Racial issues at workplace..or Was it?

I was reading online articles on PM's Lee National Day Rally speech and his focus race and religion. Deep in my heart, I believed it's a timely reflection. This brought me back to this incident not too long ago which involved a promotion exercise.

A total of 5 guys were promoted to a supervisory level , which was a new post. Formerly all of them were rank and file workers. Although promotions are stipulated clearly in Industrial Relation Act as Management Prerogatives,us unionist never see it as a hindrance to highlight to the management if a worker is due or deserve a promotion. Back to the 5 guys, naturally the union was happy that all of them were promoted after a year long negotiation to create that new supervisory post. Out of these 5 guys who were promoted, 4 were Chinese and one was a Malay. This was when the problem started.

Some of my Malay colleagues were'nt happy with the result of the promotion exercise. In total, there were another 4 Malay guys (with additional certification and experience in covering supervisory duties) who also applied for the post. Two of the Chinese guys who got promoted has got no additional certification while the rest possessed one. Moreover, both the Chinese guys were reluctant parties when in comes cover 'acting duties' as supervisor when they were still rank and file workers. I heard some accusation of racial bias although the union did'nt received any formal grievance letter (a standard procedure) on this issue.The union was in a dilemma.

As a unionist, irregardless of colour or nationality, if he is our member, we do not challenge the promotion. I felt that I neededed to be very tactful in addressing this sensitive issue. As with all promotion exercise, each candidate goes thru a vigorous interview session and selection procedure. Coincidentally, the interviewers comprised of a multi-racial panel. I reasoned with some of the unhappy workers that although the two guys may not have the qualification, probably they did better than then rest in the interview. I downplayed any racial overtones or racial bias in the issue.

I encouraged them to keep upgrading themselves and to look at the bright side.End of the day, if you believe in the meritocracy system, your hard work will get noticed and paid off. There'll be no reason for the management not to promote you, I told them.

I eventually managed to convince them and after a few weeks, the issue was a thing of the past. I was glad that the issue doesn't escalate into something serious and the workers accepted it in a sensible and matured manner. But I told myself, we must never be complacent. What happen if we faced a similar issue in the future?Are we prepared? Even if there is racial bias, how do we prove it? Or are we in denial that it doesn't exist in workplace?

From the way I looked at the issue above, its probably a case of over-reacting on part of the workers , thinking race was the issue here. It's normal to be emotional when you have very high hope on achieving something but failing in the end

It's quite similar with the recent no-Malay-NMP issue when it started appearing in Malay newspaper sometime back. The statistics had proven that there were years when we had no Malay NMP. Nobody lifted a finger then. I know we do have leaders or capable people in the Malay society but if they refused to be nominated as an NMP, can we blame the system?

Back to the title of my post . 'Racial issues at workplace..or Was it?' Have you had such an experience?

Upage Bursary Awards 2009

My union had our Bursary Award on 13th August 2009. It was held at NTUC Building Grand Auditorium.Parking was a hassle..and expensive with a capital 'E'. Hence some of us arrived by carpooling due to the limited number of special car coupons. It's my first time being invited into a bursary organising committee . It's a couple of other first time too in fact! It's the first time I see a large number of youth involved in the committee , the first time no applicants were rejected ( those who were unsuccessful we given a token amount of $50 as an Encouragement Award) and first time at the above venue. For the past few years, the award was held at the old SP Auditorium till it made way for some revamping and upgrading last year. Our Guest of Honour for this year's award was Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry , Mr Iswaran.

We see a record of 372 applicants for this year's award.Bursary Awards is one of the ways the union reached out to help and give our support to member's who have children excelling in their studies. With the recent economy downturn, we believed the awards will come in handy for the members. We also hoped that the awards will inject a new energy and drive in recipients to strive better in their studies.

It was very heart-warming to see 'gotong royong' spirit in the committee members. From labelling the chairs for awardees, to guest list, arranging cheques on the table, rehearsing the lines...you name it, they do it. The camaraderie was very strong!!

Our GOH , Mr Isawarn gave a very inspiring speech for both the recipients and also the union/management. He mentioned about how the union has evolved thru years...especially after 1969 Modernisation of Labour Movement lead by the late Devan Nair. The union has moved beyond addressing worker's grievance at work to providing member's family needs, social needs ( Fairprice, NTUC Club), health (NTUC Health Care) and also training (Learning Hub etc) . To the management, he highlighted about the importance tripartism and also good industrial relation.

The event came to an end at 4pm. The guests and recipients were treated with a sumptuous reception with beautiful scenery of Esplanade and Marina Bay skyline in the background. Kudos to the organising committee for a job well-done!!!!

It's been a while....

Finally I got time to updated my blog. The datelines for my assignment are really eating up into my daily schedule. Hopefully I'll get use to this by my 2nd Semester. Having a strong faith in religion and the spiritual strength it's bring me has helped me a great deal.

