Speech by President Halimah Yacob at the Launch of the ReUnion Exhibition for NTUC Modernisation Seminar 50th Anniversary

Sister Josephine Teo, Minister for Manpower

Sister Mary Liew, President, NTUC

Brother Ng Chee Meng, Secretary-General, NTUC

Brother Dr Robert Yap, President, Singapore National Employers Federation

Sisters and Brothers

I am very pleased to be here this morning to be with my union friends and the tripartite partners to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Modernisation Seminar.

The 1969 Modernisation Seminar, organised by the labour movement, was a revolutionary move. Unfortunately, not many people today understand its significance or may have forgotten its impact and how it has contributed to the tremendous progress and industrial peace that Singapore has enjoyed all these years. It was a momentous decision which required a lot of courage and conviction on the part of the unionists as it required them to rethink their role, redefine what workers’ protection means in a more holistic manner beyond just collective bargaining and to take a stake in the future of Singapore. It was a momentous decision because the unions were asked to take a path that was so different from that of their counterparts in both developing and developed countries at that time. It was not easy because many parts of the world then were still fighting against colonialism, where unions were always a part of the struggle for emancipation and where blatant exploitation and abuse of workers existed.

But I suppose the call for the unions to rethink their role was a most beguiling one not just because it offered a far attractive option on bettering workers lives, other than being in constant conflict with the government or the employers. It actually offered a real opportunity for the unions to design and shape an independent Singapore where they would have a central role to play.

The government’s call to the unions was a simple one. Be our co-partners to build a progressive and prosperous Singapore where everyone will benefit. Singapore had already gained independence, so there is no need to continue battling the government or the employers to achieve political goals. For Singapore to survive, everyone has to work together to rebuild and reconstruct it.

As Mr Goh Keng Swee who was then the Finance Minister, who was addressing the seminar said, “Without a doubt, the labour movement is now at the crossroads. It can take a new direction, develop new fields of endeavour and thereby grow from strength to strength. Or it can take the other turning, sulk away in resentment and despondency, and then be cast into the limbo of history.” He added, “I would like to think that the labour movement will take the positive road – the road to greater, more responsible and possibly, more difficult means of participation in the national life of the Republic”.

Indeed, the labour movement rose to the occasion and has never looked back. Over time, the unions had championed workers causes in so many different ways – at the policy level, participating in national efforts such as reskilling and upgrading workers’ skills and ensuring fairness at the workplace.

No doubt, the path for the unions was not easy. When I joined the NTUC in 1978, almost a decade after the Modernisation Seminar, there were still many critics. And many things that the NTUC does today, which we take for granted as something normal for a trade union to do, is still not normal in other parts of the world. Pushing for productivity improvement for instance, which the NTUC has been doing for years starting with the signing of the Charter for Industrial Progress and the Productivity Code of Practice in 1965, is not always well received among other unions. I remember the long debates that we had over this issue in the International Labour Organisation, where foreign unions voiced their concerns that such efforts would lead to job losses and exploitation of workers and they rejected them. I remember too chairing a workshop of the workers’ group and talking about tripartism and how it had helped Singapore resolve industrial issues. After the meeting, a unionist from a major industrialised country came to me and said that tripartism was a bad word for them because they don’t trust the government or the employers. To be safe, they prefer to be completely separate and on different sides.

I realise therefore that we are indeed unique and special. We have charted our own path and this has benefitted not just workers but all Singaporeans. I realise too that the most important ingredients for this tripartite relationship to continue to flourish and benefit Singapore and Singaporeans, are trust and confidence. Trust that workers will be treated with dignity and respect by employers at the workplace. Trust that the government will always maintain a fair balance in its dealings with both sides, and in ensuring the fair distribution of the fruits of progress.

Today, there is a need for our tripartite partners to work even more closely together. The context may be different but the complexities and the challenges facing our economy and people today are equally daunting as it was in 1969. Our world is at a turning point. Support for globalisation is weakening. We are starting to see the effects of the tit-for-tat trade conflict between the US and China. As a small and open economy, Singapore is not immune to the uncertainties in the global economy. Last month, MTI adjusted our GDP forecast to 1.5% - 2.5% taking into account Singapore’s economic performance and the weaker external demand.

