Your Excellency, Mr S R Nathan, President of the Republic of Singapore
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong
Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong
Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew
Fellow ministers and parliamentary colleagues
Fellow unionists and comrades
Mr Janadas Devan and family
Ladies and gentlemen
1 At an informal gathering recently, a young unionist came up to me. He was just beginning to learn about the international trade union movement. “Overseas unionists wear their incarceration in jail as a badge of honour,” he observed. What did I think of that?
2 “It means something to yourself, if you deeply believe in the cause you are fighting for, to right the grievous injustices that you see,” I told him.
3 “It is worth it, only if you live to tell the tale. And it only means something to others, if, at the end of it all, you achieve what you have been fighting for, and made a difference to the lives of others,” I added.
4 This young unionist was born after Devan Nair had left the labour movement for the highest office of our land. This young unionist, who was in some awe over the battles that some unionists elsewhere have to fight even today, did not know until last month, that we have in Singapore, unionists who were imprisoned for their beliefs and their causes. Devan Nair was imprisoned, not once, but twice. The son of a plantation clerk, he resented the yoke of colonialism. Many others of his generation felt the same way. But he was not resigned to being resentful. He spoke up strongly and eloquently against colonialism. He spoke for freedom for the people - freedom to build a nation according to the ideals of communism that promised social justice.
5 The British colonial government detained Devan Nair on St John’s Island. Young Singaporeans now cannot visualize that it was once a prison. But to a deep and angry young Devan Nair it was prison. This angry young man must have learnt many things about men and society while he was on St John’s Island, for he was later to call it “St John’s University”.
6 It was on St John’s Island that Mr Lee Kuan Yew met Devan Nair. And that was how Devan Nair became one of the convenors at the founding of the People’s Action Party in 1954.
7 Devan Nair had found his vocation in the trade unions. He started with the Singapore Teachers’ Union, but was soon leading workers in all sectors. When the PAP won a historic victory in 1959, he was still in his second term of detention, together with other trade unionists,. The PAP would not take office unless he and the other trade unionists were released.
8 Release from his second internment was not a fairy-tale ending of his struggles. Devan Nair had disavowed communism. He was soon engaged in a mortal combat between the non-communists and the pro-communists. In 1961 the pro-communists split from the PAP to form the Barisan Sosialis. Its followers in the trade unions broke from the Singapore Trade Union Congress to form the Singapore Association of Trade Unions (SATU). Indeed, the bulk of unions went to SATU, aligned with the Barisan Sosialis. With only a handful of members, Devan Nair had the daunting task of building an alternative trade union movement. Lesser men would have wilted. But Devan Nair was able to find like-minded non-communist unionists who wanted to improve the lives of workers, not to make use of workers purely for political ends. So by declaration on 6 September 1961, the National Trades Union Congress was formed.
9 The NTUC went head-to-head with the SATU. Led by Devan Nair, the NTUC fought hard to improve wages and working conditions, to correct unjust practices at work. SATU pitched every problem as a struggle of just communism against evil capitalism. But the NTUC was right – it was bread-and-butter issues that mattered to the working class. One by one, union branches defected from unions affiliated to SATU to join those affiliated to NTUC. Just over two years later, it was clear that Devan Nair’s NTUC had won the hearts and minds of the workers. SATU faded into history. So on 8 January 1964, the Ministry of Labour officially registered the NTUC. Tomorrow is the 42nd anniversary of Devan Nair’s triumph.
10 No sooner was this battle won then another began. Singapore had become independent on 16 September 1963 as part of the Malaysian Federation. Communal politics came to the fore. To trade unionists who had always fought for fair play and justice at work, communalism was abhorrent. The PAP fought for a non-communal society. Devan Nair was elected MP for Bungsar in Selangor. But two years after merger, Singapore was expelled from Malaysia. Devan Nair found himself on the Malaysian side of the new political boundary!
