Mr Masatoshi Koike, Managing Director of Murata Electronics Singapore
Mr Cyrille Tan, General Secretary of UWEEI
Comrades and friends
A very good morning to all,
1. It is my pleasure to be here to join you in celebrating the nation’s 41st birthday. Although we are a young nation, we have much to celebrate in this year’s National Day. For the first half of 2006, our GDP grew by 9.4% and job creation is at a record high of 81,500. We continue to enjoy great stability, which is good for companies investing here as well as our workers as they can focus on improving their standard of living.
2. However, as a small country we must also be mindful of situation around us, which has the potential to impact on our growth. The conflict going on in the Middle East, which has the possibility of pushing oil prices even higher, means that the global economy is still under threat from potential destabilizing factors beyond our control. Terrorism attempts by the terrorists may also jeopardize our efforts to grow our economy.
3. Coupled with the fact that Singapore’s manufacturing industry is still facing stiff competition from low-cost countries such as China and India, we should not be complacent but should continue to upgrade our workforce and remain competitive.
4. I am proud to say that we have shown that we are able to rise to these challenges to achieve our goals and contribute to nation building. In this regard, Murata has been a model company in building up the capabilities of its workforce as well as its production capacity. It is therefore not surprising that the Singapore plant remains the largest chip capacitor manufacturer outside Japan.
5. Indeed, without the efforts to upgrade the skills of workers, it would be difficult to expand the scope of work. In this respect, Murata has devoted considerable resources in getting its workers trained.
6. Murata has from April 2001 till March 2006 sent 590 operators for training under the Skills Re-development Programme to complete the NITEC Intermediate (formerly known as NTC 3). For FY 2005, 24 of them have completed NITEC Intermediate in Mechanical Technology while another 30 operators would be sent for the same course in 2006.
7. The training scope for rank-and-file employees also includes On-Job Training (OJT), Cross Functional Training as well re-certification of skills. Murata created a total of at 1,362 training places for FY 2005 while 886 training places were created for the first quarter of 2006 alone.
8. In addition to the core technical skills, Murata has also paid attention to the cultivation of soft skills through the Employability Skills System of which the Company has plans for 59 training places.
9. I am deeply impressed with the commitment and dedication that both management and workers have shown towards upgrading their capabilities.
10. The Company clearly believes in inculcating a culture of lifelong learning in its employees. This will considerably strengthen its workforce and prepare them for new challenges that arise in the electronics sector with changing technologies and new work processes to meet new demands.
11. I would thus like to take the opportunity here to congratulate the Company for having won seven awards in the Singapore HR Awards 2006 in different aspects of human resource management. In recognition for Murata’s support for the union and workers training, I am also happy to announce that UWEEI will also be conferring the UWEEI Strategic Partnership Award in Training to Murata at the UWEEI Delegates’ Conference to be held on 24 August 2006.
12. Other than training, Murata is also a company that believes in maintaining good labor-management relations. Although it has a long history, having been set up in 1933, it has not suffered any industrial disputes in this plant. We have been able to settle issues that arise even during difficult periods faced by the company amicably because of the high level of trust that exists between union and management. This good relations have benefited the workers, as they were able to keep their jobs,. Indeed, Murata is one of the few companies that have never retrenched workers in their history of operation in Singapore.
13. Murata is also one out of the fourteen electronic companies that is now working with UWEEI to help older workers work beyond 62 years. This is a commendable effort, as we do need a few strong pioneers in each of the sector of the economy that we are working with at the NTUC level. I also noted that the Company and the Union have reached an amicable settlement for both the 2005 variable bonus and the annual increment for 2006. The Company has also contributed generously to the welfare of the union members by contributing to the special fund as well as the annual purchase of tables at our Union’s charity dinner, aimed at helping the less fortunate in our society.
14. I would like to congratulate Murata for being a model employer and a good corporate citizen. I hope that many more companies will emulate Murata’s model of maintaining a high level of harmony and trust with the union and workers. I am confident that with this strong partnership, Murata will be able to achieve even more and surpass its past performance.
15. On this note, I wish everyone a Happy National Day.
*****
For media queries, please contact:
Chong Yan Cheng
Consultant
Corporate Communications Department
National Trades Union Congress
DID: 6213 8190
HP: 9797 8985
Email: chongycheng@ntuc.org.sg