The rapid pace of technological advancements and demographic shifts are also reshaping the future of jobs. We are seeing rapid advancements in technologies such as artificial intelligence, automation, block chain and the Internet of Things. These technologies hold great potential to transform businesses, improve our lives and create good jobs, but there is also a real fear of displacements. At the same time, our rapidly aging population is causing a decline in our workforce, and increasing pressures on our retirement support systems.

The government has been taking many steps to help prepare the economy, businesses and our workers to meet these challenges. The tripartite partners have worked closely together to launch the 23 Industry Transformation Maps and some of these efforts have borne fruit.

MAS recently updated that an average of 4,900 financial services and FinTech jobs were created each year over the last three years. This is above the Financial Services ITM’s original target of 4,000 net jobs growth.

More than 100 Professional Conversion Programmes (PCPs) have been launched in over 30 sectors with close to 5,000 people benefitting through re-skilling and subsequently, finding employment.

From 2016 to 2018, more than 76,000 jobseekers found employment through the Adapt and Grow initiative.

We continue to enjoy a strong and good standing in the international community. Due to the hard work invested by all the three parties, we are known as a safe harbour in this region. Companies continue to invest here because they know we provide a stable environment amidst an increasingly polarised global trading system. Singapore is also working with like-minded partners to deepen our international connections. Initiatives such as the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement or the CPTPP and collaborations with other countries will provide new opportunities for our businesses and people. Singapore is also known for our skilled workforce and we will continue to invest in our workers and equip them with the skills to take on new opportunities. The labour movement’s launch of the Company Training Committees is a timely move and deserves our full support. We can have the policies, the funding and the programmes, but at the end of the day, we need the people to take the initiative and run with it themselves. This is where the unions play a tremendous role in encouraging, influencing and motivating our workers to go for reskilling and upgrading.

We had faced strong headwinds in the past and overcame them. In the 2008 financial crisis, I was serving in the United Workers of Electronics and Electrical Industries (UWEEI). It was a most trying time for the union and the workers. Every phone call from companies and every call for a meeting caused trepidations. Many companies retrenched their workers and thousands lost their jobs. The government quickly introduced SPUR – Skills Programme for Upgrading and Resilience. Instead of retrenching the workers, employers worked with the unions to send their excess manpower for training, subsidised by the government. I remember then that the electronic workers were the worst affected and how UWEEI worked very hard to help companies and their workers benefit from SPUR. Together, we overcame that period of difficulty. I am confident that we can overcome anything if we put our hearts and soul to it and do our utmost to benefit everyone.

We have on exhibition today more than 50 years of the history of the labour movement. Our unions have come a long way in supporting and helping to improve our workers’ welfare, including running the NTUC co-operatives, which was also an important outcome of the Modernisation Seminar, to help workers stretch their dollar and give unionists a chance to understand the mechanics of running businesses through their involvement on the co-op boards.

We have done well over the last fifty years since the last Modernisation Seminar. Singapore has made tremendous progress and people’s lives have improved. Many have tried to copy our model but they have not been successful. Whilst they can duplicate our systems and processes such as the NWC or tripartite committees, it is the intangibles that are important – trust and confidence, the commitment to treat each other with respect and to ensure that the benefits of industrial peace are shared. These intangibles are largely driven by the leadership of the three parties who understand their roles well. We need to ensure that these leaders understand what it means to have a tripartite partnership, what are the common outcomes and goals, and how they can work together.

I hope the narratives and benefits from this exhibition will go far beyond this museum, and perhaps we could bring it down to the public libraries. There is a real need for our younger generation especially to understand where we started, how we started, why we took those steps, why it was important to us then, and why it continues to be equally important today. I am worried that if we lose that part of our history, we would lose the understanding of how the decisions we have made have changed the course of history, and lose our appreciation for the work the labour movement has put in to help our workers.

Let me conclude by thanking our labour movement for your outstanding work in supporting the national interest and in serving our workers faithfully. I am sure that you will celebrate your 100 years after the 1969 Modernisation Seminar with even greater strength and commitment.

Thank you.