New Airgirls of Singapore

SHE has always wanted to be a Singapore Girl - jetting in style from country to country wearing a kebaya and her hair in a bun.

Just 18, Temasek Polytechnic (TP) student Chia Meng Yu has a head start to realising her dream.

From next April to September, she and 12 other students - nine girls and three boys - will take to the skies as full-time cabin crew in an internship leading to TP's aviation diploma.

In the first of its kind in Asia, the students will fly 15 to 20 hours a week as normal cabin crew, and get paid the same rates.

Since September, they have been flying on some flights on weekends. Meng Yu is hopeful that after her internship, she can continue to work for Tiger Airways, and perhaps for Singapore Airlines one day.

Said her lecturer, Mr Gary Ho: 'The normal route to be a Singapore Girl is to get a diploma, wait for the advertisement in the newspaper, then go for a walk-in interview.'

But Meng Yu has begun to live her dream life. Since September, she has been on five trips to China, the Philippines, Hong Kong, India and Indonesia.

She has always had the travel bug, something she picked up from her father, an aircraft engineer.

She said: 'Initially, my parents were worried for my personal safety. But now, they just want to know where I'm going to next.'

She describes the internship as 'a once-in-a-lifetime' learning opportunity.

Her most interesting challenge is to clean the toilets with tissue paper every 15 minutes during flights.

'I'm not used to it because my mum does the housework. The hard part is after cleaning, we must come out, swing our hair and look glam.'

Young and ready

Mr Matt Hobbs, head of communications for Tiger Airways, said this programme will help those who want to join the national carrier because 'they have already done the job and have got a foot in the door'.

He added: 'They are assured that when they finish their internship and schooling, they can work for the company full-time.'

But will passengers feel safe with such young cabin crew members?

Mr Paul Yap, TP's head of the aviation programme, said the students were treated like adults from the day they entered the programme.

'The internship is at the end of their studies, so they are quite experienced,' he said.

Added Mr Ho : 'If someone at age 18 can bear arms and protect the country, I'm sure they can do equally serious tasks onboard flights.'

Student Jel Wai Ang, 18, said that when he's asked about his age, 'I just tell the truth'.

'If we say it with confidence, the passengers will look up to us, because we can work as normal cabin crew despite our age.'

Jel has flown on six flights to Bangalore, Macau, China and the Philippines.

What has he learnt outside the classroom thus far?

'To be patient with passengers, especially those with weird requests.'

A passengers once pestered him for ice-cream, which is not served on flights.

'He eventually settled for a cup of Horlicks,' he said.

The three-year diploma in aviation management and services was launched in April last year with a pioneer batch of 79 students.

The course, which trains students to be airport and airline executives, requires a internship.

This is the first time cabin crew positions are available and some of the brightest were picked for it.

Other internship positions are in airport operations, customer service, guest relations, and ground handling.

Said Mr Ho: 'There's only so much you can learn from lectures. You need real-world experiences to be prepared for the real world.'

The partnership came about after a TP lecturer met the Tiger Airways head of cabin crew at a Bangkok conference.

TP wanted to provide industry-relevant training to its students and Tiger Airways had skilled positions available as it was expanding its operations.

It was a natural match, and a deal was made early this year.

Student interns attend a six-week training programme, then fly on weekends for 12 weeks before flying full-time for five months.

Then there's a month of learning about other aspects of airline operations, such as marketing, reservations, public relations and engineering.

In February, TP linked up with Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in the US to look into offering full-time degrees in aviation business administration.

Next year, TP will also offer courses in aerospace engineering and aerospace electronics.