AUSBE 2010 May Journal

Amalgamated Union of Statutory Board Employees

MICA(P) 096/09/2009

May Day 2010 May Day Special Page 53

CHEAPER, BETTER, FASTER

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Contents 2010 Messages 05

Mr Lee Hsien Loong Prime Minister, Singapore

features

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Mr Gan Kim Yong Minister, Ministry of Manpower

11 Mr Stephen Lee

President, Singapore National Employers Federation and Chairman, Singapore Business Federation

15 Mr John De Payva

President, National Trades Union Congress

19 Mr Lim Swee Say

Secretary-General, National Trades Union Congress

23 Mr Abdul Rahim Farid

President, AUSBE

25 Mr N Thurairajasingam

General Secretary, AUSBE

27 Mr Yeo Guat Kwang

Executive Secretary, AUSBE

29 Ms Tan Poh Hong

Chief Executive Officer, Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority

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Dr John Keung Chief Executive Officer, Building and Construction Authority

33 Mr Soh Kong Pheng

Chief Executive, Defence Science & Technology Agency

May Day Made Special 53 Comrade of Labour Award – Brother Popathi 55 Plaque of Commendation Award – Singapore Land Authority 57 AUSBE Membership Escalates 59 Union Management Gathering 61 Be Re-employment Ready before 2012 63 All Can at LTA 64 LTA CE Farewell 65 We Ran at U Run 67 Retirees’ Appreciation Night 2010-05-18 69 NTUC Women’s Committee Teambuilding at Batam 71 Kelong Trip 73 AUSBE New Members List 77

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Mr Lawrence Wong Chief Executive, Energy Market Authority

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Mr Lam Pin Woon Chief Executive Officer, Health Promotion Board

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Dr John C W Lim Chief Executive Officer, Health Sciences Authority

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Radm (NS) Ronnie Tay Chief Executive Officer, Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore

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Ms Liew Woon Yin Director-General, Intellectual Property Office of Singapore

45 Mr Yam Ah Mee

Chief Executive, Land Transport Authority

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Mr Lam Yi Young Chief Executive, Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore

Editorial Board Editor: N. Thurairajasingam Members: Abdul Rahim Farid, Yeo Guat Kwang, G. Haridass, Tay Ah Lek Designer: The Write Stuff Pte Ltd Printer: Flexi-Pagination & Design MICA (P) 096/09/2009

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Dr N Varaprasad Chief Executive, National Library Board

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Mr Vincent Hoong Chief Executive, Singapore Land Authority

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Mr Lee Hsien Loong Prime Minister, Singapore

Message

Nevertheless, we have emerged from the storm in a strong position, and can look forward to a good year this year. We must make the most of this opportunity to push forward our longer term plans: transforming the economy, upgrading our workforce and raising our productivity.

Other Asian economies are also progressing rapidly and catching up on us. But if we make a concerted effort, we can maintain our lead. Only then can we achieve our target of 3–5% annual growth over the next decade, and continue to improve the wages and lives of all Singaporeans.

Firms will be at the forefront of the productivity effort.

They need to be well-managed, and focus on quality, not quantity. They need to restructure their own organisations – cut waste, streamline processes and automate routine work.

We live in a world where firms have to constantly innovate and invent new products, fight for market share and strike out into new, unfamiliar territories. There are numerous ways for businesses to do things “Cheaper, Better, Faster”.

Only when the firm is in the right business and is operating efficiently, will its workers be able to work productively.

Recovering Strongly, Looking Ahead Thanks to the efforts of Singaporeans, our economy stayed resilient during the global economic crisis last year.

We were hard hit, especially in early 2009. But unions, employers and government worked closely to help firms and workers ride the storm. Our focus on saving jobs paid off. Singapore’s employment actually grew amidst the downturn, a remarkable achievement.

The economy is much better this year. Our GDP went up 13% year-on-year in the first quarter. Given this strong result, the Government has raised our growth forecast for the entire year to between 7% and 9%.

3. We must see this remarkable performance in perspective.

This quarterly growth figure reflects the volatility of our small, open economy. Some sectors like Electronics and Biomedical Sciences expanded sharply, but others have not done quite as well. Furthermore, the jump represents a transient rebound from the sharp dip last year, and is not a sustainable long-term growth rate.

To support this effort, workers need to update and improve their skills, pick up new abilities, and achieve greater mastery at their jobs. Worker upgrading is a marathon without a finish line. Singaporeans are already working hard, and it is important to make every working hour count.

During the downturn last year, workers actively attended training programmes. We must keep up such efforts now that the economy is growing again.

The Government will do its part too. We will spend $5.5 billion over the next 5 years to boost productivity. We are building a first-class Continuing Education and Training (CET) system, which will do for adults what our schools and post-secondary institutions do for our young. We will provide tax benefits, grants and training subsidies to support skills development, innovation and economic restructuring. We are also raising foreign worker levies, to encourage businesses to improve their productivity and not rely excessively on cheaper foreign workers.

The National Productivity and Continuing Education Council (NPCEC) chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean is overseeing this national effort. Each sector and industry will have its unique challenges and priorities, and we must tailor our efforts to fit each of them. Employers and workers should take full advantage of these schemes and resources.

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Mr Lee Hsien Loong Prime Minister, Singapore

More immediately, with the strong pickup, many companies are restoring the wage cuts and shorter work-hours introduced during the downturn. Others are awarding bonuses and increments, depending on their improved performances. These companies have remembered the sacrifices made by workers during the crisis. Their actions are strengthening the trust between workers and employers. They should work with the unions to look beyond the immediate optimism, to build up variable bonuses and structure their wage systems to be sustainable and flexible over the longer term.

The Government will pay special attention to low wage workers. We have enhanced the Workfare Income Supplement and raised its income limit from $1,500 to $1,700. The new Workfare Training Scheme will encourage employers to send workers for retraining, and workers to complete their training programmes. Workers should take this opportunity to develop new and deeper skills, and contribute more value in their jobs, or move to higher value jobs.

Singapore has successfully tackled past challenges because of our strong tripartite partnership. Unions work with employers and the Government to enlarge the pie so that all will have more to share. Investors and businesses value highly our collaborative spirit, facing difficulties and solving problems together. Our track record of tripartism is a key competitive advantage that wins investments and brings in jobs for Singaporeans.

13. Our union leaders understand what Singapore’s prosperity, and our workers’ well-being, depend upon. They know that there is no substitute for hard work, ingenuity and enterprise. They have done much to help workers understand the economic trends affecting them, and to encourage workers to go for retraining and upgrading.

14. The Government will continue to give the unions full and mutual support in our tripartite efforts. We must maintain our cohesive spirit, in order to meet our goals for the next decade. We have to work together, uphold tripartism, focus on productivity, and give special attention to low wage workers. Then we can we improve workers’ lives and sustain inclusive growth for all over the long term.

I wish all Singaporeans a Happy May Day.

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Mr Gan Kim Yong Minister for Manpower

Message

Moving forward, our focus will be on transforming our economy and creating inclusive growth. The national productivity drive will require concerted tripartite efforts involving companies, unions, and the Government.

Companies must take the lead in raising productivity by being innovative and helping workers become more productive. As our economy moves towards higher productivity, the skills of our workers will need to move up in tandem. Workers must take ownership of their own upgrading, improve their skills to seize new opportunities, be flexible and adaptable. The Government will work with companies and workers to facilitate the productivity drive at the industry, company and individual levels. We will also build up a comprehensive national Continuing Education & Training (CET) system through which our workers can upgrade their skills for better jobs and our companies can have access to skilled manpower to support their growth.

Growing as one Singapore Last year, we celebrated May Day amidst a sharp economic downturn. Our focus was on building resilience, helping companies stay viable and cutting costs to save jobs. One year on, our tripartite efforts with the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) and the Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF) to upturn the downturn have paid off.

Our seasonally adjusted overall unemployment rate as at December 2009 was 2.1%, lower than that of many other economies. Employment grew despite the economic recession, with a total of 37,600 jobs created for the whole of 2009. Looking ahead, MTI has upgraded Singapore’s 2010 GDP growth forecast to 7%–9%. Our strong tripartite relationship and mutual trust have allowed us to emerge from the downturn stronger, more cohesive and more resilient. This will put us in a strong position to tackle future challenges and grow as One Singapore.

Even as we embark on the transformation of our economy, our efforts to reach out to all segments of workers must continue to ensure inclusive growth. The finalised set of Tripartite Guidelines for Re-employment of Older Employees was released in March to help employers and employees be re-employment ready. We will need continued tripartite support to encourage companies to adopt the guidelines ahead of re-employment legislation.

For low wage workers, we have enhanced the Workfare Income Supplement (WIS) and introduced the Workfare Training Scheme (WTS) to help them progress through training and upgrading. For the growing segment of professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs), we will be expanding the CET system to better cater to their needs. A new tripartite mechanism will also be put in place to help professionals, managers and executives and their employers resolve their employment disputes.

Everyone has a role to play in our productivity drive. We must strengthen our tripartite solidarity further and work together to raise productivity and achieve a win-win-win outcome for businesses, workers and all Singaporeans.

I look forward to working with NTUC and SNEF as one tripartite movement to grow as One Singapore.

