Single mum switches career to pursue dream to 'do something meaningful'
Sunday is Mother's Day. The New Paper celebrates supermums who juggle love for their children and dedication to their careers
Ms Rebecca Seah is a single mother of three who had a thriving career in sales and marketing, having clinched the best salesperson award for three consecutive years.
But in 2013, the 51-year-old decided to make a career switch to the social service sector.
On her reasons for making the change, Ms Seah said: "I had been living in a broken marriage for many years and after officially getting divorced in 2010, I decided to do something meaningful by pursuing my dream in helping the under-privileged and making the career switch."
She began volunteering in 2010 and started pursuing a Bachelor of Social Work in the Singapore University of Social Sciences under the Professional Conversion Programme for Social Workers in 2013.
She took up a part-time job as a property agent during her two-year course.
Under the Adapt and Grow initiative by Workforce Singapore, Ms Seah was able to tap on specific programmes in her employment journey to obtain the necessary knowledge and skills to take on a new job in the social service network.
Ms Seah graduated in 2015 and joined Filos Community Services in 2017 as the manager of the elderly services.
GREATEST STRUGGLE
On her struggles, she said: "Playing the role of a father was my greatest struggle as well as trying my best not to disappoint my children and providing them with a comfortable life. The more I struggled, the stronger I became."
Ms Seah was concerned about being unable to provide for her children during her studies when her savings began depleting.
She was conscious about setting aside money for her two oldest children's university fees.
Her son, 25, is in his final year in the Singapore Institute of Management University of London (SIM-UOL).
Her daughter, 24, is a finance executive in a consultancy.
Her younger daughter, 17, is in her first year of junior college.
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