NTUC chief on lookout for successor
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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 -
Looking for frogs.
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Originally posted by Clivebenss:
Looking for frogs.
or toads? -
Originally posted by likeyou:
or toads?not humans.
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the one who give out 10dollars free fairprice soupoins to eveyr sgreans everymonthn i support, iw ll also suport his her cosntituencies also
damn MOM still owe me one for the employment survey i did months ago!
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Originally posted by troublemaker2005:
the one who give out 10dollars free fairprice soupoins to eveyr sgreans everymonthn i support, iw ll also suport his her cosntituencies also
damn MOM still owe me one for the employment survey i did months ago!
whatever, still looking for non human.