Abdul Samad
Singapore
“Chairman, I would like to ask whether the Ministry does any uninformed surveillance across our restructured hospitals of any unfair practice or biases that takes place towards the healthcare workers, for both nurses and even allied health personnel, whose duty is to help clinicians diagnose patients by running necessary tests.”
“To all my fellow workers, let us continue to learn, unlearn and relearn skills so that your management finds it difficult and more challenging to release you. For employers, always look around internally and ask if you have done justice to our resident workforce with your ratio of locals to foreigners. Support for Mature PMEs”
“In order to prepare for this transformation, both the union and the management formed company training committees, followed by rallying and re-energising their workers in order to develop a strategically adept and proficient workforce.”
“In my personal view, the Government has arrived at a nice balance – granting homosexuals the space that they need through the repeal, while recognising and upholding the traditional definition of marriage through the constitutional amendments.”
“Let us not leave our twilight years to chance, but instead, we ensure that we remain healthy for ourselves and for our loved ones. (In English): Madam, many of us would acknowledge that good health is the real wealth.”
“In closing, I remind myself and all husbands of a hadith, or saying, of the Prophet: “The world is but an adornment, and the best adornment to the world are the pious and righteous wives.” (In English): Sir, each and every man must learn to respect and protect every woman with love and care as though they are part of your family members.”
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“How many asatizah who return every year after graduation are choosing and getting jobs other than becoming religious teachers or something similar? My next request pertains to social support, that is, what can be done to strengthen our community’s financial and social capacity to continuously improve their lives? What are the outreach and support efforts that we can do for those who were left out or felt disappointed because their past requests and applications were rejected? Mr Chairman, I am sure that many in our community have received social support from the Government while they were in school and later in life. May I ask the Minister whether we can attract and encourage past beneficiaries of support schemes, who have achieved success, to come forward and contribute back to the society in their own way, sand also share the efforts and actions that made them successful? Such efforts can be a motivating factor for our children and youths. We are all aware of the community’s development and progress over the years, and so, what more can be done to ensure a consistent and better performance in the future? Allow me to end my speech with a quatrain to motivate the Malay community and Singaporeans. With a heart full of zeal and passion Defend our people and develop our nation Carry the hopes of our countrymen Build a community that is admired Equipping Asatizah and Update on PCICS”
“Chairman, in Malay, please. (In Malay): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Early last year, the Minister-in-Charge of Muslim Affairs, Mr Masagos, together with the Malay ministers and MPs, established and led a taskforce called SGTeguhBersatu. This team comprised leaders from different sectors from the Government, businesses, community leaders, training providers, as well as the Labour Movement to brainstorm ideas and steer our community to face and overcome the challenges arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. Can the Minister share the progress of the team's efforts across the different levels of support, from workers, businesses as well as our community welfare groups? How can we continue to step up efforts to bridge the gaps so that our community can continue to receive assistance and also seize any opportunity to improve their lives? For jobseekers and potential employees, how can we help them to identify new skillsets that they need to pursue better job opportunities and better or lucrative wages? In addition, how can we continue to encourage young people who are ITE, polytechnics and universities graduates to place full-time employment as their main priority? They should only seek additional work such as food delivery when they have some free time to spare and are healthy enough. As far as possible, avoid using this kind of work, such as food delivery, as their main source of income because the returns are not holistic and there is no job security if they meet with an accident while doing deliveries. Apart from the groups mentioned earlier, for madrasah students and religious teachers specifically, what are the efforts that can continue to help them can obtain job opportunities beyond teaching religious knowledge?”
