Good evening, comrades, colleagues and guests.
The past 5 years had been challenging for Singapore and the labour movement. We were hit first by the Asian financial crisis. The rebound was short-lived, as our economy plunged back into recession following the global downturn caused by the dot-com crash. The events of September 11 caused more uncertainties in the global economy and added security to our worries.
Our officers have responded well to these difficult times and played a proactive role in helping to meet the needs of union members and their families.
Our main priority is to help retrenched workers find jobs through NTUC Joblink. Every month, JobLink Centre sees about 430 walk-in job-seekers. About one in four have been successfully matched. This success rate means that JobLink Centre had exceeded its original full-year target of placing 500 jobs within just 5 months of operations.
I commend JobLink for a job well done, and encourage all our staff to continue to work in partnership with unions, employers and the relevant government agencies to raise awareness of industries such as marine engineering, aviation, manufacturing and call centres, where there are existing vacancies. We need to persuade unemployed Singaporeans to take these good jobs. At the same time, we need to remind other workers to enhance their skills for new jobs.
I am pleased that Skills Development Department has already placed about 90,000 workers on training courses under the Skills Redevelopment Programme. We are on track to reach the 100,000 target within 5 years. The Department also administers the NTUC Education and Training Fund scheme, and conduct training courses. We account for one-fifth of the training places supported by the Skills Development Fund. These are big numbers. It means that the Department has expanded rapidly in the past five years. This expansion has been stressful for the Department, but our colleagues are improving their performance month by month.
NTUC-ARU staff also play a crucial role in maintaining good industrial relations by helping to resolve industrial disputes between union members and their employers.
The large majority of these industrial disputes are settled through direct negotiations between unions and management, more often than not at the plant level. On occasions where our services were needed, NTUC officers at HQ have readily helped unions and managements strike mutually acceptable compromises. This is a reflection of the quiet, but important, role our staff play in building a climate of industrial harmony in Singapore.
With an improving education profile of the Singaporean workforce, the NTUC had successfully pushed for a new piece of legislation that would allow unions to represent junior executives in employment disputes. This will help to give greater peace of mind to executives, who had also been affected by the economic downturn.
As Singapore restructures its economy and society to meet the challenges ahead, the NTUC-ARU has also been continuously reviewing the way we work so that we can better service the changing needs of our members. This leadership by example attitude would help us better convince our members to embrace change.
Change is always easier said than done, as it is human nature to want to continue with what is familiar and be satisfied with the status quo. Leaving the security blanket behind and venturing into the unknown is often scary. Yet, playing it safe can be boring, and may even work against us, ultimately. We need to strike a balance.
Let me tell you a story to illustrate this point. A Danish philosopher1once told a story of a flock of geese that was starting to head South to escape the blasts of wintry winds. The first night they landed in a farmer's yard and filled themselves with corn. Next morning, they flew on - all, except one. "The corn is good," this big goose said, so I will stay and enjoy it another day."
The next day, he decided to wait still another day and another after that, enjoying the delicious food. Pretty soon, he had developed a habit, "Tomorrow I will fly South."
Then came the inevitable day when the winds of winter were so severe that waiting any longer would mean death in the frozen wastes. So he stretched his wings and waddled across the barnyard, picking up speed as he went. Alas! He was too fat to fly. He had waited too long.
The lesson here is that any person who spends too long enjoying what they did without maintaining a steady diet of action will soon find themselves stale, disinterested and unprepared to face the next challenge. A little straining and stretching will improve our flexibility. If the big goose had spread its wings and flown on earlier, it might have discovered a more interesting and delicious array of food in the fields beyond the farmyard.
In the same way, each of us, as individuals, should continually look ahead and create opportunities for improvement in our daily lives, and our work. Let us welcome every new encounter as a learning journey.
We have all worked hard and this evening is a time to relax and let our hair down. Have an enjoyable evening!
1 Soren Kierkegaard. Story taken from the book 12 Simple Secrets of Happiness in a Topsy-Turvy World by Glenn Van Ekeren.
