SINGAPORE – Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lawrence Wong was conferred the labour movement’s top honours on Monday, for being a strong advocate of workers as well as the tripartite partnership between the Government, employers and unions in Singapore.

Mr Wong, chosen in 2022 to lead the People’s Action Party’s (PAP) fourth-generation (4G) team, “continues to prioritise workers’ concerns as he leads the 4G team in a challenging post-pandemic environment”, said National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) president Mary Liew.

Presenting the Medal of Honour to Mr Wong, at the yearly May Day award ceremony, together with NTUC secretary-general Ng Chee Meng, Ms Liew said Mr Wong had steered Singapore through uncharted waters during the Covid-19 pandemic in the past three years.

She also thanked Mr Wong for giving the labour movement his assurance that he will always have their back.

Mr Wong was among 172 union leaders and tripartite partners who were recognised in 2023 at a ceremony held at Suntec Singapore Convention and Exhibition Centre.

They were hailed by NTUC for making “exceptional and continuous” contributions to the welfare of workers, and for supporting the labour movement’s pro-worker and pro-business programmes and initiatives.

The Medal of Honour is conferred on “special individuals who have rendered distinguished services to the labour movement”, said NTUC. It was last given out to Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat in 2021.

In his various roles in government, as finance minister and co-chair of the multi-ministry taskforce on Covid-19, Mr Wong was behind several national schemes to support workers, said NTUC in its award citation.

The labour movement highlighted various schemes that helped to improve skills training for workers and support tripartite efforts to improve training, boosted the wages and employment outcomes of lower-income and vulnerable workers, and saved jobs during the Covid-19 pandemic.

They include the company training committees to help companies focus on re-skilling and upskilling their workers, the Progressive Wage Credit Scheme to provide transitional wage support for employers to raise the pay of low-wage workers, and the Jobs Growth Incentive scheme to encourage employers to hire people during the pandemic, to support the recovery of the labour market.

“His continued focus on driving Singapore’s economic growth amidst a more challenging external environment also assures workers of good jobs for the future,” said NTUC .

As deputy secretary-general of the PAP and leader of its 4G team, Mr Wong also placed emphasis on strengthening the symbiotic relationship between the PAP and NTUC, and put workers at the centre of everything the PAP does, said NTUC.

Under the Forward Singapore exercise to refresh Singapore’s social compact, Mr Wong has also focused specifically on society’s compact with workers, working with unions to ensure that workers’ concerns are addressed as part of the exercise, such as through NTUC’s #EveryWorkerMatters Conversation, it said.

“His leadership has enabled NTUC to continue being an effective representative voice for workers and a credible partner of the Government.”

In an interview with NTUC’s LabourBeat newsletter, Mr Wong said he believed Singapore can be a strong and successful society only when everyone shares in the fruits of the nation’s progress, and every worker is accorded self-respect and dignity.

The labour movement is a key pillar in this compact, he added.

“Throughout my years in public service, and especially over the last three years of Covid-19, I’ve seen first-hand the commitment and dedication of our union leaders and tripartite partners in serving the interests of our fellow workers and Singaporeans,” he said.

He added that as a child growing up in the 70s and 80s, it was easy to take the peaceful state of labour relations in Singapore for granted.

Back then, his mother, who was a teacher, often went to FairPrice to shop for groceries, and he saw how much she valued her union membership benefits.

It was only after he saw strikes and demonstrations while in the United States for his university studies that he realised things were different in other countries, he said.

Later on, as principal private secretary to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Mr Wong saw how committed PM Lee was in building close relationships with the unions.

“I realised then why tripartism in Singapore works,” he said, pledging to continue to work with the labour movement and employers to build on the tremendous reservoir of trust.

Asked what he hoped people would know him for, Mr Wong said: “In the end, people will form their own impressions and judgments of me based on what I say and do.

“My hope is that through my words and deeds, I will be able to demonstrate my convictions to serve – to always give of my best for Singaporeans and for our workers.”

Other Cabinet ministers who have received the Medal of Honour include Mr Khaw Boon Wan (2019), Senior Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam (2017), Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean (2014), Minister for Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong (2014), PM Lee (1999), and former prime minister Goh Chok Tong (1987).