This year’s highest May Day award has been conferred on Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) and Coordinating Minister for Economic & Social Polices Tharman Shanmugaratnam.
He joined several other individuals, unionists and employers to receive the awards at a ceremony held on 13 May 2017 at the Orchid Country Club.
Present at the event were NTUC President Mary Liew, Secretary-General Chan Chun Sing, NTUC Central Committee members and tripartite partners.
Medal of Honour
In its citation, NTUC emphasised that DPM Tharman has been a firm advocate of lifelong learning and committed to building an inclusive society.
He has always taken a keen interest in ensuring that workers benefit from economic transformation and has worked hard to advance tripartism in the key councils he chaired. These include the SkillsFuture Council, National Productivity Council and subsequently, the Council for Skills, Innovation and Productivity.
“DPM Tharman is an unassuming and approachable leader among unionists, one who makes a genuine effort to engage with, understand and address unionists’ and workers’ aspirations and concerns,” added NTUC.
A man of vision, he has since 2002 led the Ong Teng Cheong Labour Leadership Institute (OTCi) as its Chairman of Board of Governors.
OTCi has expanded beyond its focus on industrial relations to what is now regarded as a thought leader among various stakeholders of the Labour Movement.
Refreshed Format
Addressing the event, NTUC President Mary Liew noted that in previous years, the May Day awards were presented during the May Day Dinner.
For 2017, the awards event has taken on a refreshed format that showcases the inclusiveness of the growing Labour Movement network.
“This new format is to symbolise our Labour Movement’s commitment to continue to be representative of our working people and be relevant to their diverse and changing needs. While we will never forget our roots and continue to serve our working people through our affiliated unions and associations, our Labour Movement has been hard at work growing our network to be more representative in tandem with our changing workforce demographics,” explained Ms Liew.
A total of 145 awards were presented this year.