Happy May Day!

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Mr Stephen Lee President, Singapore National Employers Federation

Message

For 2010, the Ministry of Trade and Industry has projected GDP growth of 7.0 per cent to 9.0 per cent. This is a significant swing from the 2.0 per cent decline in GDP in 2009. We experienced similar swings in previous recessions in 1985, 1998 and 2001. In those three recessions, GDP growth declined by at least 10 percentage points from the previous years and rebounded quickly the following years. As a small open economy, we will be subjected to such fluctuations frequently. Hence, we must be, and have been, flexible and nimble, adjusting quickly to negotiate these swings. The co-operation of the unions and workers has been critical for employers to ride out these economic waves.

Singapore faced one of its worst recession last year when the economy contracted by 2.0 per cent. However, we managed to weather the crisis and avoided record retrenchments and unemployment rate. The unemployment rate reached 3.4 per cent in September 2009, lower than the peak of 4.8 per cent in September 2003. About 20,000 workers were retrenched in 2009 as compared to the record of 29,000 in 1998.

The recession saw the tripartite partners responding swiftly to help companies cut costs, save jobs and build capabilities to prepare for the upturn. The Tripartite Guidelines on Managing Excess Manpower (MEM) and the Revised National Wages Council (NWC) Guidelines released in November 2008 and January 2009 respectively provided ways for companies to manage excess manpower and wage costs. The Jobs Credit and Skills Programme for Upgrading and Resilience (SPUR) schemes provided the much needed help for companies to retain and retrain their workers. In the second half of 2009, the economy started to recover with Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growing by 0.6 per cent and 4.0 per cent in the third and fourth quarter respectively. As a result, the labour market remained resilient with the unemployment rate improving to 2.1 per cent in December 2009. Overall, employment grew by 37,600 in 2009.

As the economy recovers, we face other challenges.

The competition is getting more intense with the rise of countries such as China and India. The labour market is getting tighter in some industries. At the same time, companies have to reduce their reliance on foreign workers to better manage the increased cost of levies.

Companies therefore need to build capabilities, increase the employment rate of Singaporeans and raise productivity to enhance competitiveness.

Build Capabilities We must raise the skills and capability of every worker so that each person can be the best that he or she can be. Employers must leverage on the many training programmes and incentives that are available to equip their employees. In particular, they should help their low-wage workers upgrade and improve their abilities to earn more.

To defray costs of training, employers and workers could tap into schemes such as the Workfare Training Scheme (WTS).

Employers must also pay special attention to management training and improve their leadership, professional and technical skills. Managers need to be skilled in multiple disciplines so that they can better manage the increased complexities in today’s environment. They must also be able to better engage and communicate with employees, and build strong teams to effectively address new challenges.

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Mr Stephen Lee President, Singapore National Employers Federation

Increase Employment Rate To overcome labour shortages, employers must sustain their efforts at employing and re-employing older workers.

It is a good sign that companies are retaining and recruiting older workers as the employment rate of workers aged 55 to 64 remained at 57.2 per cent in June 2009, similar to June 2008. Moving forward, employers must prepare for an ageing workforce and consider older workers as a permanent feature of the employment landscape. They must therefore ensure that their human resource (HR) policies are age friendly and re-employment ready.

Employers must also tap on the large pool of economicallyinactive women. There are 242,400 economically-inactive female residents aged between 25 to 54. Since 2007, the National Trades Union Congress and Singapore National Employers Federation have managed to help companies employ 5,800 women back to work. Employers can do more through the implementation of flexible work arrangements to attract women back into the workforce.

Raise Productivity We also need to raise productivity to strengthen our competitiveness. The Economic Strategies Committee has set the goal to raise productivity by 2 per cent to 3 per cent per annum over the next 10 years. To achieve this, there must be strong and close labour management co-operation at the company level to discuss and implement productivity initiatives. We must grow the productivity pie so that all workers can share the benefits of productivity gains.

I am confident that unions, workers and management will continue to strengthen their bonds and work together to enhance productivity for sustainable economic growth. On behalf of our 2,000 corporate members, I wish all workers a Happy May Day 2010.

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Mr John De Payva President, NTUC

Message

How can we ensure that our tripartite relationship not only remains strong, but could be further strengthened through this downturn so that we are in good shape to handle future challenges? In 2009, the Singapore Tripartism Forum (STF) engaged 2,100 unionists and employers through its regular dialogue sessions, seminars and conferences. For 2010, the STF will continue its efforts to enhance collaboration and understanding between the partners.

However, for tripartism to remain strong, the individual tripartite partner must also be strong. This means that we must continue to strengthen the union leg of tripartism, the Labour Movement. Therefore, our key focus this year is to build a stronger and more inclusive Labour Movement.

First of all, we need strong unions. In the last few years, we have restructured and set up new unions to better serve workers in new growth sectors. Good examples include the Healthcare Services Employees’ Union (HSEU), Union of Security Employees (USE) and Education Services Union (ESU). All these unions have demonstrated strong growth since their formation.

May Day is a time for many celebrations. This May Day, we have many reasons to celebrate – a job well done in fighting the downturn, saving jobs and finding new jobs for workers; our special tripartite relationship in Singapore; and most importantly, a remarkable recovery from the unprecedented global recession in 2009. Many of our union leaders have worked tirelessly in a very difficult year to ensure this outcome; and for this, I would like to pay tribute to all your efforts and sacrifices.

Even as we celebrate, it is useful to remember that this victory could not have been achieved without strong labour-management relationship and unique tripartite partnership. Our tripartite relationship has withstood many tests over the past decades. During this crisis, it came through shining brightly for us yet again. Because of this unique advantage, we have avoided record retrenchment, brought unemployment back to below 3 per cent and saw a relatively quick turnaround in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth, in the face of an unprecedented downturn.

Many developed countries are still grappling with the crippling effects of high unemployment, and we should be thankful that we are able to minimise the pain to our workers through strong tripartism.

Our challenge is to build on this initial success, and keep union structure relevant to target new growth sectors of the economy and the changing workforce profile. For example, we formed the Attractions, Resorts & Entertainment Union (AREU) to cater to the increasing needs of the integrated resorts sector in January 2010. We recognise that such restructuring sometimes require sacrifices on the part of individual unions. We would therefore like to thank our unions for recognising the benefits of restructuring to better help workers, and hence their strong support, without which these successes would not have been possible.

We also need to continue to strengthen union leadership, and impart them with the right skills and knowledge to meet the needs of a changing economy and workforce.

In 2009, we equipped our union leaders with the knowledge and skills required to manage the downturn through the ‘Upturn the Downturn’ workshops. Attended by 1,904 union leaders, the workshops gave them, especially those who were going through the downturn for the first time, the confidence to jointly work together with their management to effectively help the company overcome the difficult times. In addition, we continued to engage senior union leaders on strategic issues and concerns through Labour

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Mr John De Payva President, NTUC

Leadership Lighthouse (L3). The Executive Leadership Programme was also launched for the top 500 leaders to gain a deeper understanding of public policy and business challenges.

In 2010, in line with our focus to help companies be cheaper, better, faster and more inclusive, we are holding a new series of “Cheaper Better Faster” workshops. More targeted training programmes for different levels of union leadership will be introduced.

On the member-centric front, our dragonboats have also worked hard to engage different demographic groups through our membership communities, despite the downturn. We have actively engaged all ages of workers and their family members, from teens and youths in schools, to young working adults, to families and active agers, through various touchpoints, events and different social causes. Our vibrant and active communities in nEbO, Young NTUC, U Family and U Live ensure that membership means more than just social benefits, it is about being part of a supportive network of colleagues and friends.

Going forward, we need to continue expanding the size and inclusiveness of the Labour Movement. A new but essential focus for us is to expand our outreach and support to professionals, managers, executives and technical people (PMETs), a growing segment of the labour force. Being able to better serve PMETs will be an essential part of the Labour Movement’s on-going strategy to be a strong voice for all collars, ages and nationalities of workers in Singapore.

Let us press on towards a Cheaper Better Faster and more inclusive Singapore, and a stronger and more inclusive Labour Movement under the Labour Movement (LM) 2011 Vision.

I wish all a Happy May Day!

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Mr Lim Swee Say Secretary-General, NTUC

Message

unions and associations, NTUC Social Enterprises and our related organisations. Their unity and determination during the downturn made the difference as we strove for “4 mosts” – Most Pro-Business Economy, Most Pro-Worker Nation, Most Caring Labour Movement and Most United Tripartism.

We have done remarkably well during the global downturn.

Our challenge now is to do remarkably well again as we ride the global upturn.

Post-recession, the global economic landscape will continue to transform. Countries that are cheaper are getting better.

China, India, Vietnam and many others no longer compete on lower price alone but also on higher capability. Likewise, countries that are better are becoming cheaper. The US and European countries are faced with high unemployment.

They are forced to become more cost-effective to create growth and attract jobs.

To compete in this new world, we have no choice but to be a CBF economy – Cheaper, Better and Faster. This is aligned with the call by the Economic Strategies Committee for Singapore to focus on Skills, Innovation, and Productivity.

This time last year, we were in the midst of the worst economic downturn in decades. Our rallying call was to “Upturn the Downturn” – cut costs to save jobs so as to avoid massive retrenchment and prevent a rapid rise in unemployment; as well as to be more ready to bounce back when the global economy turns around.

