On factors that will impact our work and lives…
There are many changes around the world, but don’t just look at the small things. I think it is more important to look at some of the long-term factors that may be impacting our work and lives. If we are able to understand the fundamentals, and understand how to respond to those fundamentals, those are more important.
On choice being ours and destiny being within our control…
The only thing that seems to impact everyone is that whatever we do, can it or can it not be done over the internet… It all depends on which part of the spectrum you are on. If someone else can do the job cheaper, better, faster than us, that job will be gone. On the other end of the spectrum, where adjacent and value-added services can be provided as well, we will be able to compete against the best in the world and attract businesses that were previously not done in Singapore.
We have to stay alert to the forces affecting us, be it geo-political or technological. These forces can provide us with both challenges and opportunities. It all depends on how we can get our act together and on which part of the value chain we want to be in. The choice is ours. The destiny is within our control. If there is any city, or any country, which can get this right, we have every chance to get this right in Singapore because of our connectivity, because of our baseline educational level and because of our gumption to try. Circumstances don’t define us, our responses to circumstances define us.
On NTUC’s role in pushing for lifelong learning…
If we’re not convinced of the need to change, of the need to make time to acquire new skills to stay relevant, we will have 1,001 excuses for why we won’t get it done. It is about our attitude to life. We need to couple our compulsory education system with a continuing education system that meets the requirement of speed to market.
This is where NTUC will try all we can to help our workers stay relevant. We want to make sure that each one of our workers in the professional line is not just deep in their own competency, but have the breadth. We will leverage on the U Associate network to help each other level up. The best thing is to network with people across different industries, across different sectors, to allow for the cross-pollination of ideas to happen. That will strengthen our resilience regardless of the ups and downs in the short-term while allowing us to build for the long-term.
On empowering workers with the right tools…
Technology is neutral. Whoever can master technology better, faster, will win. Our job in the Labour Movement, together with the Government agencies, is to enable our people to run fast, to make sure that we give our people the best chance of success. We have the networks, we have the resources, but most importantly, we must have the focus and determination. We are confident that we can help our workers leverage the new digital economy to get a leg up. It requires us to organise ourselves well.
What we want is to make sure that we empower people with the right tools, which is why we are doing all we can to provide the relevant modules and push the relevant information to our workers to help them and enable them to make correct decisions for themselves. Chances are, we have to learn, re-learn, unlearn, learn again, and do it all over again.
On convincing workers to keep an eye on the future…
We are most interested in helping the workers who are potentially displaced in the future, either by technological change or business models, to get them ready for tomorrow’s job. That is a huge task for us, to convince our workers to have an eye on the future, know what skillsets they need to acquire to be ready ahead of time for the job of the future.
