“It seems in some ways that I have come full circle, returning to a vocation that allows me to work with the soil just as I had done so long ago,”
Christopher migrated to Australia in 1973 from his home country of Sri Lanka. A tea planter for a number of years, Christopher had also worked with rubber trees and cardamom and had hoped that this diversity of experience in plantation work would find him employment in similar industries once he had arrived in Australia. Unfortunately this wasn’t to be and he eventually took up a position with the Victoria Railways as a booking clerk, a position that he held for 26 years. It’s possible that Christopher may still have been with Victoria Rail if it hadn’t been for the transport provider’s eventual privatization, affording the booking clerk the ideal opportunity to accept a redundancy payout and try something new.
After a year off he joined the Community Jobs Programme (CJP), a service that supports community organisations, local government and other government agencies to employ local jobseekers on community projects. Eligible for retraining, Christopher was able to work on contract for 4 months with the Kingston City Council in their parks and gardens.
At the end of the 4 months, the Kingston City Council offered him a permanent position as a New Apprentice in Horticulture, an opportunity that Christopher was quick to pick up. The Council provides on the job training, the formal components being offered by TASA, a training company that specializes in providing the Certificate 3 in Horticulture through the on site council training officers.
With his Certificate 3 in Horticulture now almost completed, Christopher is excited about the prospects that are opening up to him. Working within the Council’s Annuals Planting Area, Christopher and his team ensure that the City’s parks and gardens are a proliferation of colour and scent for their many visitors. “I really find that working with annuals gives me a sense of great pride and fulfillment. I love the smiles that our gardens and flowers bring to peoples’ faces. Their obvious joy is the icing on the cake for me,” he states proudly.
Unlike his work in tea, rubber trees and cardamom 32 years earlier, Christopher’s third career, starting now as he approaches his sixties, will allow him to work in shires and cities throughout the world, should he be interested in taking this direction.
back to top