We can be proud of the outcomes achieved. Our unemployment rate of 2.1 per cent in December 2009 is among the lowest in the world, while our Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth of 13.1 per cent in first quarter of 2010 was one of the strongest in the world.

As we celebrate May Day, we thank the Government for its boldness and decisiveness in minimising the impact of the global recession on our businesses and workers. We also thank the many employers who led by example in wage cuts, took the lead in cutting costs to save jobs, and turned excess manpower into an investment to improve skills and build new capabilities.

Most of all, we thank the many U-fighters. These are the union leaders and activists on the ground, the staff of National Trades Union Congress (NTUC), our affiliated

Many ask, What is productivity? Simply put, it is about maximising “useful” outputs and minimising “wasteful” inputs. And this is best done by identifying bottlenecks and breaking them.

For a production worker, his performance may be limited by bottlenecks in quality and packaging of raw materials, layout and design of production flow, or quality management. The factory will have to identify and break the bottlenecks for the workers to increase volume with higher quality.

For a sales assistant, her performance may be limited by bottlenecks in product offering and mix, product knowledge and display, or service standard. The store will have to identify and break the bottlenecks for the staff to generate more sales.

For an enterprise, its growth may be limited by bottlenecks in financial capital, market positioning, branding or capability. The enterprise will have to identify and break the bottlenecks to capture a bigger market share.

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Mr Lim Swee Say Secretary-General, NTUC

Achieving a productivity growth of 2 to 3 per cent every year for the next 10 years will not be easy. But it is possible.

We have done it before, and we must do it again. This time round, our productivity revival must be embraced by all sectors of the economy, all enterprises and all workers.

As we strive for incremental improvement in everything we do, we must also strive for quantum leaps in as many sectors and enterprises.

Above all, we must share the gains with workers. Only then will productivity and innovation be sustainable and inclusive. Only then will we become “a nation of bottleneck breakers”.

I wish all workers in Singapore a Happy May Day!

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Mr Abdul Rahim Farid President, AUSBE

Message

We remember not too long ago when countries around the world were struggling to cope with H1N1 when the virus threatened the world.

And in the wake of the downturn, the government’s response to the downturn with the introduction of SPUR, bringing forward the Budget last year, introducing the Resilience Package and Jobs Credit Programme.

Employers and unions cooperated. Tripartism was at its best in the face of adversity and placed its best foot forward to cut costs, save jobs, and keep unemployment low. We have seen how effective tripartism shared between our government, employers and the unions bore fruits to save jobs while helping companies stay afloat in the thick of crises and adversity.

AUSBE is no exception to this. We are heartened by how the economy had rebounded in the first quarter and are extremely encouraged and spurred by the resilience of our tripartite partners and the Labour Movement to remain committed to the vision of tripartism. Labour Day is a timely reminder of that, and a chance to renew that resolve and commitment.

Indeed, Solidarity Forever and a very Happy May Day!

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Mr N Thurairajasingam General Secretary, AUSBE

Message

There is much cause for celebration as Singapore’s unemployment rate in December 2009 was one of the lowest in the world, and we are showing encouraging signs of a marked and sustained economic recovery.

However, knowing the volatility of the global economy, AUSBE is not resting on its laurels as we remain resolute in efforts to ride the global upturn.

AUSBE recognises the achievements of its members and are extremely proud of Singapore Land Authority (SLA) and Brother Popathi, Assistant General Secretary of AUSBE for respectively receiving the Plaque of Commendation and Comrade of Labour awards; our U Run representatives who were champions in the men’s team category as well as our 12 branches for supporting the re-employment of their retiring staff. AUSBE is confident that our branches are moving in the right direction and will be re-employment ready before 2012.

We would also like to acknowledge recruiters from the various branches who have helped stepped up in the membership recruitment efforts of which much credit goes to Brother Seah Chong Beng (LTA), Brother Manjet Singh (MPA) and Sister Tan Chor Khim (HPB) for their outstanding contributions.

Throughout the whole of last year, road shows, participation in the Management Induction Programmes and other recruitment drives were organised to recruit more new members. All our branches got into the act and held road shows in their respective workplaces to attract new members. Within two months, 167 members were recruited and 507 new members joined the AUSBE family in 2009; bringing our total membership strength to 5,085 which places us on due course for the 6,000 target set for membership. As such, we would like to enlist the dependable help of existing members to assist the Union in recruiting colleagues as new union members.

Downturn or upturn, 14 years on, we remain committed to promoting good industrial relations between the union and management and working tenaciously to add more value to our members and celebrate hard your achievements.

The joy of seeing you prosper and do well is the petrol that keeps us going. To this end, we endeavour.

Happy Labour Day!

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Mr Yeo Guat Kwang Executive Secretary, AUSBE

Message

(CCI) in September 2007. The scheme helped the café boost turnover across the following six months by 9.11 %. Staff learnt how to better their communication skills, food hygiene practices, manage F&B processes and other related tasks. In the process, they felt more empowered to make decisions, enjoyed their jobs more and related better to customers.

With Mr Lim Swee Say’s call for a Cheaper, Better, Faster Economy of the Future and with the Economic Strategies Committee’s (ESC) wide-ranging and forward looking recommendations to make skills, innovation and productivity the basis for economic growth, Singapore’s development can be sustained and growth can remain inclusive. This will drive a broad-based increase in living standards for all Singaporeans.

‘Skills’, ‘Innovation’ and ‘Productivity’ have indeed become key buzzwords which remain at the forefront of the Labour Movement as we are constantly looking to do more to upgrade skills, drive innovation and increase productivity.

I welcome the budget that supports the strategies proposed by the ESC – particularly in the area of boosting productivity through innovation and training. As noted by the ESC, there is significant room to improve productivity in every sector of the Singapore economy. The hard reality of globalisation is: “If you don’t fire-up, you’ll get fired”!

Already, some steps have been taken by some farsighted companies here to strengthen organisational capability and deepen the skills of their service staff and there is much we can learn from them.

For example, Han’s, a local café chain which has long been known to employ older workers boosted its reputation as a model company by taking steps to increase the productivity of their staff, improving service and empowering their employees at the same time.

They embarked a new service excellence journey and sent staff for service training under the Customer-Centric Initiative

This exemplifies a key way to increase productivity, boost job satisfaction and in the longer term, empower and enable workers to help them command higher pay. Having gained from its CCI experience, Hans embarked on its second phrase CCI project in April 2009 to improve its processes, leverage technology, streamline the organisation and develop more efficient standard operating procedures. Overall, the result of the CCI projects has increased company productivity by 118 %, staff productivity by 262 %, sales by almost 60 per cent and yet reduced operating costs by 12 per cent or some $1.2m.

The Hans experience shows that when we speak about productivity, we should look beyond increased output. To ask workers to do more, work harder and work faster can only reap so much. Instead, managements should innovate and provide workers the skills to do this, and in addition, cultivate, advocate and implement the support systems to do so. At the end of the day, employers must reward the employees fairly, like Hans.

Pushing innovation will have a long term effect of creating a healthier and more resilient workforce by creating the demand for higher skilled and high value workers. Indeed E2i has the 4M programmes to match workers to available jobs both in similar and different sectors so that Singaporeans will be able to continue to grow personally and professionally to improve themselves. We need to improve the efficiency of the workforce and ensure that the right skill sets are in place to meet the requirements of each job.

This brings me to the point that even as we strive for the ambitious but achievable targets set by the ESC, we must not forget that we must continue to build an inclusive and caring society. Not just one that focuses on growth for economic reasons, but to grow as a people – opening our hearts to each other.

I believe that the Labour Movement has embodied this to a large extent in remaining sympathetic to and caring for the needs of others. Let us continue to do so unceasingly.

Happy Labour Day to one and all!

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Ms Tan Poh Hong Chief Executive Officer, Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority

Message

It is my great pleasure to join AUSBE in celebrating May Day 2010.

This year marks an important milestone for the Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority (AVA), as we celebrate our 10th anniversary.

As part of the celebrations, a series of activities has been lined up to celebrate this joyous occasion with our staff, business partners, and the community. One of the highlights included our Staff Conference cum 10th Anniversary Celebrations on 1 April 2010, which saw AUSBE’s Branch representatives joining management and staff in unveiling AVA’s new vision and mission, as well as the cake-cutting celebrations.

AVA firmly believes in nurturing and inspiring our staff to give of their best. To underscore our emphasis that staff is our greatest asset, we have incorporated this dimension into our newly launched mission statement. Going forward, our focus will be on developing our staff, both professionally and on the personal front, so that they can stay ahead of the challenges and opportunities ahead.

The Union plays a critical role in helping our staff face the challenges of tomorrow. Hence, over the past year, AVA has continued to build on our good and harmonious unionmanagement relationship with AUSBE. Through new platforms, such as regular breakfast sessions and quarterly meetings, we have widened the platforms for union-management engagement, and worked in partnership with AUSBE in implementing policies and plans affecting staff. This strong partnership has been especially crucial in ensuring a smooth transition during our recent re-organization.

