Mr Hideki Kawai, Managing Director of PRDS and comrades,
1. I am happy to join all of you this morning at this National Day Observance Ceremony jointly organised by UWEEI and PRDS.
2. This is indeed a happy occasion for all of us as we celebrate our nation’s 42nd birthday. Although we are a young nation, we have made much progress both economically and socially. Our economy is doing well, unemployment is low and job creation is very strong. As Singaporeans we have every reason to be proud of our achievements and to be optimistic of our future. Many factors have contributed to our success but I shall mention two here which are key ingredients – good governance with a far-sighted leadership and a hardworking and disciplined people.
3. We were fortunate that after our independence, and contrary to the path taken by many newly independent states, our leaders chose to keep our economy open and wooed many foreign MNCs to invest in Singapore. This had enabled us to transform from a sleepy trading post to a bustling city state within a very short period as the MNCs, such as PRDS, brought in important new technology, capital and knowledge to Singapore. In the process, our people benefited as jobs were created and their lives improved. And because we have had a healthy start, we are better able today to harness the forces of globalisation and to attract new investments to benefit our people.
4. However, all these achievements would not have been possible without the strong support of Singaporeans who recognise the many constraints that we face as a small country without any natural resources and who responded positively to change. This has enabled our workers to remain as one of the most competitive and productive workforce in the world and we continue to be ranked as No 1 by BERI.
5. But as we move ahead a key challenge that we face is that of a shrinking workforce caused by a rapidly ageing population and a declining fertility rate which, if not addressed, will affect our economic growth and impose a tremendous strain on our social support system. We have been augmenting our local workforce with foreign workers who have made significant contributions to our economy. However, we also need to constantly look at ways to optimise the use of the local, Singaporean workforce particularly from among our older population and our women.
6. We need to recognise that older workers are our assets and an important resource which employers should tap into to meet their needs. We have been working closely with the government and employers to help older workers secure re-employment. To date, through NTUC’s efforts 3080 workers above the age of 62 have been re-employed by 209 companies. A re-employment legislation to be introduced in five years time has also been proposed by the Tripartite Committee on the Employability of Older Workers and this would greatly boost our efforts to help older workers remain employed.
7. Other than older workers, we also need to assist more women to remain working or to re-enter the workforce for those who have left. Women enter the workforce in large numbers after they complete their education but their employment rate starts declining once they are thirty years old and have a family. Unlike Japan and Korea, however, many do not return to the workforce after that.
8. Last year, the NTUC started a programme to assist women to return to work and from January to June this year, we have successfully placed 211 women in various jobs. Another important effort on our part is to promote work life harmony as a key strategy to assist employers to retain their valued female employees in whom they have invested heavily. At the same time, we aim to make it less painful for women to have a family and maintain a career instead of having to make a choice between the two. To date, at least 52 of our unionised companies covering more than 70,000 workers have received the Work Life Excellence Awards for their efforts in promoting work life balance among their employees and we hope to work with many more companies on this effort.
9. Even as our economy continues to create new and better jobs, there is a need for us to ensure that our workers are equipped with the right skills so that they remain relevant and employable. With the rapid advancement in technology, we have seen the job content in the electronics sector today changing as more higher-value added jobs are created. It is therefore important for UWEEI and the management to continue to work closely to help our workers upgrade their skills.
10. I am happy to learn that the company’s headquarters in Japan has decided to transfer the manufacturing of the inverter line of compressors to Singapore. This is not only a vote of confidence in the Singapore plant under the leadership of the MD, Mr Kawai, but is also a strong sign of confidence in the capability and quality of our workers. I have been told that the Japanese Home Appliance group has indicated that they would like PRDS Singapore to take on a greater leadership role within the group as the Japanese R & D, Precision Engineering and Quality Assurance capabilities are being reduced. The company would also be investing about $65 million in the coming year to expand both the Jurong foundry and Bedok plant to cope with the new production line and increased output. PRDS’s vision is to become the no 1 compressor producer in the world, a goal which is not impossible to achieve with the strong support and commitment of all PRDS staff.
11. I would like to take this opportunity too to commend the PRDS branch for having one of the highest union membership rates among our UWEEI branches. This is only possible because of the hard work of our branch leaders and the excellent labour management relations that exist in PRDS. I am glad that we have a forward looking management that works actively with the union on many areas and strongly supports its membership organising initiatives. We value this strong partnership and will continue to explore ways to further strengthen it for the benefit of both the company and our workers.
On this note, let me wish everyone a very Happy National Day.
