Mr Albert Teo, Chairman of SHATEC Institutes
Mr Anthony Yip, CEO of SHATEC Institutes
Ladies and gentlemen
It is always a pleasure to attend a graduation ceremony. You see beaming faces of graduates, proud of what they have achieved after few years of hard work, and eager to step into the workforce and embark on their careers. So I want to first congratulate all graduates today on your achievement, and also thank all the instructors and management of Shatec Institute for your guidance and mentorship to the trainees.
Today is a rare gathering of industry leaders, of trainers and instructors, and future workers of the industry. So I will talk a little about the industry, about Shatec, and about workers in the industry.
The Industry
Your timing to enter the industry is immaculate. The hospitality and tourism industry is thriving. There are many new investments, such as Formula One, the Flyer, the Integrated Resorts, and several celebrity restaurants. Not too long from now, new attractions will be added to the scene, such as Gardens by the Bay, River Safari at the Zoo, and further expansion of Resorts World Sentosa.
Singapore has also witness record breaking tourist arrivals for the past 10 consecutive months. In the first nine months of 2010, there had been over 7.6 million tourist arrivals, and at this rate, we will likely break the 10 million mark by end of the year. Hotels are seeing easily over 80% average occupancy rate every month, and room rates are rising, which means better yields, better profits.
These are just the immediately developments we can see and feel in the industry. What is more important is the steady, medium to long term trend of Singapore becoming an attractive destination for visitors all round the world. They will come here for vacation, for medical treatment, to do business, to attend meetings and conventions, to enjoy our night life, to eat, to visit museums, to attend performances and events, etc. We are a cool and happening place on the globe, and more and more people around the world are beginning to know that.
SHATEC
The manpower needs and requirements of the industry will evolve in tandem with these medium to long term trends. One of the key requirements is to have a capable core of local workforce, who are attuned and able to rise up to the new challenges of the industry. Fortunately, the system to build up the local hospitality workforce has evolved ahead of these industry developments. Specifically, I believe the system went through a few distinct phases, even though I am not too sure when each of the phases exactly started or ended.
Three Phases of Adult Training
The first phase belongs to the era of Lifelong Careers. Then, we expected young people to study the subject relevant to their intended future careers. When they graduated, whether from Universities, Polytechnics, ITE or Shatec, they would enter the intended industry and work for many years, if not their whole careers. Those were the days where the chefs, captains, concierges all went into the industry as novices, and learned the hard way and over many years to establish themselves. Those were also the days when recruitment videos showed only faces of young graduates. Unfortunately, I think there are recruitment videos that are still like that. But the Lifelong Careers phase has definitely ended – probably for over a decade. The reality was that people would study one subject, enter a different field, and in the course of their careers, try out several other fields.
So Lifelong Careers phase transit into the Lifelong Learning phase. There was broad recognition that tapping on the inflow of youngsters and fresh school leavers for manpower were not enough. There was a far bigger reservoir to tap on – which is the existing pool of local workers. And so begin various exercises to re-train adult workers and transit them into new careers. In the last couple of years we witnessed an extensive exercise, where thousands of workers from every field underwent skills retraining, to prepare them for the Integrated Resorts. Thousands without prior experience in the hospitality and tourism sector were hired.
Now, I believe we are already in the third phase, which is the Lifelong Progression phase. The transition to this new phase is necessary, because there has to be a training system and structure to help translate lifelong learning into lifelong career progression. It must be a system that reflects the skills requirements of the industry. It must be a system which training approach suits the specific needs for adult workers. It must continuously take stock of the skills that workers have acquired, and put them on an upgrading pathway to build upon what they already learnt to attain higher certifications. And that system is the Workforce Skills Qualifications system (WSQ).
When WSQ first started, many veterans from various industries told me that this would be another transient programme. They have seen such schemes come and go many times. One HR manager told me that years ago, she got all her workers certified under CREST, but with one more module to go, the programme got terminated, along with the certification. But what many did not realise was that WSQ is different. WSQ is well-backed, and well- resourced by the Lifelong Learning Endowment Fund; it is supervised and driven a dedicated government agency (WDA); its courseware is developed through the guidance of the industries to ensure relevancy; it involves the setting up physical training delivery centres; and it is strongly supported by the Labour Movement. The advent of WSQ is not the launch of just another programme or scheme, but the establishment of a national infrastructure that permanently changed the landscape in adult training in Singapore.
Staying Relevant
What does this mean for an Institute such as Shatec Institutes? Shatec has almost 30 years of history, has guided the careers of thousands of youngsters, and is a well-known name associated with good service and hospitality. It can play a big part in contributing to the adult training landscape today. The key question is: what are the new directions and initiatives that Shatec Institutes can consider pursuing?
One area, which I have no doubt Shatec Institutes is already actively working on, is to redefine your customer base, and endeavor to serve the entire hospitality industry. Because the industry goes far beyond the hotels and the member companies of SHA, but also include attractions, standalone restaurants, retail malls, and even airlines, clubs, gaming facilities and the creative sector.
A second key area to consider is to embrace the WSQ system. It is already a permanent and dominant feature of the adult skills training landscape. Shatec Institutes has various collaborations with WDA today and is an Approved Training Organisation for WSQ for certain short courses. I hope your partnership with WDA and adoption of WSQ will deepen and strengthen over time.
One concern expressed by many training providers is whether adoption of WSQ will dilute its brand name. My answer is that no matter how successful and ubiquitous WSQ becomes over time, nothing can take away the history, tradition and excellence that Shatec stands for. It is not different from secondary schools and junior colleges of long traditions, such as RI, Hwa Chong or ACS. Their adoption of common qualifications such as Cambridge ‘O’ or ‘A’ levels does not in any way dilute the values, character and unique experiences that the schools stand for and offer.
The Graduates
It is an exciting day for all of you today. The Institute has prepared you well for a fruitful career. If I were to dispense one advice to you, I would say be patient, and persevere. Because in the course of your work, you will have your fair share of challenges and frustrations, because no industry is perfect, no job is perfect, no employer is perfect. Change another industry and you are likely to still face the same problems. What is more important therefore is to know where your passion lies. If you have a passion to be of service and help to others, to make people happy, this is the right industry for you. Stick to it, and chances are you will be rewarded with a bright and fulfilling career. Congratulations once again.