This year, new initiatives will be introduced to further strengthen labour-management relations. These include organizing an Industrial Relations course for senior and middle managers, supporting AUSBE in its membership recruitment drive, and stepping up publicity of union activities. With the AVA Employees’ Collective Agreement 2008 due to expire next year, we will be working closely with the Union on the renewal of the Collective Agreement for the continued well-being of our staff.

As AVA embarks on the next phase of its journey, I am confident that with our dedicated staff and supportive Union, we will be well placed to tackle the challenges ahead.

On this note, may I on behalf of AVA, wish AUSBE and all its members a Very Happy May Day.

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Dr John Keung Chief Executive Officer, Building and Construction Authority

Message

I am pleased to join AUSBE in celebrating May Day this year.

Last year, BCA celebrated its 10th anniversary. We had made several key achievements over the past few years and also prevailed over a series of crises. Our success was made possible by the hard work and commitment of our staff and the close collaboration we had with our ever supportive Unioin, AUSBE. WE have laid a strong foundation for BCA to make a difference to the building and construction industry. BCA has been tasked to develop capability and improve the productivity of the industry. Together with the continued support of AUSBE and the dedication of our staff, I am confident that BCA will be able to achieve our vision of having “a Safe, High-quality, Sustainable and Friendly Built Environment for Singapore, our Distinctive Global City.”

We look forward to the successful completion of our 4th Collective Agreement this year which would mark another milestone in our strong relationship.

BCA will continue to support AUSBE by granting its branch officials/members unrecorded leave to attend industrial relation course/seminars and time-off to attend union meetings and union-related activities. We will also continue to facilitate AUSBE branch membership development by providing opportunities to hold membership recruitment drive during our Staff Conferences, Staff Induction and other staff events.

On behalf of BCA, I wish AUSBE every success in the year ahead and all members a very Happy Labour Day.

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Mr Soh Kong Pheng Chief Executive, Defence Science & Technology Agency

Message

DSTA is pleased to join AUSBE in celebrating May Day 2010.

AUSBE and DSTA have a strong partnership based on our common belief that people are our most valued assets.

As DSTA celebrates our 10th anniversary in 2010, we are grateful for the many important contributions that our employees, past and present, have made towards our success. The capabilities of our people, their passion and commitment are pivotal in enabling DSTA to continue supporting the defence and national security missions of our Singapore Armed Forces.

DSTA continues to be committed in developing the full potential of our people and providing them with a career that is rewarding and fulfilling. We will work closely with AUSBE and our employees to explore ideas on improving productivity, and we believe continuous learning and innovation contribute significantly towards this.

While workplace safety has always been a focus for DSTA, we will remain committed to providing and promoting a safe and healthy workplace for everyone. In this respect, we fully support the initiatives of the Workplace Safety and Health Council and AUSBE. I am confident that AUSBE and DSTA will continue to work together to further strengthen the excellent employer and employee relationship in the years ahead.

I wish you all a happy May Day.

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Mr Lawrence Wong Chief Executive, Energy Market Authority

Message

To diversify our gas supply sources, Singapore will be importing liquefied natural gas or LNG by 2013. The Energy Market Authority (EMA) has set up a special purpose vehicle, Singapore LNG Corporation Pte Ltd (SLNG), to develop and build the LNG terminal. When ready, the terminal facility will be Asia’s first open-access multiuser terminal. It will not only support Singapore’s energy diversification strategy through the import of LNG from the global gas market, but also catalyse new economic activities in the form of LNG trading to underpin industrial growth.

To further diversify our energy portfolio beyond natural gas, EMA is also prepared to consider other energy sources, such as clean coal and electricity imports in the medium term. We expect these to be undertaken on a market basis with appropriate safeguards to maintain the reliability of supply and to meet environmental considerations. In a similar vein, we are piloting new technologies, such as electric vehicles and smart grids, as well as embarking on a feasibility study of nuclear energy as a possible option to meet our long term needs.

I am pleased to join AUSBE in celebrating May Day 2010.

As a small city-state with no natural resources, Singapore has more than its fair share of energy challenges.

Nevertheless, we have taken a long-term and holistic approach to strike a balance between our objectives of economic competitiveness, energy security and environmental sustainability.

Our starting point is to promote competitive markets.

Over the years, we have restructured and liberalised our electricity and gas markets. In the power generation sector, market liberalisation has led to the rapid planting of gas-fired combined cycle gas turbines in Singapore, replacing the oil-fired steam plants. This has improved the competitiveness of electricity prices, and lowered our carbon intensity. Today, more than 80 percent of Singapore’s electricity is generated from natural gas supplied by Malaysia and Indonesia through pipelines.

Whether in planning for Singapore’s energy future, regulating the energy market, or operating the power system, our people play a critical role in EMA and help to make a difference where it counts. The commitment, dedication and hard work of all EMA officers have enabled us to excel as an organisation. This year, EMA won the “Smart Electricity Government Award” at the inaugural Asia Power and Electricity Awards, in recognition of our efforts to create a conducive environment for the development and adoption of smart electricity technologies.

We also successfully attained the Singapore Quality Class and People Developer re-certification in April 2010.

Between EMA and AUSBE, we share a strong and harmonious relationship, underpinned by mutual trust and confidence. As we continue to tackle the energy challenges ahead, we hope to continue building on this partnership, and to further enhance the excellent tripartite relations that already exist today. With AUSBE’s support, I am confident that we will be able to realise our vision of “Smart Energy, Sustainable Future” for Singapore.

On behalf of EMA, I would like to wish all AUSBE members a very Happy Labour Day.

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Mr Lam Pin Woon Chief Executive Officer, Health Promotion Board

Message

It is my pleasure to join AUSBE in celebrating Labour Day 2010.

2009 has been a challenging year for us. I am proud to share that our staff have once again made great strides in health promotion. This is especially encouraging when they have to also work towards the containment efforts of the H1N1 outbreak in the course of the year. Our staff were activated to perform duties late into the night and over weekends. I am very thankful for the commitment of staff as well as AUSBE’s support towards our staff welfare during this episode.

I am further heartened by the results of our Employee Engagement Survey last year in which the Board has outperformed the public sector norms in areas of Job Growth, Leadership/Climate and Learning and Development.

Again, I strongly believe that these achievements would not have been possible without the support and close collaboration with AUSBE. Earlier this year, we launched the HPB Alumni Network.

The intent of the Network is for the Board to keep in touch with our ex-colleagues who have retired or left the Board, to continuously engage them with the Board’s on-going activities and also keep them informed of job opportunities available for rehiring back into the Board.

The Board looks forward to our continued partnership with AUSBE in striving for better outcomes for HPB and our staff.

Taking this opportunity, I would like to wish AUSBE every success in the years ahead and a Happy Labour Day to all.

Stay Healthy and Be Happy!

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Dr John C W Lim, Chief Executive Officer, Health Sciences Authority

Message

On the occasion of 2010’s May Day celebrations and the 13th anniversary of AUSBE’s inauguration, I would like to convey the Health Sciences Authority’s deep appreciation for the excellent work of the labour movement in establishing a strong harmonious tripartite relationship.

To illustrate the strength of HSA’s relationship with AUSBE, we can reflect on the tumultuous events that occurred over the past year. We entered 2009 in the wake of a global financial crisis. As it unraveled, no nation or industry was spared its impact. By early Q2 2009, just when we thought the economy was on the mend, we were faced with the threat of the H1N1 flu pandemic which injected a great deal of anxiety and uncertainty into our working environment.

However, the long established trust and transparency which HSA so firmly shares with AUSBE helped to maintain morale and enable the continued delivery of our highly professional services to the nation.

Although the economy is improving, there are still possible dips ahead. There is a need to balance business viability with realistic planning amidst a heightened competitive environment. As a core national function, HSA is committed to ensuring a sustainable blood supply to meet the demands of a growing and aging Singapore population. To this end, we continue with our multiple outreach programs for blood donors. In terms of our other core functions, HSA will continue to keep pace with medical advancements, biomedical research and scientific developments to remain relevant as the national health products regulator and the national forensics and applied sciences provider.

With Singapore’s renewed emphasis on productivity, HSA will collaborate and further strengthen our close partnership with AUSBE to raise overall productivity through continuous improvement and transformation initiatives in a smart manner. Together, we believe that our people are our greatest resource and asset in defining all that is HSA.

I take this opportunity to wish AUSBE and all its members a Happy Labour Day 2010!

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RADM(NS) Ronnie Tay, Chief Executive Officer, Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore

Message

I am pleased to join the Amalgamated Union of Statutory Board Employees (AUSBE) in celebrating May Day 2010.

The economy looks to be much stronger in the year ahead, and the tripartite partnership among Government, employers and employees has certainly helped us weather the economic downturn that we have just emerged from.

Today, Singapore has a well-established Infocomm industry that contributes about 7.1 per cent to Singapore’s GDP. According to the Economic Survey of Singapore 2009, the Information and Communications sector is one of the few sectors that showed positive growth last year. In terms of employment, about 140,800 infocomm professionals were employed last year, slightly up from 139,000 in the previous year, as reported in the 2009 Annual Survey on Infocomm Manpower. Infocomm adoption among our population continues to rise, with household broadband penetration increasing to 80% in 2009, and mobile phone penetration remaining strong at over 137% today.

