National Day Awardee for Public Service Star (BBM)
Ms Diana Chia Siew Fui, NTUC President and General Secretary of Healthcare Services Employees’ Union (HSEU)
“Singapore is in a unique situation where you’ll find the tripartite partners working closely for the betterment of society, workers and businesses. This award represents the recognition of the Labour Movement and its contribution to the growth of Singapore.”
Servant-Leader
Ms Diana Chia has served the Labour Movement for more than 25 years. In 1989, she founded the Health Corporation of Singapore Staff Union (HCSSU) together with other colleagues to serve fellow workers following the restructuring of the public healthcare sector. She was President of HCSSU (1991 to 2004) before becoming General Secretary. She has been General Secretary of HSEU since 2005.
Key Achievements
Merger of two unions – She played a pivotal role in 2006 for merging two healthcare house unions – HCSSU and National University Hospital Employees' Union – into HSEU. Ms Chia put in place strong governance to prudently manage and regulate the financial affairs of the union.
Promoting labour-management relations – As President and General Secretary, Ms Chia works tirelessly to promote harmonious labour-management relations and good initiatives with all healthcare clusters.
Professional and compassionate – As a professional nurse and compassionate leader, Ms Chia has shown courage to lead and care for her members in times of crises in the healthcare sector, like the 2003 SARS outbreak, H1N1 in 2009 and severe haze in 2013.
Fostering mutual trust and respect – As NTUC President, she is playing a key role in fostering mutual trust and respect between employers and labour unions.
National Day Awardee for Public Service Medal (PBM)
Mr Tan Chee Tiong, General Secretary of Chemical Industries Employees’ Union
“I feel glad for this award as it represents the recognition for all the hard work I’ve put in together with the union throughout all the years. I will continue to contribute in whatever way I can for the workers.”
Always Grounded
Mr Tan Chee Tiong has served Chemical Industries Employees Union (CIEU) since 1996. Starting his Labour Movement journey in 1996 as a union Branch Secretary, he was subsequently elected as a CIEU Executive Committee member in 1999, Assistant General Secretary in 2001 and General Secretary in 2003.
Key Achievements
Serving in committees – Since 2003, Mr Tan has also served and contributed as a member in various NTUC committees, like NTUC Club's Advisory Committee (Scarlet City), NTUC Employment and Employability Committee, International Relations Committee, Industrial Relations Committee and Membership Committee.
Supporting the Labour Movement – For developing good labour-management relations between his branch and management, and spending time recruiting and reaching out to union leaders at various work locations in Singapore, Mr Tan was presented the Comrade of Labour Award in May Day 2006.
Sharing views and inputs – As a member of the Oil, Petrochemical, Energy and Chemical (OPEC) Cluster of unions since 2003, Mr Tan shares his views and inputs on challenges faced in the chemical-related sectors and works together with management partners to address common issues across the OPEC industries.
National Day Award – Public Service Medal (PBM)
Ms Sylvia Choo Sor Chew, Singapore Industrial and Services Employees’ Union (SISEU) Executive Secretary and NTUC’s Women’s Development Secretariat (WDS) Director
“This award is a recognition of our efforts. It encourages us to strive harder and better for the interest of the workers, and reaffirm our commitment. I want to thank the Labour Movement for giving me the opportunity to serve, and all our brothers and sisters for your support. This is a great achievement and I am very happy to receive it at SG50.”
Diverse Leader
Ms Choo started out in the Labour Movement in 2001 as an Industrial Relations Officer, and rose through the ranks to hold various appointments in NTUC. Besides her appointments in SISEU and WDS, she is also the Lead for the NTUC Financial & Business Services Cluster.
Key Achievements
Passion For Women – As Director of WDS, Ms Choo is passionate about the cause for enhancing women's employability through training and upskilling programmes, which are anchored by WDS’ Back2Work with U (B2W) Programme.
Advocate For Flexibility – Ms Choo spearheaded the U Flex movement in March 2014 to encourage employers and employees to exercise flexibility at the workplace, and advocates for employers to offer Flexible Work Arrangements.
Nurturing Women Leaders - Under her leadership in WDS, the percentage of women union leaders in the Labour Movement has increased from 34 per cent in 2011 to 36 per cent in 2014. Ms Choo led her WDS team in building capacity and developing capability so that they continue to be represented at all levels of decision making in the Labour Movement and provide a voice for the aspirations and concerns of working women.
National Day Award – Public Service Medal (PBM)
Mr Martin Chan Wing Sing, Air Transport Executive Staff Union General Secretary
"As a unionist, we can help our fellow colleagues and union members to be treated with respect and be given recognition by the company for their work contributions. Union work also enhances collective benefits for the workers, the company and the country through the practice and promotion of harmonious industrial relations at all levels."
Passion To Serve
Mr Chan's Labour Movement journey began 40 years ago when he actively helped the Aircraft Engineers Branch of the now defunct Singapore Air Transport-Workers Union. He has served the Air Transport Executive Staff Union (AESU) since 1988 in various capacities before becoming General Secretary in 2010.
Key Achievements
Bettering Workers’ Welfare
Mr Chan’s quantitative skills and intelligent reading of financial statements have helped secure many negotiated settlements with the management, which improved the welfare of members.
Effective And Dedicated Leader
Since starting his Labour Movement journey, Mr Chan has been an effective and dedicated leader in ensuring the foundation of sustainable growth in AESU. This includes caretaking AESU’s finances, grooming the next generation of leaders, and instilling progressive bipartite and tripartite relationships.
NTUC Contributions
Mr Chan has also contributed significantly to NTUC by sharing views on various issues concerning workers such as CPF.
“This is a recognition of the contribution by SNEF in building a strong tripartite partnership in Singapore. I would like to pay tribute the tremendous support given to SNEF by the Government and NTUC and the entire labour movement as well as the employers and especially the 3,000 members of SNEF, without which SNEF could not have been an effective partner.”
Source: NTUC This Week