“Mdm Chair, I welcome the launch of the Singapore Green Plan 2030. As we work towards building a sustainable Singapore, we can and must do more to promote individual and collective responsibility to care for the environment. Singaporeans should be equipped with sound knowledge and awareness of our environmental issues to inculcate in them a deep care for the environment, and eventually champion and encourage their peers to adopt similar habits. It is commonly said that values are not only taught, but also caught. I would like to know how MSE is working with MOE to nurture a sense of responsibility for the environment, and an appreciation for nature in our students? How can we ingrain in our students the mindset and attitude to always think about practising sustainability? Efforts to inculcate the sustainability mindset should be ongoing. As our students progress to subsequent stages of education, efforts must continue to reinforce habits to reduce energy usage and reduce waste. What are some initiatives that MSE is working with the Institutes of Higher Learning to promote the importance of environmental sustainability? My experience as a union leader has also taught me the importance of partnerships and how they are key in ensuring better outcomes. I would therefore also like to ask how MSE intends to engage different stakeholders among the community, parents and industry partners to more effectively inculcate and reinforce sustainability values in our students. Sustainability in Schools”
“Are there good examples on the effectiveness of these programmes in terms of skills transfer and capability through our local workforce? What is the Ministry projection for such programmes and how we can create interest and encourage more local workforce to seize such opportunities at the earliest possible time? Workforce for Tomorrow's Economy”
“Chairman, this pandemic has seen many workers either had to take pay cuts or even lose their jobs, including the executives and management. For the fortunate ones, they were able to move from one job to a similar, if not better job, in a shorter time compared to others. This was made easier with the collective efforts of various agencies including NTUC's Job Security Council to help secure jobs for our fellow Singaporeans. For some, who are unable to find employment opportunities, they had to take on alternative temporary jobs to tide them over such as driving private hire vehicles or working as food delivery persons. As such I would like to inquire the Ministry on the programmes such as Professional Conversion Programme (PCP) and Capability Transfer Programme have been effective in mitigating the employment challenges faced by Singaporeans during this pandemic? Can the Ministry share to date how many of those PME jobseekers has secured job opportunities through PCP, like the Place and Train, Attach and Train, Job Redesign and Reskilling? What were the bottlenecks that stop an individual and/or employers from recruiting the displaced workers through programmes such as PCP? How many of those who went through such programs have resulted in taking on higher value added jobs or new job areas? In addition, how can such programmes be effectively marketed for better outreach so that we can entice self-employed workers such as private hire drivers or those working in a gig economy to join the permanent workforce for better job security? Can the Ministry also share how many of our local workforce have gone through and benefited from the Capability Transfer Programme?”
“On behalf of fellow leaders from NTUC, we look forward to working closely with MTI and EDB to prepare our Singaporean workers to seize such high value-added jobs when the companies come on board. We want every worker to aspire for such jobs, as every worker should aspire to for better job, better work prospects, for a better life for themselves and their families.”
“Chairman, in a Straits Times article on 21 Jan 2021, MTI declared that Singapore managed to attract about $17.2 billion in fixed asset investments in 2020, despite weathering its worst recession since Independence as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Such achievements must have come through great efforts by the working staff of luring and convincing investors to invest in Singapore. Well done to the staff in MTI! We were also made known that such investments, when completed, would lead to the creation of more than 19,000 new high quality jobs over the next five years. We note that close to a quarter of the new jobs would be digital roles, such as cloud developers, software engineers and cybersecurity specialists. Chairman, this news brings hope – hope of a Singaporean worker who looks forward to seizing opportunities for such high value-added jobs. In fact, union leaders are curious to know how our locals can seize such job opportunities. Such good jobs, we hope, will be able to lure the younger generation of ITE and Polytechnic graduates into the workforce early or even narrow the unemployment of our locals over the years ahead. From the good news requires actions to get ready the workforce for type of skills and knowledge required. On this point, I would like to ask how the Labour Movement and our training associations like NTUC Learning Hub can collaborate with Government agencies like EDB and other key partners, to bridge the skillset gaps to ensure that we prepare our workers to seize the job opportunities and allow Singaporeans to form the core of the company workforce. Information and knowledge actions will certainly give us more lead way to identify workers and training institutions to help prepare our workers.”
