President S R Nathan
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong
Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong
Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew
Ministers and Members of Parliament
Comrades of the labour movement
Mr Janadas Devan and family
Ladies and gentlemen
1 I have worked with many generations of NTUC leaders on the National Wages Council. The earliest of them was Mr Devan Nair. He was followed by Lim Chee Onn, Wan Soon Bee, Ng Pock Too, Lim Boon Heng, Goh Chee Wee, Matthias Yao and Lim Swee Say.
2 I suppose you could say that I have witnessed the change in leadership of the labour movement through many, many years. And perhaps that enables me to say a few words of the late Mr Devan Nair and what distinguished him.
3 Devan Nair was a pioneer, and one of the forefathers of the labour movement in Singapore. He led the infant trade union movement in its fight for better rights for workers, and later against the communists. These were all tough fights in their own right.
4 However, what was even more critical, was his vision in transforming and modernizing the labour movement in Singapore. He understood that the way to truly build a better future for workers was to adopt a tripartite and co-operative approach to resolving issues, and for unions to focus as much on workers’ performance and productivity, as they did on their pay. He played a key role in building the foundations of tripartism, and convinced union leaders and workers on the importance of improving their productivity.
5 To understand the mountain of the task that he envisioned, undertook and accomplished, one must understand the context in which it had to be done.
6 The trade union movement until then built its success on being militant, this being the trademark of trade unionism around the world then and even today. Indeed, the nascent NTUC had to be militant to get popular support, and to wrest control of the unions from the communists.
7 Against this backdrop, he had the strength of vision to see that a critical self-review and radical change was needed for the labour movement going forward if it was to remain relevant. To quote him in a paper submitted to the International Labour Organisation in 1970:
8 “We remained stationary and stagnant in the context of rapid changes in our society. Powerful modernising influences were at work everywhere – in the economy, in education, in the social services, in banking, industry and commerce. In all this bustle of economic transformation and social change taking place before our very eyes, we tended to retreat into an increasing sectional isolation. More and more we sounded and acted like a bunch of economic bankrupts trying to gate-crash into a meeting of shareholders. We had to change, and no doubt about it!”
9 Through his vision, strength and charisma in carrying the ground, he convinced the labour movement that the way forward was to adopt tripartism and a co-operative approach. Today, it still forms the cornerstone of industrial relations in Singapore, and it has been the foundation of our economic success over the last few decades.
10 This was what he said on tripartism:
11 “A vital concept which is widely accepted in Singapore by trade unions and enlightened employers is that all social and economic progress, if it is to be enduring and self-sustaining, must be an integrated tripartite affair…. It is recognized that no social group or class can progress on its own, unless everybody progresses. Tripartite co-operation in the tasks of development cannot long be maintained if it is not visibly and tangibly followed by fair and equitable tripartite distribution of the fruits of progress…. Shatter this confidence, and you shatter the integrality of the social effort and prepare the way for disintegration.”…
12 Devan Nair also recognized that talk about tripartism is well and good in theory, but may flounder in practice if one or other of the partners in the social effort is ill-equipped to meet the others on equal terms. He therefore pushed the labour movement into a deeper and larger role in society, and embarked on a journey to expand its financial and human resources. He was also at the forefront of the launch of NTUC Co-operatives, many of which are highly successful today.
13 Along the way, he shifted the focus of trade unions from mere pay bargaining to also focus on performance and productivity as well. Again this was a big mindset shift for trade unionists then, and one of our critical success factors today. To quote him in a speech given in 1972:
14 “At present, because the worker is regarded as little more than a commodity on the market, the unspoken ideal of most trade unions is to get as much as possible for less and less work….. Trade unions concern themselves only with payment, and hardly ever with performance. But in an enterprise which is a co-operative working community, the trade union assumes responsibility for performance as well. ….
15 I would submit that efforts to develop every enterprise as a successful working community is worth the most serious consideration on a tripartite basis, if Singapore is to avoid the industrial aberrations which increasingly plague developed societies in the western world.”
16 Indeed, we have since avoided these industrial aberrations and enjoyed many decades of good economic growth, where the fruits were shared amongst employers and workers alike.
17 Devan Nair was a powerful motivator and one of the best speakers in his time. Combined with his vision and foresight, he was able to engineer a remarkable transformation of the labour movement, and lay the foundations for its present success. From winning the early fight for survival to laying the foundations of one of most successful labour movements around the world, Devan was a thinker and leader ahead of his age.
