Good evening distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen.
Importance of Union Leader Training
The worst disaster that can befall any organization is lack of leadership. Any organization that wants to excel and do well needs to have good leaders. Our trade unions are no different. We need to have leaders with the heart, the mind and the soul to lead.
In good times we need leaders that will help workers seize the opportunities. In bad times we need leaders who can lead workers through it with no more hardship than is necessary.
We are living in challenging times. We need to protect jobs arising from the sharp fall in business due to the SARS outbreak. At the same time we have to address the structural problems arising from shifts in global competition. Then we also have to look to the future, to strengthen our pillars of competitive advantage in order to grow. These are not easy tasks. The importance of capable leadership at every level of our union movement will become even more important.
Union leaders needs get themselves equipped with the right knowledge and skills to serve their members. Otherwise, they would lose heart very quickly and run out of steam. It is important that they lead by example in the pursuit of lifelong learning and upgrading. Young union leaders need to be groomed. We should encourage each other, and support each other. We can share with each other little real-life stories of how we have succeeded. Such support groups, formal or informal, will help keep to us motivated and stay on the right track.
Training of Workers
Union leaders need to be trained to serve our workers more effectively. Workers will also need to see training and skills as a key part of helping themselves stay employable. We cannot compete with other countries purely on the cost of our labour. We need to be able to add more value than the workers from other countries. In other words, our productivity must be higher than our competitors. And productivity must grow. Otherwise, it would not be possible to justify wage increases.
The late Mr Ong Teng Cheong, former President of our country, knew the importance of good capable leaders for the labour movement. They should be well-equipped, so that they can do their work with higher standards of professionalism. As Secretary-General of the NTUC, he set up the Singapore Institute of Labour Studies. We have renamed it in his honour. It is now called the Ong Teng Cheong Institute of Labour Studies. We refer to it as the Ong Teng Cheong Institute.
Ong Teng Cheong Education Trust Fund
To further his vision, we decided to set up the Ong Teng Cheong Education Trust Fund. This will ensure that in the years ahead, there will be funds available to support the training of union leaders and unionists.
The Ong Teng Cheong Education Trust Fund will support the cost of leadership training. Such training may be done locally, or overseas. In addition it will also promote, develop and sponsor educational projects and programs to enhance workers' skills, thereby increasing their employability or earning capacity.
Our target is to have a $10 million endowment fund. Earlier, we had collected $4 million from within the labour movement. With all the new economic-social changes affecting Singapore, it becomes even more appropriate and timely to build up the Ong Teng Cheong Education Trust Fund. We need to get our people better equipped with the appropriate skills and knowledge.
This evening we are here to show our appreciation to the donors who had contributed generously towards the Ong Teng Cheong Education Trust Fund. I am very pleased to note that through all your generous donations, the current endowment fund now has at least another $1.3 million added to it.
Giving In Difficult Times
Mr Ch'ng Jit Koon, Chairman of the Organizing Committee, had told me that it would have been understandable if donations were not so generous this year. However, he was moved to discover that even in difficult times like these, people are still giving generously. It is during hard times like these, when sharing and giving to others become an even greater act of sacrifice, that the true meaning of giving is demonstrated.
On this note, I would like to express my appreciation to all the donors for their generous contributions, the various schools for contributing their performances this evening. I congratulate the Organising Committee for making the fund-raising a success. Your contribution will provide the resources and opportunities for union members to train and retrain, equipping them with skills and knowledge that are necessary for the ever-changing and increasingly competitive global environment.
Thank you and I wish you all an enjoyable and memorable evening.