“Mr Chairman, Singapore has and will continue to thrive because of our openness to connect to all our partners around the world. We are friends with every country of the world and I believe we will and must continue to be so. 2.15 pm We worked hard to maintain strong and cordial relations with our neighbours in the ASEAN countries. We have also been cooperating closely with them to advance ASEAN's community-building efforts and develop new areas of collaboration such as smart cities and digitalisation. While we should press on with such efforts in our neighbourhood, this pandemic has also shown the importance of having a wider engagement strategy to shore up our country's resilience. In this regard, I would like to ask how is the Ministry deepening Singapore's engagement with other key partners beyond the ASEAN region? I look forward to hearing from the Ministry the new efforts and measures they will put in place to sustain the relationship and engagement that has been built over the years for the present and the future. Relations with Middle East Partners”
“Chairman, around the world, COVID-19 has posed tremendous challenges to governments’ capacity to respond to and manage public health threats. In January 2020, COVID-19 emerged in Singapore and rapidly disrupted our way of life. I am certain it has affected MINDEF or SAF in a number of ways, including having an impact on our NSmen training. I note that the SAF has implemented rigorous safe management measures, testing and cohorting regimes. In fact, if my memory still vivid, MINDEF or SAF have also contributed to the national COVID-19 response to keep our frontline workers safe during the peak of the pandemic. As the COVID-19 situation stabilises, what plans does MINDEF/SAF have to progressively recall NSmen in the coming year? How will MINDEF continue to ensure the safety of NSmen amidst the COVID-19 context? Next Generation SAF”
“It will be even better if the Government can incentivise employers with a strong Singaporean core in their workforce. Having a strong Singaporean core will encourage and motivate Singaporean core workers to upgrade their skills and compete hard to secure employment opportunities. (In English): I would like to close my speech by making two key points. First, NTUC will continue to help workers of all collars, ages and nationalities achieve gainful employment through better jobs and a better living through higher wages, so that they can live a better life. We call on the Government to continue formulating and implementing labour policies that aim to develop a globally competitive workforce and a great workplace, for a cohesive society and a secure economic future for all Singaporeans. To our employers, who are tuning into this Budget debate, we hope that you will do your part to transform your business, enhance productivity and competitiveness and upskill your workers for future jobs. This is Singapore’s Tripartism Model! Finally, this pandemic has been with us since early 2020 and there is still no sign it will go away anytime soon. As a union leader and on behalf of all my fellow sisters and brothers in the Labour Movement, I would like to take this opportunity to express our utmost appreciation to all my fellow essential service workers, be it in healthcare, cleaning, security, transport, telecommunication, nearer to my heart – power and gas, even water. Thank you, thank you very much for your unwavering commitment, dedication and resilience to serve our country and our people during this pandemic. Mr Deputy Speaker, I support this Budget. [Applause.]”
“In fact, they also hope that the Government constantly monitors this situation and continues to implement measures to reopen the sector with international partners, so that the industry can resume its activities. On this note, the Labour Movement wished to express their appreciation to all companies that retain and support their workers through the Jobs Support Scheme. As far as possible, please avoid any retrenchment because when a worker loses his job, it will impact the whole family's finances, and not just the worker's. Make use this time instead to send your workers for training to upgrade their skills and to identify new skills that you will need, so that your workers are better equipped for any new job in the future. Among the skills needed right now and in the future are the various technology-related skills such as digital skills, data analysis, artificial intelligence and so on. Employers need to identify the type of skills required from their employees when identifying the type of training required. We always hear about workers having difficulty or refusing to undergo training. That is a misconception. Please do not blame the workers entirely on this issue of training. Actually, our hope is that such training will enhance our status as workers in order for us to have good careers, better welfare and a better working environment. In fact, we also hope that, after undergoing training, our salaries will increase in line with improvements in our productivity. Besides training, the labour unions call on the Government to encourage employers to build a strong Singapore core in their workforce not just in terms of numbers, but also in term of skills and capabilities as well as competitiveness.”
“Beyond having that career development plan reside in the individual company, I would like to echo NTUC’s aims to have PWM in more sectors and call for sectoral agencies to work with employers, unions and professional associations to implement the model, beyond the existing mandatory sectors. The sectoral level PWM will allow workers to have the visibility of the career pathways and salary progression in tandem with the skill upgrading and productivity improvements. Workers will have sight of the career and salaries that the sector has to offer them as well as the required skills and training. This will provide a useful roadmap to attract fresh graduates, mid-career switchers, develop and retain locals in the sector. During downturns, the visibility of the sectoral PWM’s skills will facilitate cross-function, cross-company and cross-sector mobility for workers from restructuring companies to companies that are hiring. As shared, NTUC is in talks with the relevant stakeholders to develop a PWM for the Solar Energy Sector. With Singapore aiming to achieve almost five times the current solar usage by 2030 and together with the industry career development plan for Solar Technologists, a PWM for this sector would provide a clearer career development and wage progression plan as this sector develops a Singapore Core. With all the above effort and examples, I hope to see more sectors come onboard and implement the PWM! Let me now say a few words in Malay. (In Malay): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] The extension of the Jobs Support Scheme or JSS into the aviation, aerospace and tourism sectors is truly welcomed by the trade unions in those sectors. They also hope that it can be extended further if the economy remains sluggish.”