11 His absence was keenly felt by the union movement. Against the backdrop of high unemployment, the British announced withdrawal of the bases from Singapore, so even more unemployment was in store. To create conditions attractive to investors, labour legislation was revamped in 1968. While trade unionists understood why it had to be done, nevertheless their morale sank. Devan Nair was called back. He then led a thorough review of the objectives and programmes of the trade union movement, and planned for a new future. In November 1969, after months of internal discussions, the “Modernisation Seminar” was held in this hall. On this stage Devan Nair led the proceedings.
12 The foundations of the modern NTUC were laid.
13 Unions should be more than mere collective bargaining institutions. The labour movement should help workers stretch their hard-earned wages, protect low-wage workers through insurance coverage, provide training, bring leisure facilities to workers at affordable rates. There was so much more that trade unions could do to improve the lives of workers.
14 The “Modernisation Seminar” charged the unionists with a new sense of purpose and inspired workers with renewed hope. Co-operatives were set up. Today several of them are household names.
15 Collective bargaining was to be conducted in the spirit of collaboration, not confrontation. Devan Nair used his natural gift of speech to explain why collaboration was in the workers’ own self-interest.
16 MNCs were accused by unionists in their home countries as traitors, and reviled in the countries they invest in as neo-colonialists. Devan Nair explained why globalization was necessary and inevitable. For developing countries like Singapore, MNCs meant the transfer of technology, the creation of jobs, the raising of productivity, and a way to better wages and better life.
17 The defining philosophy that he shaped for constructive industrial relations lay in the joining of hands with employers and government to bake a bigger cake for all to share.
18 After the oil crisis of 1973-74, Singapore grew rapidly. Workers’ lives improved. Compared to the preceeding decades, it was a ‘golden age’.
19 I joined the NTUC in February 1981. Shortly after, I was included in a meeting between Devan Nair and Dr Winsemius. Dr Winsemius had come for his yearly visit to Singapore as Singapore’s economic advisor. I recalled clearly Dr Winsemius drawing Devan Nair’s attention to the BERI Report. BERI had rated the Singapore workforce the best in the world. Unions had taken an unconventional approach, and workers had co-operated. “You should publicly give them due credit for their contributions!” Dr Winsemius urged. So it was done: the story was the page one lead in the Straits Times.
20 That golden age was not without its problems. In November 1980, the SIA Pilots Association, without conducting a secret ballot of its members, initiated a work-to-rule action disrupting flights. The union leaders were subsequently found guilty of conducting an illegal industrial action, and SIAPA was de-registered. But the case revealed the poor state of industrial relations in SIA. Devan Nair took charge of industrial relations in SIA. Goh Chee Wee and I found ourselves drafted in to help in the task. We had joined the NTUC at an interesting time! We had the opportunity of seeing Devan Nair at work: we saw him eloquently dressing down management and union leaders in a joint session; we saw him walking the ground at Paya Lebar Airport. In other words, we had the privilege of observing and learning from the master at work!
21 It was an all-too-short pupilage. By October 1981, Devan Nair, President of the NTUC, was elected by Parliament as President of the Republic of Singapore. As it turned out, it was a role not suited for him. He was comfortably at home with the rough and blunt working class, but ill-at-ease in the high office of the land.
22 We are mortals, not gods, in this world. Our weaknesses remind us of our limitations as humans. We see in the faults of others our own foibles. So we take each other for what we are, the good with the faults. In remembrance we want to forget the faults and preserve the good.
23 Devan Nair was the founder of modern trade unionism in Singapore. Today the enduring values of our trade union movement are largely the same as his. Like him, we uphold the values of fairness at work, and social justice in society at large. Like him, we are pragmatic, not ideological, in our approach to achieving our goals. In fact, Devan Nair shaped the labour movement with respect to these values from its beginnings, and this is his lasting contribution. The NTUC he led helped move the Singapore workforce to the top of the BERI ranking. Since then the NTUC has helped to keep our workforce in the top position. Young unionists today need not look overseas for role models. We have our own.
24 Devan Nair touched the lives of many in his time and beyond. We are grateful that he lived among us during our difficult years and made a difference. He has left us now. May he rest in peace.
