Guest-of-Honour, Acting Minister for Manpower Tan Chuan-Jin
Chairman of the OTCi Board of Governors, DPM Tharman Shanmugaratnam
President NTUC Sis Diana Chia
Secretary-General Bro Lim Swee Say
Governors
NTUC Central Committee Members
Union Leaders
Graduands
Ladies and Gentleman
Good morning. It is my pleasure to welcome all of you to today’s graduation ceremony.
64 students will graduate from the Diploma in Employment Relations Program and the Advanced Certificate in Industrial Relations Course. We are proud of the achievements of our students. Please join me in congratulating the class of 2012.
In a short while the diplomas and certificates will be presented and I am reminded of a small story here.
It is about martial artist who is about to receive his black belt. He had reached a pinnacle of achievement in his discipline and bowed in front of his Master. “Before granting the belt, you must pass one more test,” said the Master. The student replied he was ready.
The Master asked him “What is the true meaning of the black belt?” Confidently the student replied, “The end of my journey and a well-deserved reward for all my hard work.” The Master was not satisfied and told the student “You are not yet ready for the black belt. Return in one year.”
A year later, the student again bowed in front of the Master. “What is the true meaning of the black belt?” asked the Master. “A symbol of distinction and highest achievement in our art,” said the student. Again the Master was not approving and told him to come back the next year.
The third year the student appeared before the Master and again the question was posed on “What is the true meaning of the black belt?” Having reflected long and hard, the student replied “The black belt represents the beginning – the start of a never ending journey of discipline, hard work, and the pursuit of ever-higher standards”. With this he won the agreement of his Master and received his black belt.
So what does the diploma or the certificate truly mean for our graduands?
For some this will be a stepping stone for further studies. Many of the ACIR students will proceed to do their diploma and each year, a handful of diploma students enroll for degree programs at UniSIM. Incidentally, this was one of the original objectives in having the diploma course – to provide opportunities for unionists to upgrade themselves for their personal and professional development.
For many others, especially our unionists, the knowledge from the DER and ACIR is to help them better discharge their roles and responsibilities in helping workers and working with employers. Here let me share some examples.
Jasmine Chua, a Branch Service Manager at DBS, recognised the need to beef up her IR knowledge and skills when she became the General Secretary of the DBS Staff Union last year. She enrolled for the ACIR and discovered the more she learnt, the more she realised how much more there was to know. Upon completing the ACIR, Jasmine signed up for the DER.
Mohamed Yusoff, General Secretary of Keppel Employees’ Union, is 60 years old and has been a unionist for 36 years. He enrolled in the ACIR to lead by example and encourage his younger leaders to sign up for the course. Whilst his younger colleagues have taken a break after the ACIR, Yusoff pushed on with the Diploma to show that, in his own words, if he can do it at his age, no one else should find any excuse for not doing so.
Mohamad Sharill, 38 is a senior process technician with Shell Eastern Petroleum Ltd and a delegate of the Singapore Shell Employees Union. As a union delegate, Shahrill lacked confidence and was afraid to speak out and talk in front of large groups. As he progressed from the BCIR to ICIR then ACIR, his confidence grew and when the opportunity to continue with DER came, he grabbed it and found it really useful not just for his role as a union leader but for his personal development. Today, Shahrill feels he is confident in engaging friends and colleagues over wide range of topics.
One of the things that graduands share on occasions like today is that they will not miss so much the assignments and exams but the friendship and camaraderie of their classmates.
Here I invite all our graduands to come forward and join in the activities of the OTCi Alumni to keep in touch with each other. Together with the Alumni, the OTCi can support your aspirations of pursuing higher standards as unionists, networking and building ties with fellow unionists from across the Labour Movement.
This morning we will also recognise unions which have been most active in leveraging on the various platforms and programs at the institute for leadership development. Besides providing the necessary skills and knowledge, our programs also focus on strengthening mindset alignment and bonding with the Labour Movement.
Lastly, awards will be given to unions and companies on the OTCi’s Workplace Partnership programs. These are enlightened organisations and unions working together to enhance understanding and relations between line managers and supervisors, who are at the frontline of management, with union stewards and delegates at the shop floor. It is our observation that organisations that have consistently made such investments are more successful in cascading good Labour Management Relations (LMR) down the line and have more harmonious and cooperative relations.
On this note, let me once again congratulate all our graduands and award winners today. It is now my pleasure to invite our Guest-of-Honour Acting Minister for Manpower Mr Tan Chuan-Jin to address us.
