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Story by Ryan Chan
Even if the economy becomes volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous where jobs change, Koh Boon Liang, president of the Singapore Institute of Food Science and Technology (SIFST), believes jobs in the food manufacturing industry will always be around.
People still have to eat and there will always be a demand for new, innovative products.
Sunrise Industry
Mr Koh believes the relevance of food technologists will continue to grow, following the launch of a new Lean Enterprise Development (LED) project in November 2016 by the Ministry of Manpower to upskill workers in the food manufacturing industry to help boost the innovation of healthier products.
“With Singapore importing 95 per cent of our food, it is the job of food technologists to not only innovate new food products, but also ensure the food is safe to consume.
“The food line is always changing due to new diseases emerging. Our food technologists also have to keep up with these changing demands to come up with food that meets these new standards. Thus, the LED scheme will help us go a long way in ensuring our food technologists are well equipped to handle these new challenges.”
Working With LM
On 21 November 2016, SIFST became NTUC’s 41st U Associate, where both parties signed a memorandum of understanding to develop structured training programmes for food technologists to help them deepen their skills.
Mr Koh said he also looks forward to tapping on the U Associate extensive network to help food technologists progress further.
“A food technologist’s career path is rather straightforward. With their current set of skills, the highest they can go to is perhaps a QA (quality assurance) or production manager. But I believe they can go higher,” he said.
As an example, Mr Koh hopes SIFST will be able to receive cross-sectoral knowledge from other professions such as engineering and sales.
Having basic engineering skills will give food technologists a better understanding of the machines they operate at work and enable them to fix basic problems.
Sales knowledge would also allow food technologists to learn how to promote their product.
“We only know how to produce [food products], but as for how to market them, or even how to run a retail outlet, it’s not something that everybody is well versed in,” he explained.
“Instead of a straightforward path with only one outcome, food technologists would be able to branch out and value-add to their current skillset.”
Viable Career
While furthering the education of food technologists is one of SIFST’s objectives, Mr Koh is also keen to elevate the profession so that more tertiary students can see it as an appealing career choice.
He holds a vision of the institute one day developing its own training courses and giving out recognised certifications to further professionalise the industry.
He said: “Lawyers and doctors are recognised professions. Even those within the food industry, such as dieticians and nutritionists, have certifications by the Ministry of Health. In a way, we’re like nobody’s child. Our ultimate goal is to have professionally-certified food technologists, and SIFST’s partnership with U Associate is the first step towards achieving this.”
Source: NTUC This Week
