian Smith and singing duo, 2 Grand. The last live semi-finals will take place on Friday 29 May at 8.30pm British Standard Time (Singapore: Saturday, 30 May, 4.30am).

Britain’s Got Talent, started in 2007, is a search for Britain’s next best talent act. The winner will receive £100,000 and an opportunity to perform at the Royal Variety Performance for members of the royal family, including the Queen. Previous winners are opera singer Paul Potts and street dancer George Sampson.

Will excitement Boyle over? Tune in to the finals happening 30 May, Saturday 8.30pm BST (Singapore: 31 May, Sunday, 4.30am). You can watch the videos nearly instantaneously on http://talent.itv.com or www.youtube.com.

The Big Screen: Star Trek

What does it take to attract a non-Star Trek fan to watch a Star Trek movie? This must have been the foremost question on director J.J Abram’s mind as he crafted the eleventh installment of the biggest sci-fi franchise in modern cinematic history. He need not have thought very hard, because he’s no Trekker himself. Hitting the nail on the head by introducing a lot more action and a whole less talking, he gives the beloved series a makeover deserving of an entire generation of new fans while rekindling the craze among its legion of followers.

The plot is somewhat simplistic — all the better for newbies to catch on. It charts the start of James T. Kirk’s journey from a free-spirited bar-brawler to captain of the U.S.S Enterprise, and also delves into why Spock has always been just Mr. Spock, despite his unsurpassable intellect and wisdom. Both leaders in their own way, they must find a way to work together aboard the Enterprise to quell the vengeful threats of the Romulan villain, Nero. In between, there are some bits about parallel universes and time-travelling which we admittedly don’t really get, though.

Helming the lead is a fresh-faced Chris Pine, who easily channels that rebellious-yet-prodigious streak a la Harry Potter into his Captain Kirk role. A supporting cast of Karl Urban, Zoe Saldaña, Simon Pegg, Anton Yelchin and John Cho do a good job of reliving the key characters, aided by some slinkier, souped-up uniforms. But while Spock is likewise nicely reintroduced by Zachary Quinto, we still have trouble getting Sylar, his psychotic super-villain character in the TV series Heroes out of our minds every time he comes onscreen. Watch out also for a still cute-looking Winona Ryder making an appearance.

In the midst of inter-galactic shootouts and multiple Armageddons, humor abounds in the form of running gags and wisecracks. Also, there’s never a still moment — even if you walk into the show without knowing what the term ‘Vulcan’ means, you will be kept on the edge of your seat. The visual effects are stupendous, as befitting a movie set in an era of hoverbikes and warp propulsions. Who would thought Star Trek could be so much fun?

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