When younger colleagues call in sick at the last minute, it is often Madam Maimon Osman who drops everything to fill in for them. The 66-year-old cashier supervisor at IT retail store Challenger said: "Sometimes they call me when I'm cooking lunch. I turn off the fire and rush over so that the queue of customers is not jammed for too long."

Madam Maimon, who has been ringing tills for 18 years, is one of eight workers aged 62 and above rehired by Challenger on the same pay. She has no plans to stop working. "If you like the job, you don't feel tired," she said.

She admitted that she has had trouble keeping on top of technological shifts, such as when the retail staff began using tablets to speed up service. "It was not easy to learn to use the tablet; I had to ask the younger folk."

In turn, she imparts her decades of work experience, having trained more than 100 cashiers. The single woman dreads the day her contract is not renewed. She said: "Challenger is my first house. It is like my family is here."

Olivia Ho