The 57-year-old, whose drink driving cost him his licence, has applied for more than 20 factory- and construction-related jobs on his own or through government job placement centres.

But success eludes him.

Still, he is adamant that he will not lower his standards and take just any offer that comes his way. With only a Primary 5 education, the father of one draws the line at cleaning jobs.

But when he finally found a job as a forklift operator last year, he quit after three months.

'I was bitten by mosquitoes all the time,' he complained in Mandarin of his job at a warehouse in the western part of Singapore.

'And the salary was so low - below $1,000 after CPF.'

He earned more than $3,000 a month during his 10 years as a truck driver.

Mr Chua is among Singapore's 6,000 or so long-term unemployed - people out of work for more than a year - who had registered with government and community job placement centres last year.

Their plight has come under the spotlight lately as unemployment in Singapore hit a 10-year low of 1.7 per cent.

The long-term unemployed make up roughly 40 per cent of the 15,000 people who sought help from the job centres despite the buoyant job market.

The clue to their struggle can be found in the composition of this lower-income group.

It is made up mainly of mature workers aged above 40, housewives in their 40s and 50s who want to go back to work and people with physical disabilities, medical conditions or past criminal records.

Most also have little schooling, even fewer marketable skills and worse, face stiff competition from foreign workers who are willing to work for less pay.

The near-full employment market has shortened the job queue at the six career centres run by the Workforce Development Agency (WDA) with the five Community Development Councils (CDCs) and the National Trades Union Congress.

The queue was reduced from 40,000 people in 2003 to 15,000. Of these, the long-term or chronically unemployed make up more than a third.

Job counsellors say that their biggest challenge is changing the mindset of these people and arming them with skills for a workforce that threatens to leave them behind.

Skills training and counselling are at the heart of the help programmes run for the unemployed by community self-help groups such as the Chinese Development Assistance Council (CDAC), Mendaki and Sinda.

'We are seeing fewer job seekers now, but the ones walking through our doors are those who faced the same problems six years ago because of age, poor health or lack of skills,' said Mr Goh Wee Siong, CDAC's manager of skills training.

After sussing out what a struggling job seeker needs to do to improve his skills, Mr Goh and other counsellors will refer him to subsidised training programmes, including those developed by the WDA.

One example is the Employability Skills System (ESS), which boosts their literacy, numeracy and general workplace skills.

It is part of a system of national skills qualifications accepted by employers. Other courses and qualifications cover industry-specific skills in sectors such as aerospace, food and beverage and financial services.

However, training alone is not enough to help these job seekers as reasons for their unemployment may include 'resistance to changing their job expectations and unrealistic expectations in terms of salaries', said WDA chief executive Ong Ye Kung.

One-to-one counselling is critical to help them build confidence and to adjust their expectations, say employment experts.

When Ms Sarina Mohamad, 35, began job-hunting after being a housewife for more than seven years, she said she had 'absolutely no confidence in myself'.

'I was not prepared for job interviews and had no idea about employers' expectations,' said the bubbly single mother of three, who approached the career centre at North West CDC for help last June.

Two months and four unsuccessful job applications later, she found work as a customer relations officer at Income, the NTUC insurance cooperative, earning $1,500 a month.

She credits her job counsellor for helping her keep a 'positive attitude' despite the rejections.

Mendaki coordinates a Careerlink Plus programme that provides counselling to the long-term unemployed even after they have found a job. This is to help them adjust to their new workplace.

It is an uphill task.

Of the 11,000 people who found jobs through the career centres last year, nearly half threw in the towel within three months.

The most common reason for that, WDA surveys found, was that the job did not meet their expectations - for instance, they found the pay too low.

But perseverance paid off for Madam Thanapakiam Erulapan, a 60-year-old widow and one of Careerlink Plus' success stories.

Two years ago, she struggled to adjust to the fast-paced, computerised work environment at the asset management company where she was a customer service officer.

The first few months were horrible, she recalled. But she drew support from her career management officer, who 'kept encouraging me to endure as jobs for mature workers are hard to come by', she said.

She hung on and adapted well enough to get a promotion.

'I am coping well now and am contented with my job,' she said with a smile.

clare@sph.com.sg