Our major infrastructural project, the Next Generation Nationwide Broadband Network (Next Gen NBN) is making good progress in its deployment. It is on track to be rolled out to all homes, schools and businesses by 2012. With the high-speed fibre network, service providers can offer innovative services such as interactive IPTV, telehealth, and hi-definition video conferencing to consumers. Businesses will be able to access Next Generation services such as cloud computing, Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and other bandwidth-intensive applications to improve their operational efficiency.

There is increasing demand for highly skilled infocomm professionals in Singapore. IDA will continue to work with the industry and training institutions to equip our manpower with the necessary and relevant infocomm skills to meet current and future demands. Given that the infocomm landscape is rapidly evolving with new technologies and business trends, we need to ensure that our industry professionals continue to be well positioned to stay ahead of the global competition.

All the achievements of our various organisations in the infocomm sector would not have been possible without the close partnership between AUSBE, the industry and IDA. We look forward to continuing our close co-operation with one another and wish all members of AUSBE every success in the year ahead.

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Ms Liew Woon Yin, Director-General, Intellectual Property Office of Singapore

Message

It’s my great pleasure to join AUSBE in celebrating May Day 2010.

2009 had been a busy and challenging year for IPOS. Despite the economic downturn, IPOS had rolled out many initiatives last year. All these reflected the commitment of our quality workforce. IPOS acknowledges our staff as being key resources to the organization. We will continue to nurture and develop them to their fullest potentials.

Last year, IPOS also signed a new Collective Agreement with AUSBE. The negotiations leading to the signing of the Collective Agreement were smooth and friedly. It reflects the mutual understanding and harmonious relationship IPOS has with AUSBE and I hope this will continue to strengthen in the years ahead.

On behalf of IPOS, I wish AUSBE continued success and all its members a Happy Labour Day.

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Mr Yam Ah Mee, Chief Executive, Land Transport Authority

Message

stretch comprising 11 stations – Tai Seng, MacPherson, Paya Lebar, Dakota, Mountbatten, Stadium, Nicoll Highway, Promenade, Esplanade, Bras Basah and Dhoby Ghaut opened for passenger service on 17 April this year following the five CCL stations from Marymount to Bartley that were opened to the public in May 2009. With Paya Lebar Interchange Station joining CCL to the existing EastWest Line, passengers travelling from the eastern parts of Singapore can now bypass the busy City Hall and Raffles Place interchanges to get to the city and northern parts of Singapore. The same holds true for those travelling from the north and north-east commuting to the city and the eastern part of the island.

It is my pleasure to join AUSBE and its members in celebrating May Day 2010.

This is an exciting year for us as LTA celebrates its 15th year of formation. LTA was set up in 1995 to spearhead all land transport developments in Singapore. Over the last 15 years, LTA successfully expanded the Rapid Transit System Network from 48 MRT and LRT stations to 128 stations this year. We also expanded the road network from about 3000 km to over 3300km.

Compared to 15 years ago, the environment in which we are currently operating is much more challenging. Our total population has grown from 3.8 million in 1997 to almost 5 million in 2009, an increase of 32%. Therefore, the daily travel demand grew from less than 8 million journeys in 1997 to 11 million journeys in 2008 and the demand will continue to increase by 2020.

In order to be able to meet the travel demand and the higher expectations of residents for mobility, comfort and customised services that meet different needs, the Land Transport Master Plan (LTMP) was launched in 2008 to guide LTA’s policies and plans for the next 10–15 years after consulting a broad spectrum of transport stakeholders including commuters, transport operators, industry partners, experts and the general public.

On the public transport front, I am pleased to inform that the Second phase of the Circle Line (CCL), 11-kilometre long

In the past year, while LTA was busy making tremendous progress in delivering the commitments under the LTMP, we also achieved several distinctions on the corporate side.

We were awarded the Singapore Quality Award (SQA) in 2009, being the only public agency to have received two consecutive Business Excellence Awards (SQA in 2009 and Innovation Excellence Award in 2008).

In recognition of LTA’s innovative solutions, we also received 9 MOT Minister’s Innovation Awards and the Singapore Infocom Technology Federation (SiTF) Innovation Award in 2009. In the area of safety, LTA rose to achieve the Du Pont Safety Audit score of 4.07 out of 5, placing LTA in the top 5–10 percent of organisations worldwide in safety excellence.

These sterling achievements would not have been attained without a team of staff that are so dedicated, passionate and committed to excellence in their work. However, given the dynamic environment that we are in today, it is insufficient to just do more of the same in order to sustain the momentum. We need to look at the jobs to find new ways to increase productivity and add value so as to stay relevant in this rapidly changing environment. We thank AUSBE for the support and co-operation over the years and we will continue to partner them closely as we develop our staff and equip them with the capabilities and knowledge to create new value for our customers.

On behalf of LTA, I would like to take this opportunity to wish AUSBE members a Happy May Day and to all LTA staff, a well-deserved break.

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Mr Lam Yi Young Chief Executive, Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore

Message

2009 was without doubt a challenging year for the maritime industry. We are glad that despite the challenges, Maritime Singapore continued to put up a very credible performance.

Singapore maintained its leading position for bunker sales, vessel arrival tonnage and container throughput and the Singapore Registry of Ships continued to grow and ranked among the top ten in the world. We are also encouraged by the growing number of maritime companies that are expanding their operations in Singapore.

All of MPA’s achievements in 2009 would not have been possible without the fine performance from our dedicated People and the strong partnership we have with AUSBE. Our People are the most important part of MPA and we are committed to engaging, nurturing, developing and caring for them. Towards this end, we have developed a Total Rewards for Employee Effectiveness (TREE) Framework to ensure a holistic and structured approach towards developing our People. Under the TREE Framework, our Management, our People and AUSBE work together in partnership towards making MPA a great organisation to work in.

AUSBE is our strategic partner in looking after our People. The AUSBE-MPA Branch works closely with our Management and our People and is pro-active in reflecting our People’s concerns to our Management and in proposing ideas to enhance our People’s welfare. This partnership approach helps us to achieve a win-win situation and further strengthens Labour-Management relationship.

On behalf of MPA, I would like to thank our People, AUSBE and its members for their dedication and hard work.

I wish AUSBE members and MPA staff a Happy May Day.

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Dr N Varaprasad, Chief Executive, National Library Board

Message

TURNING CRISIS TO OPPORTUNITY 2009 was a challenging year for the world and for Singapore.

While we have found ways to turn these crisis into opportunities during the recession, we need to continue to build our future by strengthening our economy’s resilience, upgrading our workforce, enhancing our productivity, and repositioning ourselves so that we do not just survive the downturn, but emerge stronger during the upturn and continue to thrive in a fast changing global environment.

A learning workforce that is highly adaptable and continuously acquires new skills and knowledge will be an invaluable asset to the company as it endeavors to improve its productivity and strengthen its competitiveness.

At NLB, our people management strategies enable us to move forward in building an even stronger and more aligned, engaged and competitive workforce. We are embarking on our People Excellence journey, by benchmarking ourselves with the best through vigorous assessment by SPRING Singapore this year.

We are confident that NLB will continue to fulfill its mission to build a knowledgeable and engaged society, and be a beacon of lifelong learning for all Singaporeans.

Strong tripartite collaboration had helped us weather the downturn; and this close relationship between employers, unions and the Government is ever more important in helping us run faster in our next leap to improve productivity.

With our strong tripartite relationship, I am confident that we will succeed in this endeavor.

I wish all workers a Happy May Day.

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Mr Vincent Hoong, Chief Executive, Singapore Land Authority

Message

My colleagues and I are deeply honoured by AUSBE’s decision to present SLA with the Plaque of Commendation.

We have always been a strong advocate of Singapore’s unique tripartite partnership between the Government, employers and the Union. Since SLA’s formation in 2001, our management and the Union have worked together to forge a strong working relationship. Our Union colleagues have been kept abreast of organisational changes and staff development initiatives. The Union’s representatives are consulted regularly and channels of communication are kept open to ensure a healthy dialogue between the management and Union.

Our strong working relationship with AUSBE is underpinned by trust and mutual understanding. My colleagues and I have also been a keen supporter of union membership. Our staff are encouraged to join the Union.

For example, new recruits are briefed on the benefits of union membership and staff can even use their flexible benefits to pay for their union membership subscription fees. At the corporate level, SLA has contributed to NTUC’s U-care Fund under the NTUC’s Upturn the Downturn initiative.

We believe that the key to an effective, customeroriented organisation is our staff. We are committed to their education and skills upgrading. For example, SLA has implemented a Green Lane Conversion Scheme for executives who display potential to perform at a higher level to enhance their career opportunities. In 2009, 4 of our staff were upgraded to senior executives under this scheme. In support of continuous learning, we have also a scheme by which staff can apply for partial funding for parttime undergraduate studies at tertiary institutions. 4 awards were given out last year.

SLA is also committed to the nation-wide effort to reemploy older workers. We have refined our current reemployment practices to provide pre-retirement planning and training for staff reaching retirement age. We also facilitate the transition for staff to be re-employed.

On behalf of my colleagues, I wish everyone a happy May Day.

