SINGAPORE : NTUC's Secretary General Lim Swee Say has said
he is confident that Singapore will be able to replenish the S$4.5
billion drawn from the reserves over two to three years.
Singapore had drawn on past reserves to help fund the Jobs
Credit scheme, which was designed to help firms save
jobs.
In his National Day message to workers and management, Mr
Lim said that is because Singapore makes sure that every dollar is
put to good use and every extra dollar is put back into the
reserves.
Mr Lim shared the sentiments of trade union leaders from
other countries whom he had met two months ago in Geneva at the
annual International Labour Conference.
He said countries were impressed by Singapore's strategy
of "cutting costs to save jobs" against "cutting jobs to save
costs", a move adopted by many other countries.
Mr Lim said: "They were impressed by the 'V-shaped
recovery' of the Singapore economy, up from minus 9.4 per cent in
the first quarter of 2009 to +15.5 per cent in the first quarter of
2010, one of the strongest rebounds for any economy.
"They were even more impressed by our ability to regain full
employment so quickly, with our unemployment rate dropping from 3.3
per cent in the third quarter of 2009 to 2.2 per cent by the first
quarter of 2010, one of the lowest in the world."
Union leaders from other countries also wondered how Singapore
managed to keep the trust and preserve unity during a severe
downturn.
Mr Lim noted that Singapore believed in building trust during good
times so as to stay united during bad times.
He said: "They wondered how tripartism could be so uniquely
effective in Singapore at a time when it is either breaking down or
not functioning in many other countries.
"We explained that when times are good, we work hard together to
build up two types of capital - financial capital, by being one of
the most pro-business economies in the world; and social capital,
by being one of the most pro-worker nations in the world.
"So, by the time we are hit by a global downturn, we already have
in place the necessary resources and a high level of trust among
labour, management and government to rally us to respond in
unity.
"Singapore's approach to tripartism is good for our workers. We
avoided massive retrenchments and prevented a rapid rise in
unemployment.
"It is also good for our businesses. We preserved our economic
capacity and upgraded our economic capability to grow again in a
global recovery."
Looking ahead, the NTUC chief said the tripartite partners would
strive to do even better as Singapore rides the global recovery in
2010 and beyond.
So, he has called on everyone to live the dreams as One Singapore,
lift the nation's productivity as One Workforce, and fly the flag
as One People.
- CNA/ms