Story by Jonathan Tan
Beginning his festive visiting early on the first day of the Lunar New Year on 8 February 2016, NTUC Secretary-General (SG) Chan Chun Sing paid a visit to workers on the early morning shift.
As a gesture of appreciation to the men and women toiling behind the scenes on a public holiday while the majority of Singaporeans were at home resting, SG Chan gave out specially prepared red packets and mandarin oranges.
SG Chan made a total of five stops in a pre-dawn visit that began at 2.45am at Tuas Power Generation at Tuas South Avenue 9 and ended at 6.30am at Ayer Rajah Crescent, where he visited the Singapore Power’s Electricity Service Centre and Energy Market Authority’s Power System Control Centre. In between, SG Chan also called on the technicians on duty at the Tuas South Incineration Plant.
SG Chan also joined Senior Minister of State, Prime Minister’s Office, Josephine Teo at Kranji Bus Depot. There, they distributed red packets and mandarin oranges to more than 100 bus captains and joined in a group ‘Lo Hei’ session just before the start of the day’s bus services.
Voices On the Ground
“Having Minister come visit us while we’re working on a public holiday is a very nice gesture, especially for those working through their holidays,” said Eirman Azhar, 42, assistant team manager at Tuas Power Generation who has worked at the powerplant for 17 years.
Echoing that sentiment, SMRT bus captain Chai Chee Kian shared: “I feel very touched and appreciated that SG Chan and Minister Teo are here so early on the first day of Chinese New Year to come wish us a happy New Year.”
Commenting on his visit, SG Chan shared: “I’m very thankful that we have such dedicated workers working quietly behind the scenes to keep all our systems going despite the holiday season. This is something that many of us may not get to know and I hope that we can show our appreciation for their hard work.”
Click here for more pictures of the LM’s annual Lunar New Year visit as it happens.