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May Day 2010 was celebrated with great pomp and happiness this year. A very contrasting picture from last year’s May Day when all seemed gloomy with the global recession. Labour Movement was rallying companies and workers on saving jobs by cutting costs and tightening of belts.

Flag bearer for the day – Young AUSBE Chairman from the Health Promotion Board (HPB), Mohd Shafie

May Day › Made Special This year, the economy is recovering positively, unemployment is low and companies are doing much better.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Secretary General of NTUC, Mr Lim Swee Say have said in their speeches that Singapore was able to weather the storm because of our strong tripartism and the fast measures put in place to help companies and workers cope with the downturn.

Looking forward, the labour Movement has adopted the “Cheaper, Better, Faster” slogan to rally companies and workers to boost productivity levels in the company by looking at how “bottlenecks” or hindrances to new ways of improving productivity can be broken. In order for Singapore to remain competitive, we need to ensure we are Group photo with Deputy Secretary-General Mr Heng Chee How (Standing, 6th from left) and Assistant Secretary-General Mr Seng Han Tong (Standing, 7th from left)

cheaper than the better countries and better than the cheaper countries.

This May Day was also special as PM acknowledged the call of the labour movement that it is timely for the re-instatement CPF rates as workers had sacrificed when needed and as the economy recovers employers should consider the re-instatement. As such, PM has declared that 1% of the CPF will be re-instated over 2 periods, by September 2010 and March 2011. This will bring the CPF rate for employers to 15.5% and the total 35.5%. This was greatly welcomed by everyone on the ground.

Ladies go GAGA! (R–L) Ms Tan Chor Khim, Ms Sally Boo and Ms Lau Lai Meng

For us at AUSBE, this May Day was significant as our brother Uthirapadhi Popathi, AUSBE Assistant General Secretary, received the Comrade of Labour Award and Singapore Land Authority the Plaque of Commendation. The awards were presented by Mr Lim Swee Say, NTUC Secretary-General, at the May Day Dinner held on 29 April 2010. Indeed, solidarity forever!

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Nominated by Amalgamated Union of Statutory Board Employees

Brother Popathi Having been an active union leader of the Public Utilities Board Employees Union (PUBEU) since 1974, Brother Popathi was elected as the Branch Secretary for the newlyformed Energy Market Authority (EMA) in 2001. Nine years on, he now serves as Assistant General Secretary (AGS) of the Amalgamated Union of Statutory Board Employees (AUSBE) and as an EMA Branch Chairman.

Brother Popathi’s persistence and excellent relationship with the management contributed significantly to the amicable signing of three Collective Agreements.

Brother Popathi and his wife

Brother Popathi receiving his Comrade of Labour Award from NTUC Secretary-General Mr Lim Swee Say

In one of his most significant contributions towards workers’ training and skills upgrading, Brother Popathi arranged with EMA management to allow members to opt for any course at centres such as the Institute of Public Administration and Management (IPAM) and the Ong Teng Cheong Labour Leadership Institute (OTC Institute). As such, they enjoyed greater flexibility in pursuing their career aspirations.

Thanks to his strong support for unionism, the EMA management agreed to offset the union membership fees. Under his leadership, the membership at the EMA branch saw an increase from 55 per cent to 82 per cent.

In recognition of his contributions to AUSBE and fellow workers, the National Trades Union Congress is pleased to present Brother Popathi with the Comrade of Labour Award.

Brother Popathi with the EXCO

(L–R) Assistant General Secretary Mr Nah Hwee Seng, General Secretary Mr Thurairajasingam, Deputy General Secretary Mr Haridass, Vice President Mr Daniel Lai, Assistant General Secretary Mr Popathi and EXCO Member Mr Patrick Teo

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Nominated by Amalgamated Union of Statutory Board Employees

SLA ›Singapore Land Authority

The Singapore Land Authority (SLA) maintains strong industrial relations with the Amalgamated Union of Statutory Board Employees (AUSBE) via many ways, such as regular union-management meetings to update AUSBE on SLA’s human resource and work-life schemes.

Working with the union, SLA has enhanced many staff welfare initiatives such as increasing the flexible benefit scheme quantum from $500 to $700 while encouraging employees to use part of it for union membership subscription.

Various work-life balance initiatives such as the Family Day and Kids@Work programmes were also organised frequently. In addition, scholarships or grants are made available to employees who want to further their studies or upgrade themselves.

SLA Branch group photo with AUSBE EXCO and NTUC Deputy Secretary-General, Mdm Halimah Yacob

SLA supports the Labour Movement by promoting union membership at staff induction programmes, signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with AUSBE on union representation for senior executives and principal executives in 2007. It also provides financial support for NTUC initiatives such as the Labour Movement U Care fund for the welfare of lower-income union members. On SLA’s support for employees beyond age 62, it signed an MOU in 2008 as a commitment to re-employ older employees while sending them for training programmes at the same time.

In recognition of its outstanding contributions to the Labour Movement, the National Trades Union Congress is pleased to present Singapore Land Authority with the Plaque of Commendation.

Ms Mabel Pek, Director of Corporate Services, SLA receiving the Plaque of Commendation from NTUC General Secretary, Mr Lim Swee Say

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AUSBE › Membership Escalates

By AUSBE Membership Sub-Committee

Top recruiter – Brother Michael Pang (LTA) 1st Runner up – Brother Manjet Singh (MPA) collecting on behalf of Brother Seah Chong Beng

2nd runner up – Sister Tan Chor Khim (HPB)

Our branches stepped up on the membership recruitment efforts and their hard work paid off with 507 new members joining the AUSBE family in 2009; bringing our total membership strength to 5,085.

Throughout the whole of last year, road shows, participation in the Management Induction Programs and other recruitment drives were organised to recruit more new members.

One of our effective membership strategies was the Member-GetMember (MGM) incentives offered to new members as well as the recruiters.

Every new member received a $15 FairPrice voucher while the recruiter was given a $10 FairPrice voucher for bringing in each newly paid-up member.

In November and December last year, NTUC Membership Department (MED) offered $20 FairPrice vouchers to new members to attract more to join the Union. All our branches got into action and organised road shows in their respective workplaces to attract new members. Within that two month

period, 167 members were recruited

by AUSBE. We hope that NTUC MED will continue to provide more of such attractive promotions in the future to help the Union further boost the membership rate.

The membership strength of the Branches is as follows:

Much of our membership recruitment success had to do with our recruiters who tirelessly promoted the benefits of union membership. For 2009, the 3 top recruiters are from LTA, MPA and HPB branches. They are Brother Seah Chong Beng, from LTA who recruited 77 members; Brother Manjet Singh (MPA) and Sister Tan Chor Khim (HPB).

They received NTUC FairPrice vouchers worth $100, $80 and $50 from AUSBE President, Brother Abdul Rahim Farid during the Retirees’ Appreciation night on 27 April 2009.

This year, the incentive for new members remain the same while the incentive for recruiters increased from $10 to $15 with effect from 1 March 2010. AUSBE would like to encourage our members to assist the Union by recruiting new members at their workplace.

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AUSBE ›UNION MANAGEMENT GATHERING

AUSBE traditionally organises the yearly Union Management gathering to foster good labour management relations. It was held this year on the evening of 26 February 2010 at “The POD” – situated on the 16th level of the National Library Board (NLB) Building along Victoria Street.

AUSBE Executive Council invited Chief Executive Officers and Human Resources Practitioners from each of its 12 statutory boards to join in this annual gathering.

Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA)

We were glad and excited that Sister Halimah Yacob, Brother Heng Chee How, Brother Seng Han Thong, Brother S Thiagarajan, Brother K T Mathew and Brother Yeo Guat Kwang from NTUC were able to join us. Distinguished guests mingled with 46 guests from 12 Statutory Board and 34 Exco members from AUSBE. Guests enjoyed the buffet dinner and serenaded to evergreen and contemporary tunes played by NLB’s Live Band amidst the beautiful night scenery surrounding the NLB Building.

Singapore Land Authority (SLA)

The organising committee would like to extend its sincere and heartfelt gratitude to NLB for a wonderful evening and for availing the use of The POD for the function.

Land Transport Authority (LTA)

Four Angelic Beauties (FAB)

National Library Board (NLB) and Health Promotion Board (HPB)

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Be Re-employment Ready › before 2012 AUSBE had about 50 participants including management partners who attended the event and they found the reemployment guide useful and informative. AUSBE and its 12 branches had signed a MOU on re-employment on 28 October 2008 to have a head start in this direction and be able to re-employ their retiring staff.

The Union is confident that our branches are moving in the right direction and will be re-employment ready before 2012.

To help companies prepare for the reemployment legislation that will come into force in 2012, NTUC launched a guide book at the “Working beyond 62: Re-employment Symposium” held on 5 April 2010.

By Sanjeev

The guide book aims to help readers understand the tripartite guidelines and provide answers to common questions on reemployment. It provides clarity to companies, union leaders and workers on the implementation of the re-employment and has real life examples on how re-employment is implemented in various other organisations.

The symposium which was held on 5 April 2010 was attended by about 600 participants from companies and unions. There was also an exhibition by WDA, Centre for Seniors and other vendors to provide more insight into re-employment preparations and options.

