Every day, an army of people – cleaners, technicians and support staff – work tirelessly around the clock to ensure RP is ready for classes. Their work goes unrecognised most of the time. But without them, their absence will be keenly felt. As RP celebrates its 15th anniversary, The Republican Post’s Tashinnya Chandrasekaran speaks to five RP staff about their life, work and what keeps them going. Photos by Zinho De Costa

‘Cleaning is a tough job but students appreciate me’

Mr Mohd Ishak, cleaner and gardener. He has been working at RP for two years.

“The students will treat you with respect when they see I clean their place or throw away their rubbish. They won’t ignore me and they will thank me. It makes me feel happy. It is a tough job but I like that I can keep the place clean for students to study here.”

‘I keep the pool safe’

Mr Eddie Hee, Lifeguard. He has been working at RP for two months.

“I supervise the pool to make sure that it is safe. The environment is very chilled and the people swimming are usually very safe as they adhere to the safety rules without me having to tell them. So it saves me from worrying too much. There was once I taught someone how to swim even though it is not part of my job scope. I think it is quite good how I can try help others in different ways.”

‘I keep the learning environment safe’

Mr Riduan Hamidon, Discipline Officer. He has been working at RP for a year.

“My team and I go around the school boundaries to ensure that students are not committing any offences like smoking, fighting, gambling and even students making out. Otherwise we will take discipline action against them. We also help out with any security issues like graffiti or even students playing pranks on other people where the pranks are taken too far and becomes dangerous. I think it is nice when students who have been caught by me before do not hold any grudges. There was once I caught this student committing an offence and he had to pay a fine. A few days later, I saw him and he even came to speak to me.”

‘I enjoy coming to work’

Mr Mohd Yusof, Cleaner. He has been working at RP for 10 months.

“I clean the toilets in the different blocks. I enjoy working here as I have a good supervisor. The students here are all very nice. The place is very lively. I have a lot of friends and i get along well with the supervisor and my bosses. I enjoy coming to work. My job can get very difficult and I can get tired. There was one day where it was very difficult for me as I was exhausted. But my colleagues helped me and it made my job easier to complete. I was very thankful for their help.”

‘Teamwork drives my department’

Ms Nur Aini, executive at the Office of Industry and Collaboration (Career Centre). She has been working at RP for six years.

“I am a career ambassador for the career centre. So when students come in, I help to book an appointment for them with an ECG counsellor. I love working with my colleagues as there is a lot of teamwork. They are very easy to work with as they are very easy going. We do a lot of events and everyone in the department will come down for these events even though we all have different portfolios.”