Speech by President Halimah Yacob at the Singapore Maritime Officers' Union 70th Anniversary Gala Dinner

Sister Grace Fu, Minister for Sustainability and Environment, SMOU Advisor

Sister Mary Liew, NTUC President and SMOU General Secretary

Brother Ng Chee Meng, NTUC General Secretary

Distinguished Guests 

Ladies and Gentlemen

A very good evening to all of you. It is my pleasure to be standing here amongst friends at the Singapore Maritime Officers’ Union’s (SMOU) 70th anniversary celebration. SMOU has come a long way and accomplished many great achievements. You have grown your influence from a mere 11 members to currently over 32,000 members represented across the world.

The COVID-19 pandemic was challenging for many. As Sister Mary highlighted, it was extra tough for our maritime workers, including seafarers, who were presented with many surprises and difficulties. During this period, SMOU was the voice for seafarers, working with tripartite partners to ensure that assistance was rendered. This included providing financial and job support, crew change, and vaccinations at the Port of Singapore. 

The Singapore Crew Change Working Group that SMOU established, alongside the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA), Singapore Shipping Association (SSA) and the Singapore Organisation of Seamen (SOS), epitomises the strong commitment that our tripartite partners have towards the safety and well-being of seafarers. SMOU and our key maritime stakeholders have played a critical role in keeping our maritime hub open 24/7, and protecting seafarers from around the world. 

Despite the pandemic, SMOU persisted in your outreach to seniors and older members, albeit with safe distancing measures. For example, you innovated by bringing the Lunar New Year celebrations to the doorstep of more than 1,000 seniors across 2021 and 2022, through safe-distanced door-to-door visits and deliveries. This provided continuity and consistency to SMOU’s luncheon traditionally held every Lunar New Year season with SMOU senior members and seniors from various communities and nursing homes.

Indeed, this exemplifies SMOU’s core value of ‘Caring and Sharing’. Over the years, I have seen the union grow. When I attended SMOU’s 65th anniversary milestone in 2016, SMOU launched the SMOU Care Fund to roll out assistance for members who were in financial difficulty and hardship. Six years on, the Care Fund has grown to support members in four different schemes of assistance, by providing subsidies for transport, assistive devices, caregiving, and bursaries for children of deceased members.

I am glad to announce that SMOU is launching the Intermediate and Long-Term Care Service (ILTC) Assistance scheme to provide more support to SMOU’s members as they age. This will be the fifth assistance scheme from the Care Fund, which will help to defray costs for intermediate and long-term care services from approved providers for SMOU members and their families. With rising healthcare costs and the ageing population, the ILTC scheme will enable members and their caregivers to focus on recovery by alleviating the financial pressure. The SMOU Care Fund will continue to be shored up to support members later into their golden years.

SMOU has gone even further. As part of your 70th anniversary in 2021, you embarked on a ‘7 Acts of Caring and Sharing’ initiative to do more for children from lower-income families, seniors, seafarers, and fishermen. This meaningful commitment will culminate with the seventh act at today’s dinner with a cheque presentation of $170,000 to NTUC Health for the renovation of the Active Ageing Centre at Bukit Merah View. The newly renovated centre will better cater to seniors in the neighbourhood with activities and care services. As Singapore’s population becomes older, Active Ageing Centres will become increasingly crucial to serve seniors in the community so that they can stay active and age gracefully.

A second cheque of $170,000 will also be presented to the Mission to Seafarers Singapore (MTSS), an international welfare charity organisation with a mission to provide support to seafarers around the world. During the pandemic, MTSS was a critical partner to SMOU in reaching out to seafarers at the ports when visitors were not allowed. Aligned with SMOU’s objective of looking out for seafarers, the donated amount will go towards MTSS’s local operations to continue being a safe haven for seafarers calling at the port of Singapore.

I applaud SMOU’s generosity. Being generous is not only about money. Beyond the monetary contributions, SMOU over the years has also offered time and sincerity in organising visits, having conversations, and building friendships with beneficiaries of your partner organisations. Not only have you displayed determination and firm commitment to representing seafaring officers, you have also been a reliable support for your community and social networks. I am heartened that unions like SMOU have given your effort, time and resources to look out for the vulnerable. This contributes to the strengthening of our social compact so that no one gets left behind as Singapore progresses.

In closing, I would like to wish SMOU many more years of impact and success. Because of your hard work, your members can continue to enjoy good jobs, welfare and work prospects, and uplift their lives. Thank you.