Care and compassion are qualities of a good nurse.

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High standard of education and promising career opportunity were among the main factors when Nilar considered becoming a nurse in Singapore.

Now, she is a year-one student at the nursing school in Nan Yan Polytechnic where over thirty young women from Burma are studying for the first time this year.

Test in Rangoon

With arrangements by an agent company in Rangoon, hundreds of high school graduates participated in the selection process which took place in a hotel in the city, Nilar tells of her experiences.

Apart from the required scores in the high school, English language skill is the key in the success, according to her.

The programme, she explains, is sponsored by a hospital in Singapore for which Nilar and other nurse students will have to serve for at least six years after completing the three-year training.

The sponsor covers the cost for their studying and living in Singapore. On top of it, every student gets S$ 500 every month for personal use, she says.

For people like her, investing time of nine year in total is a choice well worth taking, says Nilar.

She spends her own times helping elderly people, orphans and blood donors at a social club she has joined.

Similar career but different experience

Ko Soe Paing left Burma during the 1988 turmoil.

He first arrived in Thailand and stayed there under protection by the UN refugee agency before he was resettled in Sweden.

When he found his new home in Sweden, first thing he did was to understand the Swedish language.

The next step, he worked out for career and joined a training programme to become a carer of elderly and disable people.

He has completed the training and has now started working for a few months.

There may be differences in experience, place and nature of work, but compassion and willingness to work with people are very important for a nurse.

That is the philosophy that they both believe.