(L–R) Vice President Mr Daniel Lai, EXCO Member Mr Michael Pang, EXCO Member Mr Tan Kok Kheng and General Secretary Mr N. Thurairajasingam

BCA Branch Chairman Mr Kelvin Yeo and BCA Senior Executive Mr Mohammed Jabar

AUSBE Representatives at the symposium (1st and 2nd rows)

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› ALL CAN at LTA As NTUC moves towards its key milestone of 50th anniversary in 2011, it is stepping up on its effort to reach out to PMETs (Professionals, Managers, Executives, and Technicians), and focus on building an ALL CAN (All Collar, Ages, Nationalities), more inclusive Labour Movement.

Workplace Representation By 2011, PMET union members will have access to a CBF (Cheaper, Better, Faster) way to seek workplace assistance/ representation. Through the tripartite dispute mediation panel, PMETs earning a monthly income of less than or equal to $4,500 can seek assistance and advice on employment issues such as salary claims, breach of individual contract, and retrenchment benefits.

golfing and other sporting activities and benefits. NTUC also strives to strengthen engagement with our PMET members with regular Member Exclusives which are available only to union members.

Power of U Campaign This May, NTUC launched a full month campaign known as Power of U, with all 12 NTUC Social Enterprises and more than 50 participating merchants, offering a wide array of special wow deals everyday in the month of May, as well as weekly lucky draws of over 1 Million LinkPoints! For more information, please visit www.powerofu.sg. In addition, there will be a special MGM (Member-Get-Member) campaign whereby both the referrers and referees will earn 1000 LinkPoints.

Professional Development NTUC Learning Hub and Employability and Employment Institute (e2i) has kicked off a series of training courses and career coaching services. NTUC aims to take care of PMETs’ professional development and career progression, and provides privileged rates to all union members.

Lifestyle Benefits NTUC provides a holistic suite of membership privileges appealing to PMETs such as dining and movie discounts,

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AUSBE Executive Secretary Mr Yeo Guat Kwang, who was also present at the LTA talk, highlighted the importance of the portable medical scheme for statutory board employees.

Adding on, LTA Chief Executive Mr Yam Ah Mee pointed out that the staff should tap on the $100 medical insurance offered as a LTA flexible benefit for their own Medishield coverage. He also suggested to the Union to arrange for another presentation to the management on the portable medical scheme. AUSBE will extend similar presentation to all branches whenever the time is right.

LTA CE’s › farewell After the presentation, the AUSBE LTA branch gave a token of appreciation to LTA Cheif Executive Mr Yam Ah Mee for his strong support over the past five years. The Union and the Branch acknowledged his impacting contribution to fellow workers at LTA and AUSBE.

Mr Yam receiving a token from AUSBE General Secretary Singam

Mr Yam greets staff

Roll over the ocean, roll over the sea... Go and do your part to Build Community!

Crowd participating in eager anticipation

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We Ran › at U RUN The 8km U Run at Downtown East attracted more than 1,000 participants and among them were our AUSBE sporty ones. The race, which was held on 9 May, was part of the U Games, a multisports competition for union teams and ordinary people to promote physical well-being and family bonding.

Pictured above with Guest of Honour Assistant Secretary-General, NTUC Mr Ong Ye Kung (far right) – AUSBE was represented (from left to right) by Mr Kwan Choon Wah , Mr Iskandar Bin Akil, Mr Eddie Tan, Mr Teo Tian Bock, Lee Chay Koon, Mr Glen Copsey, Mr Calvin Siew, and Mr Mr Lim Chuan Kwee, in the Men’s Team of Eight (Union) Event.

The octet clocked in at a combined time of 3 hrs 39 mins 54.01 secs to clinch first place. National Transport

Workers’ Union (NTWU) ‘B’ team and Singapore Airlines Staff Union (SIASU) clinched second and third place with combined timings of 3 hrs 44 mins 51.12 secs and 3 hrs 47 mins 6.73 secs respectively.

AUSBE’s Mr Iskandar Bin Akil won for overall best individual timing, who with a winning time of 33 mins 4.11 secs finished just three seconds ahead of NTWU’s Mr Tan Hock Leong who clocked in at 33 mins 7.04 secs.

(L–R) Patrick Lim, Peh Lam Yeo, GS Singam, Iskandar Akil, Teo Tian Bock, Lee Chay Koon, Glen Copsey, Kwan Choon Wah, Lim Chuan Kwee, Eddie Tan, Calvin Siew

GS Singam with Team Champions

Individual champion – Mr Iskandar Bin Akil receiving his prize from Mr Ong Ye Kung

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Retirees’ › Appreciation Night 2010 Even though they have retired, we still remember our members. On 27 April 2010, we honoured 33 retirees who attended the annual Retirees’ Appreciation Night organised by AUSBE Social & Welfare Subcommittee who put in great effort in seeing through this annual event with great success.

Helen Kang from LTA Branch Mr Tariam Singh from AVA Branch receiving her lucky draw prize from receiving his retiree’s token from AUSBE President, Mr Rahim AUSBE President, Mr Rahim

No event is complete without a lucky draw and the Retirees’ Appreciation Night 2010 is not an exception. Through the good effort of Ms Hasanah, Asst Secretary of Social & Welfare Sub-com, 10 lucky draw prizes were given out to lucky winners.

“Unity is Strength” – a slogan aptly demonstrated by the support of AUSBE Exco members, HQ staff and S&W Subcom members. The event came to a successful ending with most of the retirees leaving ‘Club 7’ at Hampshire Road beaming with a great satisfaction reflected on their faces.

This is one small way that AUSBE could extend its sincere appreciation and recognition towards our fellow members who had been fervently supporting the union all these years while in service.

Retirees’ Group with President and General Secretary

Ms Clara Ng was the Master-of-Ceremony for the evening.

After welcoming the retirees and AUSBE Exco members in her unique style, AUSBE President, Brother Abdul Rahim Farid, gave an impromptu speech before inviting all for the guests for a sumptuous spread of buffet dinner.

Kudos! to members of AUSBE Social & Welfare Subcommittee for successfully organising yet another event for the members.

By G. Haridass Chairman, AUSBE Social & Welfare Sub-committee

Retirees who have been members for 10 to 19 years each received $50 worth of NTUC Fairprice vouchers. For those who have been members for 20 years or more, each received $100 of NTUC Fairprice vouchers.

AUSBE Membership Sub-committ ee took the opportunity to honour the top 3 membership recruiters for the year 2009.

The 1st prize with a certificate was clinched by Brother Seah Chong Beng (LTA); 2nd prize with a certificate by Brother Manjet Singh (MPA) and finally the 3rd prize with a certificate

by Sister Tan Chor Khim (HPB).

Welfare Sub-committee Chairman G.Haridass (right) taking a break

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NTUC Women’s Committee

› Teambuilding at Batam from 3–4 April 2010 NTUC Women’s Development Secretariat organised a teambuilding session at Batam from 3 to 4 April 2010 for the members of NTUC Women’s Committee. It was one of the best programmes that I have attended and participated. It was well organised and we had a good time of teambuilding and bonding. It was a memorable weekend with all our sisters from the NTUC Women’s Committee.

NTUC Women’s Committee

One thing that most of us will always treasure in our memory bank was the 20 minutes spent on shopping and the 45 minutes spent on cooking with the rest of our team mates. It was great FUN! Everyone contributed towards the process and at the end of it, we achieved our target on Cheaper, Better, Faster.

Some learning points gained – As leaders, we have to expect the unexpected, stay focused, adapt to changes, rally the team to work towards the same goal and objective. By Lai Meng

Ms Lau Lai Meng (centre) cooks up a storm

A Teambuilding Group Activity

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Union › Kelong Trip The night was silent. The moon shrouded by misty clouds.

A lonely fisherman stared into the darkness of the vast ocean.

The silence broken only by the sound of the waves gently splashing on the wooden piles below. A shuffling of feet. The creaking of floor boards. In pitch darkness, a hand stretched out to reach the lonely fisherman. He turned. Flashlight stabbed his eyes. Stunned. Followed by a realisation.

He was not alone!

a few kelongs around the island within the 2 nautical miles preservation area around Sibu Island.

On a 102-minute coach ride from Johor Baru to Tanjung Leman dock, en route we stopped over for a popular bak kut teh breakfast in an attap hut restaurant. Followed by an hour long boat ride on a fishing boat. On arriving at the kelong, we scaled up wooden catladders that are more challenging to climb than those at our worksite.

Standing behind him were 24 Union brothers and sisters and their families. Yes. He was not alone. In fact, he was never alone. Because he is a Union member. And a Union member is never alone.

Dawn arrived. Darkness was broken. It was the morning after.

The morning after Union Kelong!

No. It is not a suggestion of your Union doing something ambivalently fishy. Or of AUSBE abusing. Nothing of the sort where the word kelong is typically associated with, like match fixing by referees, in particular in the context of soccer.

It is about your Union organising a trip to a kelong and participants having loads of fun and adventure. Words cannot describe what a great time we had.

