By Shukry Rashid
Arzami Salim, 52, was a police officer for 15 years before he decided to leave in 1997 to pursue teaching as a profession. He graduated from the National Institute of Education and began teaching in 2001. He subsequently joined the Singapore Malay Teachers’ Union (SMTU) in 2006 as an Executive Committee (Exco) member and is currently its president. An English teacher at Hwa Chong International School, Arzami shared with us his journey as a union leader.
NTUC This Week: How did you start your union journey?
Arzami Salim: I was not well informed about union work at first but then I met my childhood friend Jamal Iskandar, who was an Exco member of SMTU. He invited me to join SMTU as an Exco member because the union needed people to be part of the committee. As I was interested in voluntary work, I decided that union work was another area I could contribute to.
Any interesting stories to share about your progression to SMTU president?
It was in 2008 when I became the treasurer. It was a decision made by the committee as I am meticulous when it comes to financial issues. When I first joined SMTU, I looked at its financial situation, the way we spent our money, how we could sustain the union’s finances for the long term and give that value-for-money to our members. Furthermore, I took up this role as I am interested in labour relations and have a desire to serve. I became vice-president in 2000 and president in 2014, which was memorable as I received great support from my fellow members.
What is the most pressing issue facing your members today?
This concerns not only SMTU members but also all teachers. We still hear that teachers’ workload is too much. And because of them being overburdened, teachers tend to deteriorate in their performance, which affects their performance evaluation. This is affecting new teachers especially because they are not experienced to handle that kind of workload. I’ve brought this up to the Ministry of Education that because of this, we tend to lose teachers over the years when they give up and resign. The time and money that go into their training are all wasted. So we are now looking at retention initiatives, especially on balancing their workload and understanding the dynamics of the school.
What do you think makes a good union leader?
Passion, honesty and commitment. I think these come in a bundle. You need to be passionate about serving because we don’t get paid for doing what we do. Honesty comes when you are managing the union’s assets and funds, to make sure we give value for money to our members. And for commitment, it is very much related to passion because if you are passionate, you need to be committed to the various activities that you will be responsible for.
Source: NTUC This Week
