NTUC ex-president leads list of May Day awardees

SINGAPORE – The National Trades Union Congress has conferred its top May Day award on its former president, Ms Mary Liew, in recognition of her four decades of work with the labour movement.

Ms Liew, 61, leads the list of 179 awardees – the highest number since the event’s inception in 1963 – comprising 137 individuals and 42 organisations.

NTUC secretary-general Ng Chee Meng presented Ms Liew with her award at a ceremony at Sands Expo and Convention Centre on May 10.

Ms Liew, who is general secretary of the Singapore Maritime Officers’ Union (SMOU), was NTUC president from 2015 to 2023.

She has been a union leader since 1982, becoming the union’s first female executive secretary in 1999.

In 2011, she was elected into the NTUC central committee, before becoming a Nominated Member of Parliament from 2012 to 2014.

NTUC president K. Thanaletchimi paid tribute to Ms Liew’s compassion, inspirational leadership and vision in her welcoming address at the ceremony.

Ms Thanaletchimi cited how the SMOU effectively advocated safe seafarer crew change protocols during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Ms Liew said the award came as a surprise, and thanked all those she had encountered on her journey with the labour movement.

She also addressed Singapore workers: “It is because of you that we are where we are today, having the opportunity to be able to reach out to you, and it is because we care for you, that is why we take action.”

Ms Thanaletchimi said the record number of May Day awardees reflects the labour movement’s broad-based support, especially among professionals, managers and executives, a group to whom it has expanded representation.

She added that the partnership between the Government, employers and the labour movement has safeguarded workers’ interests even amid global economic headwinds.

NTUC has also broken new ground in 2024 by conferring the awards on migrant workers and migrant domestic worker ambassadors.

Indonesian Nur Aini, 42, was one of three migrant domestic workers feted at the event.

She won the Partner of Labour Movement award for her volunteer work with the Centre for Domestic Employees, as well as her efforts to create a community for Indonesian migrant domestic workers to learn English and computer skills, dubbed Friendship Club Indonesia.

Ms Nur Aini started Friendship Club Indonesia in October 2020, teaching three friends herself.

The community now has 800 learners and 35 teachers, with courses lasting between three and 10 months.

Ms Nur Aini, who comes from a family of farmers, beamed with pride when recounting to The Straits Times how far she has come since she arrived in Singapore more than two decades ago.

The job has enabled Ms Nur Aini, who is divorced, to send her only son, 19, to university.

She said she picked up computing and English skills through online courses and videos, as well as learning from her employers, but noted how difficult it was to start from scratch.

“I started Friendship Club Indonesia to do English and computer courses because I don’t want my fellow domestic helpers to have that experience just like I did.”

Meanwhile, media players SPH Media and Mediacorp were among the 42 organisations lauded for supporting the labour movement’s work in improving employee wages, welfare and job prospects.

Utilities provider SP Group was one of the two employers that came out tops for their longstanding support of the labour movement’s efforts, receiving a Plaque of Commendation (Star). The other was precision engineering firm Makino Asia.

SP Group, which employs 3,700 people, credited the win to its longstanding partnership with the Union of Power and Gas Employees to foster continuous skills upgrading, advancement pathways, sustainable wage growth and age-friendly work environments.

Chief executive Stanley Huang said the award “serves as a testament to our longstanding union-management partnership towards building a workforce well equipped for the diverse and evolving needs of the industry”.