Heng Shirley has progressed from a junior apprentice to Assistant Baker at Metta Café. Diagnosed with Mild Intellectual Disability, Shirley graduated from Metta School with ITE Skills Certificate in Food Preparation.
Before working at Metta Café, she joined a café and cake house where she was tasked to make Chinese-style pastries filled with bean paste. This was also where she started to develop an interest in baking. With encouragement from her job coaches, Shirley furthered her professional growth by taking a baking course at the Baking Industry Training College (BITC) Singapore with Metta as her sponsor.
At Metta Café, Shirley’s duties range from baking cookies, cakes and breads. She also mentors Metta School students who are outplaced at the café for on-the-job trainings. Among her many tasks, cutting pieces of sponge cake is what she finds most challenging, but she continues trying to perfect the job.