The morning before, on Saturday 24 April 2010, 25 AUSBE brothers and sisters and their families bravely ventured to Kelong Ah Fatt, located in the middle of nowhere, within sight distance of Sibu Island, off the east coast of Malaysia. Today, Kelong Ah Fatt is a touristic cum fishing kelong. There are

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Within our group were 2 “professional” photographers and 2 “professional” fishermen, armed to the teeth with photography and fishing gears. Our brothers wasted no time once aboard the kelong. They instantaneously sprang into action with their respective photography and fishing gear. We could clearly see schools of fishes swimming before our eyes. What a sight to

behold. It was contagious paroxysm that turned all of us into instant amateur fishermen and photographers. The only time the fishes got a break was when we break for lunch.

Lunch was simply scrumptious. In fact throughout the weekend at the kelong, we were well fed. We even ate an entire tray of kampong eggs that Brother Jieh Ping bought at the jetty.

The ringing of the bells to signal meal time was music to our ears. It’s makan time! (I think the fishes too were well fed and probably laughing at the rest of us novice fishermen for our complete incompetence).

After lunch, it was another boat ride, this time to Sibu Island.

In the distant past, Pulau Sibu was well-known for its ikan bilis and lobster. The island’s derelict jetty was charmingly rustic.

We get to smell “live” cow dung. At the lovely beach, we drank from freshly opened coconut

and watched a helicopter hovering over a luxurious boat for an extended period of time. We wondered if the chopper was filming the boat for a commercial or was it the boat filming the chopper. We concluded that both must be filming each other in a mutually beneficial collaboration in order to be cheaper, better and faster.

When we were ready to depart Sibu, we saw no sign of our boat returning. Did we miss the boat? Yikes! Sunset was imminent, and we faced the prospect of being stranded and becoming collateral damage like our old friend Robinson Crusoe. The grumpy guard herded us out of the jetty claiming we were overloading it. Schadenfreude. Acceptance does not equal approval, but wise stranded tourists do not quarrel with native island guard. With time in our hand while waiting for our elusive boat, we asked our tour guide “Mad” Mack what does

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Sibu mean. But alas, Mack did not know. For the predicament we were in, we thought it may be apt to assume it meant cowpay-sibu if we indeed were stranded in this ulu island forever.

Needless to say that the boat did come eventually, albeit late, or you wouldn’t be reading this.

lunch, it was time to say goodbye to Kelong Ah Fatt. I nearly missed the boat (again) as I was enjoying my kampong shower.

An unclaimed bag was spotted when the boat was about to leave. With CSI style investigation, we identified the owner by a pair of spectacles left in the bag.

Back at the kelong, 25 reasonably smelly and sweaty Union brothers and sisters and their families queued patiently to take turn for our shower, kampong style, with water tongs and all.

No need for deep tunnel sewers here, everything you wanted out of your system went straight down to the sea. Wondered what the fishes ate? As limited fresh water was transported by boat to the kelong, so each person was allowed to take only one shower per day.

En route the coach ride, we da bao some yummy mackerel otah, stopover for durian, did our shopping in JB and headed for home sweet home.

And then, as certain as sunrise, it was makan time once again!

Much of life cannot be explained, but can only be witnessed.

Like night fishing. I learnt from our pro fishermen Brother Daniel that different types of fishes come to the kelong during the day and night. What an interesting phenomenon. And fishes that swam near the surface in the day stayed in the depths at night.

Union Kelong?

Yes. 25 Union brothers and sisters and their families, from the young to the once-young, sharing experience and scary stories, laughing and bonding, surviving a weekend in a rugged kelong. Well done! In more ways than one. With all the sunshine, our skin was almost well done too!

By Patrick Teo

At bedtime, we were transformed into pseudo migrant workers sleeping side by side in rows on double decked beds not too different from workers quarters.

Not within our group, but nevertheless within our hearing range in the dead of the night, were 3 drunken noisy ladies and their tattoo-decorated male partners who kept us awake till 3am with their less than ideal singing. They had the right to remain silent. But they gave up that right and the place became very noisy.

Sunday morning, beautiful sunrise. Brother Kok Hua surveyed the best spot for his sunrise photoshoot. Sister Suan Khim was exhilarated that she caught a fish. A morning of more fishing, phototaking, watching TV and of course, makan, After

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AUSBE › New Members Recruited From January – March 2010 RAHMAH BINTE ATAN .......................................AVA VINCENT ONG KIM LEONG*..............................AVA NA TZE KWEE......................................................AVA TAN CHIN HIAN ..................................................BCA LOCK SIEW KHIM................................................BCA JAMILAH BINTE MOHAMAD SALLEH *............DSGB HAMZAH BIN HASSAN ......................................DSGB RATHNA D/O VENKATACHALAM *....................DSGB NUR FARAH.AIN BTE KHALID *.........................DSGB NOOR AINI BINTE ABDUL RAHMAN ................DSGB NUR FATHIAH BINTE ABDUL GHALIB *............DSGB ISMAIL BIN ALI *.................................................DSGB KASMINAH BINTI SENAN...................................DSGB ROSNAH BTE AHMAD........................................DSGB JALATI BINTE JAFFAR*......................................DSGB KHAW AI GEOK *.................................................DSGB LIM MEAH SIANG................................................DSGB HAZIMAH BINTE ISHAK......................................DSGB MOHD ZIMRI BIN MOHAMED NOR...................DSGB LIM WEE LING ....................................................DSTA SEE TOH SUE . ....................................................DSTA TAY KIN SENG ....................................................DSTA NG WEI LIANG WILLIAM ...................................DSTA CHEW SIOW HONG ............................................DSTA TAY MINGWEI .....................................................DSTA NG CHEE WAI .....................................................DSTA ELAINE LEE YUN LIAN .......................................DSTA JEANETTE SOONG PAU LIAN *.........................DSTA TAN JOO YI GENECA *.......................................DSTA CHU ZENG JIA *..................................................DSTA YAP ELSIE *..........................................................DSTA DENVER YEO MENG KIT *..................................DSTA TEH GEK WAH *...................................................DSTA YAU WAI HUNG ..................................................EMA LAW GEE YONG .................................................EMA HO KHING LOON ................................................EMA PAULINE LOO .....................................................EMA WAN BOCK TONG ..............................................EMA JULIANA BINTE JOHARI . ..................................EMA CHUA THIAM WEI ..............................................EMA LIM WEE KIAT*....................................................EMA CHI BENG LEE VALSON......................................EMA CHIA PECK HONG EVELYN.................................EMA TONG FONG YIN.................................................HPB ANG XIANG BERLYN .........................................HPB TNG PEI PEI *.......................................................HPB HO KIAN LIN .......................................................HSA KHAIRUNNISA BTE MUHAMAD .......................HSA ONG WERN HUEY ELIZABETH . ........................HSA SITI KHADIJAH BINTE ABDOL ..........................HSA SOO CHENG LI.....................................................HSA NG YEN LING *....................................................IDA LING CHUNG JYE *.............................................IDA LAU CHUEY CHUEY YVONNE *.........................IDA CHUA CHEOW HOCK *.......................................IDA GAN CHEW HOON *............................................IDA CHAN KAI YAM DOREEN*..................................IDA LORETTA ANG PO-CHING..................................IDA

LIM SIEW KUAN KARINE ...................................LTA CHUA CHING HOCK ...........................................LTA VEERAIAH THANGAVEH ....................................LTA ARVINA BINTE ABDULLAH . ..............................LTA GANESH S/O KARUPPAN ..................................LTA AMV.LOGANATHAN ...........................................LTA GOH WAN THOH.................................................LTA SABRINA BTE SHUKOR .....................................LTA BATHURUDEEN MOHAMED GANI ...................LTA LIM TECK PENG .................................................LTA FARHAN BIN MOHAMED TAMIM . ....................LTA KHIEW LIP BOON . ..............................................LTA MOHAMMED SAZLYIRWANTO .........................LTA SEE WEE THAI ....................................................LTA TOH YI CHEN JACQUELINE . .............................LTA LOH HONG YONG ..............................................LTA TAN JIN XIANG ..................................................LTA LIM HOON HOON ANNIE . .................................LTA NEO SAY KHEAN ...............................................LTA KRISHNAKUMARI ALAGARSAMY ....................LTA ONG CINDY..........................................................LTA WONG LIN HO.....................................................LTA LEE GEOK SAN *.................................................LTA JOSHUA CHIA YEONG JIA *..............................LTA LIM KAI HUAT *...................................................LTA LEE SAU HOON SUSAN *..................................LTA CHONG SHIYUN CECILIA *.................................LTA CHAN CHEW HWA *............................................LTA LEE BEE ENG *.....................................................LTA FLEURY JASON JUDE *......................................LTA RAI’ZAN BIN VIJAYA KESUMA..........................LTA MOHAMAD AZMAN BIN OTHMAN...................LTA LOH SWEE KWAN................................................LTA NURHADY BIN ABDUL RASID............................LTA CHERYL TAN ZHAO RONG.................................LTA JOHN KIONG WEE YONG . ...............................MPA MOHAMMAD FAZLI BIN JAAFAR .....................MPA NURUL-HUDA BINTE SULAIMAN . ...................NLB KAMSILAH RIDUAN ...........................................NLB SUBRAMANIAM S/O KANNAPPAN ..................NLB AU YEUNG KIU LIK ERIC *..................................NLB LI HUI HUI . ..........................................................SLA NG HWEE LIANG ................................................SLA

TOTAL RECRUITED 101 MEMBERS

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