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Welcome Remarks by Mr Hawazi Daipi, Chairman, Tripartite Committee on Work-Life Strategy and Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Manpower & Health at the Work-Life Excellence Award 2010 Gala Dinner, 27 August 2010, 7.00pm, Resorts World Convention Centre

Employment practices

Mr Gan Kim Yong,
Minister for Manpower

His Excellency, Mr Fernando Danus,
Embassy of Chile

Mr Tony Chew,
Chairman, Singapore Business Federation

Mr Heng Chee How,
Deputy Secretary General, National Trades Union Congress

Council Members, Singapore National Employers Federation

Executive Council, Employer Alliance

Distinguished guests

Ladies and gentlemen  

  1. Good evening. I am very happy to welcome you to the Work-Life Excellence Award 2010 Gala Dinner.
  2. We are here tonight to celebrate the achievements of 70 organisations and two leaders for championing work-life harmony at the workplace.

    Bucking the cost-cutting trend during difficult times
  3. When this gala dinner was last held, in August 2008, few could have imagined that a sharp economic downturn was just around the corner. The next five quarters were difficult ones for both workers and businesses. It would perhaps have been an understandable knee-jerk reaction for even progressive companies to cut back on their work-life initiatives.
  4. Tonight's award-winners instead saw the downturn as an opportunity to refine their work-life strategies or implement new initiatives. They understood the importance of such initiatives in motivating and engaging employees, and they knew that this would be even more crucial during the hard times. So they maintained their work-life initiatives to foster an even stronger sense of teamwork and togetherness in the organisation. Some tailored their initiatives to address employee concerns – I am told that talks on finance planning were a big hit among the award-winners this past year. Some organised a day out with employees and their families or a simple high tea to recognise their employees' contributions, instead of a lavish dinner and dance.

    Increase in interest in award
  5. Despite the downturn, employers continued to see the value of work-life strategies. This year, we saw some 50% more applications for the Work Life Excellence Awards than in 2008. Even more encouraging, among the award-winners are 13 small and medium enterprises, compared to 8 such companies two years ago. This indicates that there is a growing interest among SMEs to reap the benefits of work-life strategies. The Work-Life Leadership Award, which was introduced in 2008 to recognise committed and passionate individuals who drive work-life initiatives in the workplace, also continued to see strong participation.
  6. I am heartened to see these positive developments. On behalf of the Tripartite Committee on Work-Life Strategy, I would like to thank all the employers who participated in the award, and congratulate the winners tonight. I wish you an enjoyable evening. Thank you.