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  Today Online 27 Nov 06
Singapore's animal attraction
Tan Hui Leng huileng@mediacorp.com.sg

KEEPING pets is not a new hobby here, but it's an interest that has been quietly growing--fast--on Singaporeans.

The sale of pets and pet supplies in the retail and wholesale businesses has grown steadily at 10 to 15 per cent per annum for the last two years, reaching $515 million last year, according to the Department of Statistics. And the retail trade is expected to grow annually at 10 to 30 per cent over the next five years, reaching a total sale of $1 billion by year 2010.

Seeing the need for more professional training for the industry's sales personnel with such double-digit growth, several agencies--including the National Trades Union Congress, Pets Enterprises and Traders Association, and the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA)--have come together to launch the Skills Redevelopment Programme (SRP) for the industry.

The target is to train half or 1,000 of the industry's sales personnel to take on higher-level sales jobs by 2008. The training comes in two parts--customer service and pet care management. These personnel can increase their take-home pay by 10 to 20 per cent through higher commissions earned after undergoing SRP training, said director for NTUC's quality worklife department Yeo Guat Kwang.

"In Singapore, changing demographics and new lifestyle trends have led to a significant shift in people's attitudes towards pet ownership--Pets have become the new surrogate children for retirees, singles, couples without children and even families," observed Mr Yeo.

Points will be given for the SRP training under the Best Practice for pet shop grading scheme, which grades the pet shops according to their level of compliance with AVA's licensing conditions and their adoption of the industry's best practices.

Training will be compulsory for managers and shop assistants of pet shops with a D grade.
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