“It is a holistic approach to future-proof the workforce. I urge employers to take the lead in the development of workers to meet the evolving needs of your industry by identifying relevant future skills and taking advantage of the economic downturn to train and transform your workers. NTUC can support by working with the companies to facilitate an Operation Technology Roadmap workshop to identify strategic technological changes and training needed to help the company transform. Skills upgrading must go hand in hand with productivity improvement and career advancement to ensure sustainable wage increases. Workers who are performing higher value-added jobs should look forward to better wages, welfare and work prospects, in line with the productivity gains. This can be achieved through the PWM, which leads to my third topic for today. PWM was launched in June 2012 to enable workers to achieve sustainable wage increases through the acquisition of better skills and higher productivity. While it has thus far been implemented in low-wage outsourced sectors, including cleaning, security and landscape, the PWM is applicable to all sectors and PME jobs as well. In fact, many of the unionised companies in the Oil, Petrochemicals, Energy and Chemical industries have a structured career development plan for their employees that is mapped to skills and salary ladder. This is akin to the PWM's value proposition and has allowed many workers to achieve sustainable wage growth through upskilling and career progression. I believe every responsible employer has a career development plan for their workers.”
“In Singapore Power (SP) Group, where I am working, there is a local workforce of more than 95%. The employment practices in this sector to build the Singaporean Core can be a learning model for other companies to emulate. Here, I would like to call on all employers to make the local workforce your employee of choice and ensure skills transfer to the local workers to moderate reliance on foreign labour. Perhaps, our Government can consider putting in place policies or incentives to recognise companies who build a stronger Singaporean Core and develop their local workforce across all levels, through positive differentiation among companies who do not. There are many manpower policies that are at the disposal of MOM to achieve this intended outcome of developing a Singaporean Core. My next topic is about workforce transformation through training. Having a strong Singaporean Core includes ensuring that their skills remain relevant. This brings me to my second point which is about the importance of training has shifted from equipping workers with today’s skills to preparing the workers for the jobs of tomorrow. Unions are committed to work with employers to help our workers build their capabilities, upgrade their skills and transform by setting up Company Training Committees. For instance, the Union of Power and Gas Employees where I have the privilege to be the General-Secretary, has collaborated with SP Group in their mission to develop future skills roadmap to enhance the employability of the workforce. Launched in 2018, Project Fusion, which stands for "Future Skills in Everyone", looks at how will current jobs change, what are the new jobs, what are the future skills, and how can our workers learn these future skills.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, I will be speaking as a union leader and a workers' representative. First, let me begin by stating that I welcome the Budget as it supports businesses and workers to adapt and grow in a post-COVID-19 world. I am especially heartened by the additional wage support through the extension of Jobs Support Scheme (JSS) to support our workers in the hard-hit sectors. I would like to also express their hope that the JSS will be extended further should the situation not improve. I would like to touch on three topics, namely: Strengthening Singaporean Core; Workforce transformation through training; and expanding the Progressive Wage Model (PWM) to other sectors, beyond those sectors where there are a higher proportion of low-wage workers. Singapore's only natural resource is our people, and safeguarding jobs for Singaporeans must continue to be our key focus. I am encouraged by the various measures in the past and current Budgets to strengthen the Singaporean Core. While we keep our economy open and have foreign workers to augment our local workforce, we must create more employment opportunities for our locals and continue to strengthen our Singaporean Core at both the sectoral and company levels. I would like to share some good examples. In my engagements with fellow union leaders from NTUC's Oil, Petrochemical, Energy and Chemicals cluster, we do have a strong Singaporean Core in the sector's unionised companies, with a 70% local workforce. The local and foreign talent complement has also resulted in high reliability standards that the sector is known for. In specifically the power sector, we have a stronger Singaporean Core with a local workforce of more than 90%.”