~ 93 exemplary individuals and companies to receive the May Day Awards at the May Day Dinner ~
The Labour Movement’s annual May Day events kicked off this evening with the May Day Dinner which saw a record 93 outstanding individuals and companies receiving the prestigious May Day awards for their significant and invaluable contributions to the Labour Movement.
This would be the largest number of awardees since the first May Day Awards were given out in 1963. A total of 11 categories of May Day Awards were presented to the awardees. The event held at the Orchid Country Club was attended by 1,600 guests comprising tripartite partners – senior government officials, company management and trade unionists, with Guest-of-Honour, Mr Teo Chee Hean, Deputy Prime Minister, Coordinating Minister for National Security and Minister for Home Affairs.
The May Day Awards recipients demonstrated their support to fellow workers in the areas of skills upgrading,workfare and staff welfare; maintained strong labour-management relations; and strengthened the Singapore workforce by supporting key initiatives such as the re-employment of older workers, NTUC’s Progressive Wage Model, among others. Their stories are a testament to their passion and hard work that lends a voice that carries weight to bring about change so that our workers can have better jobs, better skills, and better wages.
Of the 93 awardees, 20 were nominated by the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) for the following categories: Distinguished Service, Meritorious Service, Comrade of Labour (Star), Medal of Commendation (Gold), Plaque of Commendation (Star) and Plaque of Commendation (Gold).
Distinguished Service – 1 awardee
This year’s highest award – the Distinguished Service award – was conferred on Mr Ng Kee Choe, Chairman of NTUC Income Insurance Cooperative Limited.
A veteran with more than 33 years of experience in the financial services sector, Mr Ng has presided over periods of significant changes in NTUC Income, including the 2007 leadership transition, 2008 global financial crisis, and organisational transformation. He promotes high standards of corporate governance, and steers the management towards making sound and informed decisions. Under his leadership, NTUC Income grew significantly and has achieved milestones across all lines of businesses. This has enabled NTUC Income to do more to help the needy through initiatives such as the Income Family Micro insurance Scheme; OrangeAid, a funding programme for underprivileged children and youth; and the NTUC U Care fund that supports the low-income group.
Meritorious Service – 3 awardees
This year, two senior management personnel of NTUC Social Enterprises and a union advisor received the Meritorious Service award: Mr Bob Tan Beng Hai, Mr Eric Ang Teik Lim and Mr Sin Boon Ann.
Mr Bob Tan Beng Hai joined the NTUC Club Management Council as a Founder Member in 2003 and has undertaken many crucial roles in the Finance and Strategy, Tender, and Establishment committees. He brings to NTUC Club a wealth of experience from his career in the private sector. Besides providing guidance in the formulation of strategic direction and business plans, he helps the management have a full understanding of the social impact and financial implications of these decisions. Mr Tan’s invaluable input and advice have helped NTUC Club achieve a balance between creating social impact and ensuring financial sustainability. He also ensures that NTUC Club’s compensation and benefits packages are sufficiently competitive to attract, reward and retain talent.
Mr Eric Ang Teik Lim is the Deputy Chairman of NTUC Fairprice Cooperative Limited. He joined the Board in 2001 and has served in various subcommittees such as the Investment, Risk and Finance committees. A banker with extensive experience in capital markets, private equity, and mergers and acquisitions advisory, Mr Ang guides the NTUC FairPrice management in market assessment and monitoring for reasonable returns on investments. During the 2008 financial crisis, he played an instrumental role in guiding the management in wealth management, which enabled NTUC FairPrice to continue fulfiling its social role during the challenging period. Mr Ang is also a Director of the NTUC FairPrice Foundation that provides assistance to the needy and enhances the welfare of workers.
Mr Sin Boon Ann has been an Advisor to the Union of Power and Gas Employees since 1998. A union advisor who makes a difference, he joins his union leaders in challenging negotiations, whether it is for a difficult retrenchment exercise or persuading a Chief Executive Officer to support unionisation of the company. Mr Sin also attends the union’s Executive Council meetings regularly to keep abreast of union matters and maintain close ties with union leaders. And he involves himself in delicate matters such as union leadership renewal and financial stability of the union. Mr Sin sets the gold standard as a Union Advisor with his unflinching support and commitment to the union.
Comrade of Labour (Star) – 5 awardees
The Comrade of Labour (Star) award was presented to five union leaders: Mr Freddy Lim Kah Chin, Mr Lam Yuen Shin, Mr Nakalingam Silva, Mr Ong See Ham, and Mr Wong Weng Ong.
