Mayor Zai's Blog

Singapore GP

Heema Izzati

8th NYAA Gold Awards

On 3 October, I had the privilege of attending the 8^th National Youth Achievement Award (NYAA) Gold Award Presentation Ceremony at the ITE College East. The NYAA was set up with a humble mission to help develop the youth of Singapore, by giving them a platform to help themselves. It has proven to be a winning formula with more than 178,000 participants today. In the process, our NYAA participants have inspired us to keep this unique programme going.

This ceremony honoured 168 Gold Award recipients who have excelled in the NYAA programme. While pursuing their academic requirements, exams, research papers or work commitments, they have persevered in fulfilling the requirements of their NYAA programme. They have also challenged their own physical capacities, developed their unique talents and skills which they may not have discovered before, and used these talents for the benefit of our community. In the process, they have all emerged as trailblazers, nation-builders and leaders in their own right – passionate, energetic, daring, innovative and resourceful.

The NYAA provides young people with equal opportunities to develop and excel regardless of their background. They are given a unique platform to maximize their potentials to the fullest. Members of the NYAA Gold Award Holders Alumni (GAHA) are not just doing well in their careers, but are also actively engaged in the community.

The NYAA Council could not have done all these things on its own. We should thank all the NYAA’s partners, sponsors, principals and heads of organisations who continue to help the NYAA be what it is today, a premier youth development programme that helps develop and groom the next generation of Singaporeans. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the President for his strong support and guidance for the NYAA programme.

The great Gandi once said, “My life is my message”. What a powerful idea. Let our own lives be our message. Let us have a cause bigger than ourselves.

Workshop: Responsible Outsourcing and Safeguarding Workers' Welfare

Yesterday I had the opportunity to attend a workshop on Tripartite Advisory on Responsible Outsourcing organised by the Unit for Contract and Casual Workers (UCCW) and the members of the International Metalworkers’ Federation Singapore Council (IMF-SC).

The IMF represents the collective interests of 25 million members in more than 200 unions in 100 countries worldwide. It is a federation of national unions which represents both blue and white collar industrial workers.

The workshop was people-oriented and focused on how workers have been negatively affected by the excesses of globalisation and the free economy. While globalisation and the free-flowing economy have provisioned our workers with an abundance of opportunities, they have also introduced a range of negative issues.

Driven by competition, many transnational companies have shifted their focus to cheap flexible labour and sourcing, inadvertently shifting the nature of many jobs from secure to insecure employment. This shift in mindset has resulted in the advent of the vulnerable workers, where they struggle with job insecurity, low wages, limited or negligible access to social benefits. In a macroeconomic sense, as the gap between the rich and poor increases, these unfair practices amplify the disadvantage towards many blue collar workers worldwide.

In Singapore, we have seen a dramatic increase in contract workers, which comprises of 12% of our workforce, and a depression of their wages, between $750 and $800 a month.  

The talking-points exchanged at the workshop was aimed at curbing the growth of the vulnerable and unacceptable working conditions, and how we can each play a role to help alleviate the situation.

In 2006, through advocating and educating service providers and buyers about Best Sourcing Initiatives (BSI), the UCCW assisted workers with employability and fair employment terms. At the workshop, UCCW shared ways on how we can collaborate with companies who have embraced BSI, to intervene and improve the situation for these workers in terms of stable or better employment, better income and better lives for them and their families. The Ministry of Manpower also informed us on the Tripartite Advisory on Responsible Outsourcing.

It is hoped that the discussion provided an effective route to more stable economic and social conditions for these vulnerable workers.

Sports Excellence - Colours Award

Over the years, the Singapore Schools Sports Council sporting calendar has grown steadily to accommodate the increasingly diverse sporting interests among students. While the Zonal and National inter-school competitions provide an excellent platform for our young athletes to hone their sporting talents locally, we should strive to provide more overseas exposure to raise our athletes’ skill level, nurture young sporting talent and establish a culture of sports excellence in Singapore.

We have done well in the ASEAN and Asian Schools competitions. This year, the Singapore Schools teams took part in the ASEAN Schools Golf championship in Bali, coming in 2nd for Boys and 3rd for Girls. At the ASEAN schools tennis competition held in Singapore, the Boys and Girls teams came in 3rd. At the Asian Schools Soccer U15 competition in Bangkok, the Singapore Schools team came in 4th.

At the recent Beijing Olympics, 3 student athletes represented Singapore in Sailing and Swimming. In the recently concluded Beijing Paralympics, Yip Pin Xiu became the first Singapore athlete to win gold at the Paralympic Games when she came in first in the 50m backstroke in world record time.

While we celebrate our athletes’ achievements, let us not forget the principals and teachers in schools, coaches, sports officials in the various National Sports Associations, and the parents, who have helped them achieve. Their passion and dedication have contributed to our athletes’ quest for sporting excellence.

Next year promises to be an even more exciting one for the school sporting scene with Singapore hosting the inaugural Asian Youth Games as a prelude to the inaugural Youth Olympic Games in 2010.

I would like to once again congratulate all recipients for their sports achievement. I dare you to dream to become the first ever Singaporean gold medalist in the Asian Youth Games and the Youth Olympic Games.