“Those days when I was young, I didn’t pay much attention to the work of the union, and I didn’t participate much in the union activities. But, when I retired, the union came to my aid.”

“The union has been very helpful to me,’ said Mohan.

When Mohan had just retired from ASEAN Cable Ship, COVID-19 struck globally. He needed to continue working to support his family but did not know where to find one.

He turned to SMOU for help. SMOU General Secretary Mary Liew personally stepped in because she knew about his family’s situation. She communicated with Mohan’s daughter and assured Mohan that SMOU would do its best to assist him.

Through the help of SMOU Industrial Relations officer Kelvin Lin, Mohan was job-linked to Antares Maritime, an agency, where he managed to first secure a five-month contract to work as a 3rd Engineer. Mohan shared, “COVID was a blessing for Singapore seafarers in that because foreign seamen were not available, local seafarers had more job opportunities.”

Mohan also benefitted from the SMOU training incentive on the mandatory training courses for the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW) for revalidation of his CoC 5 Marine Engineer certificate. The union also provided food from Lighthouse Bistro for Mohan when he had to stay at a designated holding facility during the crew change process.