Speaker Sir.
This is the darkest of times. The outbreak of COVID-19 has taken a heavy toll on the economies of many countries. In Singapore, the recent Circuit Breaker has affected many businesses. We all have friends who have lost their jobs, or their businesses or are struggling in some way.
We are in this together.
This is a battle not just against COVID-19 but against some of the toughest enemies of any small state – despair, poverty, haplessness, an overwhelming sense of pessimism.
Large states have deeper resources, a stronger pull on world affairs, and a sense of control and destiny. Singapore has always been a price-taker in world affairs and remains vulnerable to all the ugly forces that have come to the fore in this pandemic and we have seen this played out in many countries including Singapore.
What has come out quite starkly is the fact – a fact that we have always known, but perhaps forgotten – that we ourselves must defend Singapore, defend our laws, our rules, our way of life.
We ourselves must call out rule breakers who mock us and write home to invite their countrymen to do the same. We must think of solutions when countries where we locate our assets count their own interests above ours. In times of trouble, we must call our own home from all over the world – as our universities did to thousands of students overseas. And some of these did bring home the virus and were rightly cared for in our hospitals.
We are our own best hope, and we must stand together. If we break, this dark time will not end, and it will be some time before we see more sunny days and blue skies.
We are slowly but surely emerging out of the Circuit Breaker.
In my speech at the debate on the Solidarity Budget, I shared how NTUC FairPrice Group proactively responded at the onset of COVID-19 to assure consumers and the public on the availability and affordability of essentials. Today I would like to share the efforts of our other various Social Enterprises at NTUC Enterprise (NE) who are continuing to address the two key concerns of i) jobs security and opportunity, and ii) initiatives to moderate the cost of living. Of course, I declare my interest as Group CEO of NTUC Enterprise and NTUC FairPrice Group.
Jobs Security
Firstly, building a resilient workforce
FairPrice Group has continued to operate our supermarket branches online and offline; our hawker centres, our food courts and our coffeeshops; as well as at our warehouses and central kitchens - working hard to meet customers’ food and grocery needs and adapting to the evolving circumstances daily. These efforts help to ensure that the public have access to their daily essentials.
On a side note at Fairprice Group you have a food services division through our Kopitiam and FoodFare outlets, I wish to make a call out for all, those in the F&B sector, in fact earlier honourable member Mr Lim Biow Chuan made the same call– those in the F&B sector, they have been badly hit in this crisis as the dining in crowd is a very important component of the overall business model.
So whilst the various support schemes by government have been very helpful, this is but a stop-gap measure and so the earlier we can provide guidance and clarity for the F&B sector, and in particular to ensure that the various measures and reliefs that government has announced that are accrued and are received by the F&B operators in its entirety. As is, we can expect more F&B firms to exit this industry and with it, a lot more job losses.
Of course, there will be business which are less affected by COVID-19. For such organisations, they should always remember to recognise that people make up the organisation. So, like others in the essential services, FairPrice Group has given special monetary awards and incentives to our colleagues, especially those working at the frontline. Many customers also joined us in appreciating our service staff through testimonies on social media as well as through personal cards and letters of encouragement.
Over the last two months, FairPrice Group has provided employment opportunities for an additional 4,000 staff [full time, part-time and temporary workers] to support operations and the high transaction volume that we experienced. And this includes people like Miss Gina Ng, the lady that NTUC Sec-Gen Ng Chee Meng referred to just now, and indeed this was arranged through the job security council. Ms Ng was from the Fairmont and Swissotel Group. Besides Fairmont, we at FairPrice Group also managed to get staff from Grand Hyatt, Orchard Hotel, Ritz Carlton Changi Airport Group, Wildlife Reserves and several others to help us out. And their stints will end some in July, some in August. We are currently looking to fill another 300 more positions and working with other agencies to provide employment for workers, especially those who may have been displaced.
And NTUC Enterprise will certainly be supporting the SGUnited Traineeships Programme and will offer 300 training places to help trainees gain exposure and experience in various areas of business
Upskilling and Expanding Knowledge
Next, let me cover what we have done in terms of commitment to learning.
NTUC LearningHub continues to make learning accessible during this period. To encourage all our workers to make good use of time to upgrade their skillsets, NTUC LearningHub has provided access to online courses that covers both Adaptive Skills and Technology Skills.
In addition, LearningHub has provided opportunities for self-employed persons to earn as they train to deepen or acquire new competencies, all this in preparation for when the economy picks up and new opportunities arise.
During this Circuit Breaker period, two of our NTUC social enterprises quickly pivoted and launched new digital initiatives:
LearningHub introduced free online courses, which received close to 70,000 signups. The Completion rate of these courses was very encouraging and significantly higher than the industry benchmarks. On the other hand, our NTUC First Campus also launched “Kidzmatters” for parents, and this received 90,000 signups.
And our MoneyOwl had conducted more online webinars and e-learning to educate the public on financial planning and management.
Cost of Living
So, whilst jobs continue to be a major concern for all, we were also kept busy keeping our operations running and services accessible and on one hand keep cost of living in check.
During the Circuit Breaker period, to cope with the continued surge in demand and to provide greater convenience to customers, FairPrice had to develop various solutions and initiatives. They include the setting up of pop-up and atrium stores, increasing our online capacity, and instituting a “priority shopping hour” for the Pioneer Generation and the ‘vulnerables’.
In fact, this week we started a priority queue for healthcare workers. Then there were the Mobile grocery vans which brought essential products to residents in selected areas without them having to venture too far away from home. Fairprice on Wheels is now in eight locations and continuing to grow.
Our sourcing teams continued in overdrive mode as we strengthened our network of suppliers across the globe to mitigate any disruptions in supply especially that of daily essential products.
Emerging from the Darkness
Efforts to contain COVID-19 will be a long and protracted one. The Labour Movement has always looked after workers and their welfare. For today, I am highlighting two areas only – jobs and cost of living. We pledge to ensure stable jobs, affordable groceries, quality, and value meals. As a group, we will continue to do our part for the community through our corporate giving be it donations to vulnerable and community groups or providing more relief to needy families and workers during this difficult period.
The NTUC Enterprise group of social enterprises led by Fairprice will be putting together a package to help Singaporeans and their families address this for the services that we are involved it. This is very much part of our DNA and what the public has grown to expect and can expect from the NTUC group of Social Enterprises to continue to do. We are finalising these measures and will share with the public soon. NTUC Secretary-General Ng Chee Meng indeed will be the one, together with the three of us to launch this.
Yes, in the best of times, we cared less for bread and butter – opting for sashimi and salmon. We aim for high pay and long holidays. Today, travel, dining out and shopping seem like a dream from the past.
But Singapore was born on dreams. We made a nation out of nothing but gumption and a Separation Agreement. Our first meals were from lean tables, and we can today, endure and grow from these hard times to strength and prosperity. The sun will shine on Singapore again, but we must ourselves first break through the darkness.
Sir, I support the Budget.
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