Our Guest-of-Honour,
Deputy Prime Minister Brother Lawrence Wong, Distinguished Guests,
Our Tripartite Partners,
As well as Sisters and Brothers, Our Union Leaders,
Thank you so much for joining us tonight!
Sisters and Brothers, a very good evening! On behalf of Sec-Gen Ng Chee Meng as well as my fellow NTUC Central Committee members, we warmly welcome all of you to the NTUC May Day Awards 2023!
The past three years have been very challenging for all of us. If we were to reflect and look back, we don't even know where we were heading to at that point in time. And I’m sure that you can identify with me. I recall when COVID-19 first started, I went through a very difficult time because one of my neighbours, Uncle Chieng [Inaudible], used to greet me every morning when I passed by his house. He would call out, “Good morning, Mary!”, but we lost him to COVID-19. That was a wake-up call for me never to take our loved ones for granted.
I am so glad that we can all come together in this setting to rejoice and to celebrate together tonight. I think it is also important for us, as we come together to show our appreciation for one another. With that, Sisters and Brothers, can you turn to your neighbours and tell them how much you appreciate them.
For us in NTUC, Every Worker Matters. And I think it is important for us to recognise that workers have, and will always be, at the heart of everything we do. This is the reason why we can come together this evening to celebrate you – this event is about you, our awardees. Let me warmly extend my heartiest congratulations to all our awardees. Shall we give them a round of applause please?
Thank you for partnering the Labour Movement to uplift the lives of our workers, especially in the areas of their wages, their welfare, and also in the work progress that they are going through. Thank you so much for giving us that opportunity to work with you. This evening, it is also important for us to recognise not only the individual awardees, but also your families, your spouses, who have stood behind you all this while. And for those spouses who are with us today, can we invite you to stand to your feet. Let us acknowledge you.
So, thank you so much. We really appreciate all the effort that you have put in to support your spouse, and to support your leaders at home. Thank you for walking this journey with us. I know that this has been a very difficult time for the past few years, but I also reflect, and I am thankful and grateful for the journey that our Sisters and Brothers and our Tripartite Partners have been together with us.
I remember having very difficult conversations in NWC (National Wages Council). Alex, remember, we had those exchanges as well. Very difficult conversations, and we hear you, and you hear us as well. But the important thing at the end of the day, Brother Alexander Melchers, you have your heart in the right place. You always speak from your heart, and you hear us out and are fair. Hence, we thank you for all your great work and contributions. So, thank you very much, Brother Alexander. I would also like to remind you that the NWC is around the corner. Please continue to look out for our workers, and we know that you will be fair.
Tonight, importantly, it is all about you, and we wanted to also recognise all our awardees here. And not only that, I want to take the opportunity to thank you for walking the journey with us. This year we have more than 170 awardees in this place, celebrating together with us. And tonight, we have more than 1,200 guests sitting here with us. So, thank you very much. We have awardees that come from all walks of life, from different organisations – we have the SMEs, MNCs and those from the public sector. So, thank you so much union leaders for being with us all this while.
Today, we also want to honour our top awardee – all of you have got this book on your table. Lift it up everyone. We can see from the picture here that it is Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Brother Lawrence Wong. So today, we are very privileged to honour our top awardee, who of course is no stranger to all of us. I am really touched with what he said at the May Day Rally, when he gave the assurance that he will be always behind the Labour Movement, and that he will always have our back. I think that is so important and moving;
Brother Lawrence, you have done so much, especially during COVID-19. You have walked the journey with all of us here, and you have steered us through unchartered waters so that we can be where we are today. So thank you so much for being with us, and for supporting the Labour Movement. We deeply appreciate that. Shall we give Brother Lawrence a round of applause please.
With that, Sisters and Brothers, I just wanted to say that it is not just an evening of celebration tonight, but it is a continuation of the journey that we have worked together for. Moving forward, there will be many challenges that will be ahead of us. Nonetheless, let us move together as one body flying the flag of Singapore and the Labour Movement high. Together, I am sure that our workers will be more resilient. Together, I am sure that we can impact the lives of our workers.
With that, Sisters and Brothers, I will keep it short and let's have a fun time of bonding tonight, and let us continue to impact the lives of our workers. Thank you, Sisters, and Brothers, and please enjoy yourselves!
