By S Ramesh | Posted: 12
December 2010 1733 hrs
SINGAPORE: Singapore's labour movement, the National
Trades Union Congress (NTUC), will give extra significance to
leadership renewal at its next National Delegates Conference in
2011, which will also see elections to its Central Committee.
Sharing plans for NTUC's 50th anniversary celebrations next year,
labour chief Lim Swee Say said the search for his successor has
also started.
A key highlight for next year include a mega rally for May Day at
the Indoor Stadium as well as a grand dinner scheduled on May 13,
at the Marina Bay Sands.
Mr Lim said the delegates conference next year would be extra
significant because "many of our top leaders will be reaching
official retirement age of 62 and they have expressed their desire
to flow on".
Mr Lim said this would create a platform to identify the next
generation of leaders.
Mr Lim, who had been the Secretary-General of the NTUC for the past
four years,said a key task for him now is to identify and groom
likely candidates who can be nurtured to take on the role of the
next secretary-general.
He added this is a challenging task, but progress is being
made.
"Be prepared to dare to do the right thing. For us to prepare for
the future, we may have to bear the pain today, in order to enjoy
the gain tomorrow.
"So the leaders we are looking at must be (those) who (are)
prepared to bite the bullet, do the right thing even though it is
not popular," he said.
Mr Lim added that it was important to continue to attract, nurture
and identify future union leaders, especically those in their
forties and thirties.
This is to ensure that leadership renewal can grow from strength to
strength for a long time to come.
Mr Lim also said union leaders must possess some special
qualities.
He added that the delegates conference in 2011 is important because
it is a platform for them to "take stock of how far have we
achieved in repositioning the labour movement towards what we call
an All Collar, All Ages and All Nationalities (CAN) labour
movement".
He added: "(The conference is important because) it is for us to
look ahead for the next five years. Having re-positioned the labour
movement towards 2011, how do we build on the foundation towards LM
2015 so that by 2015, at our next delegates conference, we would be
able to take stock of our progress in terms of inclusive workforce,
three-generation membership and inclusive leadership?"
Mr Lim said the labour movement in Singapore has been progressive
and innovative.
"We intend to build on this foundation as we continue this journey
of tripartism in Singapore," he said.
"On the part of the workforce, we will continue to think of new
ways to ensure that our workforce will be an inclusive one (to
include) low wage workers, back-to-work women, matured workers and
the PMETs as well."
Mr Lim said over the last 30 years, NTUC had built a strong
foundation in serving workers, members and unions, adding that he
was confident NTUC could do even better in the next 50 years.
Since 1979, the Secretary-General of the NTUC has also served as a
member of the Cabinet in the Singapore government.
They include the previous secretaries-general Mr Lim Chee Onn, the
late Mr Ong Teng Cheong and Mr Lim Boon Heng, the immediate past
Secretary-General.
Employer leaders say the future NTUC chief may be groomed from the
cohort of candidates to be fielded in the next general
election.
-CNA/wk
