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Singapore Power
Feature | Organisation

Delivering Reliable and Efficient Energy

Singapore Power
Be part of the team that powers Singapore's leading energy company.

Singapore Power provides reliable and efficient energy utility services to enhance the economy and improve the quality of lives of Singaporeans.

To fulfil its mission, Singapore Power also needs to have the right people. As such, it engages employees through various programmes to help them maximise their true potential while continuing to invest in new and advanced technologies. Here to share more with us are Principal Engineer Fong Yi Kit and Executive Engineer Chan Xiao Rong Roseanne.

CHALLENGING PROSPECTS

Yi Kit and Roseanne both decided to join Singapore Power because of the challenging opportunities Singapore Power offered. With a penchant for subjects like power supply and sustainable energy, Yi Kit majored in Electrical Engineering in NUS. In his final year, he went on an industrial visit organised by Singapore Power's HR department for NUS students. Through the visit, he was able to gain insights on the integral role that Singapore Power plays in Singapore's power industry. He was attracted by how Singapore Power provided varied developmental and challenging opportunities to nurture young engineering talents. He found that they were exposed to different roles within the organisation, from planning to project implementation, and power grid operations. Equally compelling was the fact that Singapore Power networks are amongst the most reliable and cost-effective worldwide.

As an intern with the Gas Transmission Operations and Maintenance section, Roseanne saw what being an engineer with Singapore Power was like – sparking off her interest in joining the organisation. What further attracted her was Singapore Power's EDGE (Engineering Development for GraduatEs) Programme which provides young engineering graduates like herself the opportunity to partake in different engineering roles as part of Singapore Power's structured job rotation to critical operational areas, and the company's support for Professional Engineer Certification.

Fong Yi Kit

Fong Yi Kit
Principal Engineer

"Willingness to learn, resilience, and a positive attitude are key."

Core Responsibilities

Yi Kit's core role is to ensure that Singapore's transmission electrical infrastructure is able to fulfil the growing energy needs of the region for the next ten years. His mornings are mainly for planning work while afternoons are spent on site, conducting surveys to verify the information from the desktop planning process. His time is also devoted to engaging stakeholders and teaming up with partner agencies like the Economic Development Board and JTC Corporation to meet potential foreign investors (who are keen to invest in Singapore). Faced with the differing requirements of customers, his challenge is to formulate proposals that are of the lowest cost and yet, technically sound. After the proposals have been accepted by the customers and endorsed by the Power System Operator, he will proceed to draft the connection agreements for the customers.

Roseanne is currently an engineer with the Emergency Response and Regulator Maintenance section of the Gas Distribution Management branch. Her team is responsible for the maintenance of distribution regulator stations and ensuring that the equipment functions properly. Other responsibilities include valve operations and network pressure simulation works. For her, a team toolbox meeting kick-starts the day, followed by a brief on work allocation as well as feedback and observations of any site issues encountered the previous day. After which, they will go about resolving site issues encountered with the relevant parties like government agencies and looking at improvements to increase the team's productivity. Beyond the day-to-day work, Roseanne is also exposed to exciting corporate-wide assignments like emceeing stint for management retreat and involvement in emergency response exercises.

STAFF DEVELOPMENT

Singapore Power's key priority is staff development. Yi Kit is in the pioneer batch of Singapore Power's Engineering LEAdership Development (ELEAD) Programme, which focuses on developing the engineering leadership pipelines through broadening of their global horizons. Singapore Power is seen to be a firm believer of continuous learning as Yi Kit is also currently pursuing a Master's Degree in Electrical Engineering and Renewable Energy Systems at University Of Leeds, UK – a course sponsored by the company.

Chan Xiao Rong Roseanne

Chan Xiao Rong Roseanne
Executive Engineer

"Challenges are what make one's life interesting and career satisfying."

Work-life Balance, Community Outreach and Safety First

Singapore Power is an organisation that promotes work-life balance. Employees are provided with ample play time after working hours. Enrichment activities aim to engage everyone and range from weekly basketball sessions to kayaking and trekking to family-oriented events such as the seasonal durian tasting trips. Singapore Power is also strong on volunteerism and Yi Kit was a key member in SP Heart Workers, the Staff Volunteerism Committee in Singapore Power. He had the opportunities to organise several volunteering activities for SP staff.

According to Roseanne, Singapore Power places a strong emphasis on safety, with programmes and initiatives developed to cultivate a greater sense of safety among staff and its stakeholders, including contractors.

Be Willing to Learn

Budding engineering talents would be pleased to know that Singapore Power is currently undergoing an exciting phase where there are new opportunities arising from many new initiatives like renewable energy and emerging technologies. To succeed in Singapore Power, Yi Kit remarks that "willingness to learn", "resilience" and "a positive attitude" are key. With a positive attitude towards learning, he believes that one's development process will be accelerated especially with the avenues made available by Singapore Power to acquire technical knowledge and leadership and life skills.

Similarly, Roseanne is in support of continuous learning. To her, learning is a never-ending journey and a fresh graduate will not only succeed in Singapore Power but in other companies as well if they adopt the right attitude towards life, encapsulated by her school motto, "while I live, I learn". She also believes that one should stay open-minded and embrace challenges for "challenges are what make one's life interesting and career satisfying".