The Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions (HKFTU) is one of the 72 organizations accredited by the Employees Retraining Board (ERB) to run training courses. It has been cooperating with the ERB since 1993. Today, it operates nearly 50 full-day and half-day courses in over 30 training centres throughout the territory for the convenience of its clients.

During the early years, domestic helper and property management courses were the most popular courses. Over the past year or two, cookery and coffee-making have emerged as the most welcomed curses, with a large number of applicants waiting to enrol in these courses.

Courses on beauty care, hairdressing, commercial and clerical studies, IT and design of homepages are also quite popular.

In February this year, HKFTU conducted its first coffee-making certificate course with accreditation provided by City & Guilds in the U.K. Now the fourth course is ongoing.

The duration of the course is 160 hours. The scope of training covers coffee brewing techniques, preparation of related beverages, coffee shop operation, customer services and communication skills. Upon completion, trainees may sit for the City & Guilds professional examination.

"This is an emerging course and the HKFTU boasts the only coffee-making examination centre in Hong Kong," said Wong Chi-mei, deputy general secretary of the Federation's Occupational Retraining Centre. "Running a training-cum-examination centre is not easy because we need to buy coffee-making equipment, design the course, hire instructors and understand the market needs."

The HKFTU has invested more than HK$1 million in buying a full set of coffee-making equipment. "It is a heavy financial burden for us but the unions shared the cost for the sake of creating employment for the workers," she said.

Given the fact that many small and medium coffee shop chains have emerged in recent years, successful candidates need not worry about their job prospects, she said. Several large-scale coffee shop chains have asked the HKFTU to recommend staff to them and offer a decent salary of over HK$7,000 per month.

Cookery courses are also very popular, with over 100 candidates waiting in line, she said. But since the HKFTU has only one fully-equipped kitchen, each class is limited to 20 candidates only.

In particular, the elementary certificate courses on Chinese pastries and cuisines will help successful candidates to acquire nationwide qualification through examination to work as chefs on the mainland.

With a duration of 260 hours, the training scope of the certificate cookery courses comprise both theory and practical kitchen work. The examination is held in Hong Kong, under the supervision of the provincial labour authorities of Guangdong.

"The cookery courses aim to train them in a systematic and professional manner to lift their status to professional Chinese chefs through image-building, accreditation and examination. As they feel they will acquire higher status after attaining nationwide qualification, they all work very hard and learn with a serious attitude," she beamed.

In the light of media reports, many employers have expressed interest and asked the HKFTU to refer suitable candidates to them.

After passing the examination, the trainees can take up middle kitchen positions in large Chinese restaurants and stand to earn up to HK$8,000 per month.

"We have invested more than HK$1 million in purchasing the full set of kitchen equipment and we spend no less than HK$20,000 on monthly gas charges," she disclosed. "The candidates do not have to pay any course or examination fee. We must thank the government for this really good policy. Without government subsidies, they will have no chance of joining the courses."

Li Ming-tung, a veteran chef, is responsible for screening the applicants and teaching the cookery course. "Candidates must have a genuine interest in joining this profession," he said. "Unlike office work, working in the kitchen is a rather tough thing and you need to be on duty on a busman's holiday."

He also revealed that among the candidates, many unemployed people in their 40s and 50s hoped to opening their own small eating outlets. "Given their age, this is probably their last chance. They work even harder than young people and some of them even practice cooking at home," he said.

"Overall, the trainees have worked very hard and learnt a lot of things within a short time. They need not worry about their job prospects because we have a good network of heads and chief chefs in Chinese restaurants," he commented.

Candidate Lam Wing-wah is a typical example of someone who restructures his skills through retraining and was also a victim of the financial tsunami.

Originally a senior sales and marketing manager of a Japanese-funded electronics company, he was laid off early this year after reaching 50 years old. His effort to find a job in the same field for one month was in vain because the electronics sector has been heavily affected by global recession.

"The biggest attraction is that the cookery course paves the way for nationwide qualification. I hope to first find a job and gain more experience after completing the examination," he said. "It is a good thing to learn another trade while I still can. We are also very grateful to these veteran chefs who teach us their skills tirelessly and unselfishly."

(HK Edition 06/12/2009 page4)