Mr Freddy Lim Kah Chin, former President of Singapore Urban Redevelopment Authority Workers’ Union (SURAWU) is a veteran of the Labour Movement with 31 years of service and contribution to union work. Under his leadership, the union grew from a small union to one that has a strong and harmonious labour-management relationship with the Singapore Urban Redevelopment Authority. Over the years, Mr Lim has steered the union through many adversities and demonstrated his leadership and care for members at the same time. Mr Lim is currently Mentor Consultant to SURAWU.
Mr Lam Yuen Shin, President of Singapore Port Workers Union (SPWU), has been a committed union leader throughout his tenure spanning four decades. Mr Lam has constantly provided candid feedback and suggestions at management meetings and this has enabled both union and management to better ride out waves of uncertainty and slowdowns towards years of renewed growth. He has demonstrated his ability to rally the ground to support company initiatives during challenging times.
Mr Nakalingam Silva, former President of Union of Security Employees (USE), was a leading negotiator having held successfully discussions with management for better welfare for workers. As a friend to members, he rendered assistance in settling members’ grievances. Under his leadership, USE now represents one-third of total active security officers in Singapore. Mr Silva has put in tremendous effort into the security sector to ensure that workers can enjoy better pay, jobs and skills. He is now an Industrial Relations Consultant to USE.
Mr Ong See Ham, former President of Public Utilities Board Employees’ Union (PUBEU) has been a dedicated unionist for more than three decades. A strong advocate for lifelong learning, he worked with management on skills upgrading for members so that they are more competent and can take on higher job responsibilities and hence take in higher income. Under his leadership, PUBEU has enjoyed strong membership growth.
Mr Wong Weng Ong, former President of Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Employees’ Union (SMEEU), has served in the union for 25 years. A strong advocate of workers’ rights, he has actively represented union members on workplace grievances and issues, and negotiated for the best outcome for them. With his uncanny ability to balance the interests of both management and workers, he played a vital role in fostering good labour-management relations.
Medal of Commendation (Gold) – 2 awardees
Two senior management personnel were honoured with the Medal of Commendation (Gold) award this year: Mr Renato S Sirtori and Mr Tan Chuan Lye.
Mr Renato S Sirtori, former Managing Director and Group Vice President for STMicroelectronics, was an exemplary leader who rendered invaluable support to the Labour Movement during his 44-year tenure with the company. Mr Sirtori has demonstrated his concern for workers’ welfare time and again, first through the Skills Re-Development Programme, then through company restructuring. During the 2008-2009 downturn, he showed his commitment to cut cost and save jobs by tapping on the Skills Programme for Upgrading and Resilience (SPUR) and sending his workers. He was also instrumental in initiating the development of the Workforce Skills Qualifications (WSQ) Framework for Wafer Fabrication.
Mr Tan Chua Lye, President and Chief Executive Officer at SATS Ltd, has over the past 36 years rendered unstinting support to the Labour Movement. In his unassuming ways, Mr Tan has continued to harness and expand the harmonious labour-management relationships with the Air Transport Executive
Staff Union (AESU) and Singapore Airport Terminal Services Workers’ Union (SATSWU). He values experience and advocates re-employment of the older employees who have contributed to the company. Employees’ upgrading and training are also important to Mr Tan and he supports the principle of gain sharing when productivity initiatives improve the company’s efficiency and reduce its operating costs.
Plaque of Commendation (Star) – 4 awardees
The Plaque of Commendation (Star) award was first given out in 2010 and two companies had received it thus far. This year, it was awarded to four outstanding companies: Jurong Shipyard Pte Ltd, Keppel FELS Limited, PSA Corporation Ltd and SBS Transit Ltd for their unwavering support towards the Labour Movement.
Plaque of Commendation (Gold) – 5 awardees
The Plaque of Commendation (Gold) was awarded to five outstanding companies: DBS Bank, ISK Singapore Pte Ltd, Makino Asia Pte Ltd, National University Hospital and Yokogawa Electric Asia Pte Ltd.
The rest of the awardee list can be found in Annex B.
The May Day Dinner sub-committee and May Day Awards sub-committee would like to thank the Singapore Labour Foundation (SLF), NTUC Club and NTUC FairPrice for their generous support, without which this year s May Day Dinner would not have been possible.
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