Workers’ extraordinary efforts help make most things go right: Labour chief

SINGAPORE — While there are hiccups from time to time, such as breakdowns in public transport and a bed crunch in hospitals, “most things go right” for Singapore, thanks to the extraordinary efforts of ordinary workers, said labour chief Lim Swee Say yesterday.

Speaking to about 1,100 unionists, employers and workers at the May Day Rally held at the Devan Nair Institute for Employment and Employability, he urged Singaporeans to appreciate these people who work hard around the clock to serve the people of Singapore while doing their best to provide for their families and loved ones.

“Every day, there are hundreds and thousands of workers from all collars, all ages and all nationalities working hard and working smart behind the scenes, so that things can go right for all of us,” said Mr Lim, who is secretary-general of the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC).

Noting that nobody lives in a world with no defects, he added: “Let us not forget that for every day where some things go wrong, there are many, many days where most things go right.”

During his speech, Mr Lim showed a video clip featuring five such workers. Among them: SMRT assistant engineer Mohamed Ishak, who beavers away at night doing maintenance work on the rail system, refuse truck driver T Manimaran, who does not let the smell of rubbish affect him, and PSA quay crane operator Lim Chee Kiang, who enjoys loading and unloading containers from ships at the port.

Playing on his point that there is no perfection anywhere, Mr Lim quipped that there was one “defect” in the video: It did not feature any women.

“There is one defect in this video, which is that we forgot to include women. So, please accept our sincere apologies; we’ll do better next time.”

Mr Lim also called on the public to become “better employers, better workers and better customers, all at the same time”.

“As employers, we must learn to bring out the best in every worker and treat them better. As workers, we must value our jobs more and take greater pride in what we do,” he said. “As customers, we should remember that the people serving us are people too. Let’s treat each other as equals, with courtesy, respect and appreciation.”

Yesterday, the Devan Nair Institute for Employment and Employability was officially opened by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. It is one of two continuing education and training campuses announced by Mr Lee at the 2009 National Day Rally.

The seven-storey, 30,000 sqm campus in Jurong East, operated by the NTUC’s Employment and Employability Institute, aims to help 100,000 workers each year. A second campus in Paya Lebar, to be operated by the Workforce Development Agency, will open later this year. NEO CHAI CHIN