Good afternoon Brother Tony Tan, Brothers and Sisters.
Thank you all for attending today’s dialogue with Brother Tony Tan. This will give union leaders the opportunity to gain valuable insights and views on key issues concerning Singapore and our workers.
Today, we are very honoured to have with us, Brother Tony Tan, a man with an outstanding track record in public service, banking and media, among other impressive accomplishments.
Brother Tony Tan served as the Minister for Defence, Trade & Industry, Finance, Health and Education at various point in time. He was appointed Deputy Prime Minister in 1995, and took on the additional role of Co-ordinating Minister for Security and Defence in 2003.
After he retired from Cabinet in 2005, Brother Tony Tan was appointed Deputy Chairman and Executive Director of the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation Private Limited (or GIC). He relinquished this position in July this year. He is the Chairman of the National Research Foundation as well as the Deputy Chairman of the Research, Innovation and Enterprise Council. He was until recently also Chairman of the Singapore Press Holdings Limited.
Brother Tony Tan is also not new to the Labour Movement. His association with the Labour Movement started in 1979 when he served as Chairman of NTUC's Investment Committee. His banking and financial management expertise guided in making wise investment decisions.
In 1980, he was appointed Chairman of the Board of Trustees of NTUC Income. His sound business judgement and steady stewardship helped NTUC Income grow into one of Singapore’s leading insurance providers. Brother Tony Tan was a longstanding and much respected adviser to Singapore Sembawang Shipyard Employees’ Union, serving from 1979 to 2008.
In 1990, as the then Minister for Education, he officiated the opening of the Singapore Institute of Labour Studies, the forerunner of the Ong Teng Cheong Labour Leadership Institute. That helped lay the foundation for high quality, systematic leadership training and development for succeeding cohorts of union leaders. It was an important contribution to the effective practice of Tripartism in Singapore.
In recognition of his valuable service and contribution to the Labour Movement, NTUC conferred one of its highest award – the Medal of Honour – on Brother Tony Tan in 1988.
Brother Tony Tan’s recent decision to contest the upcoming Presidential Elections makes today’s dialogue with him all the more pertinent.
I now open the dialogue, and would like to start by inviting Brother Tony Tan to share with us his views on global, regional and local developments and the implications for the labour movement and workers of Singapore. Brother Tony Tan, please.