So, let's see what have I missed. Let's start with Upage Futsal 2009 on 1st August. The 'roller-coaster ride' we went thru during budgeting, promotion, email blasting and invitation was worth it!!! A total of 16 teams from various gencos and branch participated ....even though some cried foul over the high number teams from Powergrid branch. Hey, C'mon!!! These teams are giving us their support, ok. Everything went very smoothly from the beginning till the end of the tournament. Our Exco officials turn up in full support for the kicking off...our Advisor MP Sin Boon Ann graced the opening ceremony. It's really encouraging seeing our officials at events organised by the youth wing. When we had our Bowling and Movie Screening, we git the same stellar support from them. The champion team was SPPG RNS, Runners-up SP Services REM Rangers and coming in third, Gas Team 1 and fourth Pasir Panjang Depot. Congratulations to all teams!!! Thank U Thank U Thank U For your Support!!!!!!

Our First Futsal Tournament

It's been days since I last posted. Quite busy with the preparation and also my studies.

In a few hours time, our first Futsal Tournament will commenced. Everything is ready to go!!!
Need to type out the itinerary of the event due to some minor changes.
Our IRO Aeron will be doing the MC duties . I don't think we'll need any script for MC The opening speech will be done by our GS and our Advisor will be kicking off the game.

It's good to see that all the preparations have gone and right on schedule. Got a call from one of the team managers. He's having problem with attendance of his team due to shortage of manpower at work. That's the nature of working in a powerplant. If your colleague in the next Shift Team don't turn up, you got to do overtime to cover the shortage.
I asked him to come even if his team is not in full numbers. Futsal needs a minimum of 5 players per team. We can just rope in a few of my guys who are on duty to play for his team. It's all in the name of fun. Nothing too serious.
What's upmost important is the spirit of camaraderie between the union and our members.

That's what I want to see in our First Futsal Tournament...a picture of Happiness.

Busy day....

After sending off my daughter to school, took breakfast at Casuarina Curry at Old Upper Thomson Road. That place brought so many beautiful memories of my childhood/primary school years. I was from Sembawang Hills Estate School...heard of it?. Need to plan a reunion of old my primary school classmates...miss those good ol days.

Then I was off to NTUC Fairprice HQ to collect the Vouchers for the Futsal Tournament followed by some personal banking thingy.

4pm is our meeting to finalize details of the tournament. Still waiting for an email from Umbro about the tournament cup.. why are they so slow?!?
We need to discuss all the fine details of the logistics involved for the tournament..food, loudhailers, venue operator, number of teams who've submitted the registration forms..etc.
Got a call yesterday from one of our members...1 team from Keppel is joining the tournament. Thank you for your support, bro!!!!!

I hope the meeting don't drag too late cos I need to rush off to YP's dialogue session at 0730pm.

Wifey finished her class at 10pm...need to pick her up and finally....off to work for my 1st night shift.

My coursework materials and TMAs are out, downloaded it just now...need to read em if I have time at work.

Will post more on union related stuff soon...

Retrenchment falls in Q2

Unionised sector sees retrenchments fall in Q2: labour chief
By S Ramesh, Channel NewsAsia


SINGAPORE: The second quarter of this year saw only one-third of the number of lay-offs experienced in the previous quarter for the unionised sector, said labour movement chief Lim Swee Say.

And while this showed an improvement over the nearly 10,000 retrenched in the first quarter, Mr Lim said Singaporeans must not assume the downturn is over.

When the economic downturn hit Singapore, the labour movement set itself three targets, said NTUC Secretary-General Lim Swee Say. These were: to avoid record retrenchments, a high unemployment rate as in 2003 when SARS hit, and to be among the first to bounce back when the upturn returns.

Mr Lim said: "After six months of tripartite efforts, we believe we are on track. We cannot say for sure that by the end of this year, whether we would be able to succeed to achieve all these three targets. But we will continue to pursue our 'Upturn the Downturn' strategy."

Mr Lim reminded Singaporeans that the downturn was not over yet despite recent reports that companies have started hiring.

A survey by consultancy firm Hudson said that for the first time since 2007, hiring expectations are up across the board.

The Singapore National Employers Federation also found from its regular quarterly surveys that the percentage of companies saying they were hiring had gone up from 20 to 25 per cent between March and June this year.

Stephen Lee, president, Singapore National Employers Federation, said: "Certainly this is a positive sign, but the question is how long will we be bottom-bumpy and how long will we stay at the bottom.

"Certainly there are no strong signs to indicate a fast recovery. So most companies are prepared that it will stay where it is and wait till the first quarter of next year to see whether it will pick up."

Mr Lim added: "Let us remember that not all industries will recover at the same time and at the same pace. So when we see some companies starting to recover and starting to hire workers, we should be happy, but don't be too happy.

"We cannot keep retrenchment down to zero. But we can make sure that when the worker is retrenched, he does not necessary become an unemployed worker."

Hence the need to remain focused on the fundamentals, with cutting costs to save jobs being key.

Although there may be some signs of improvement in hiring, the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) and the Singapore National Employers Federation said it is not time for companies and workers to rest on their laurels.

They encourage both employers and workers to take full advantage of the various training and re-training schemes available to enhance the employability of their workers. - CNA/vm

Dealing With Adversity

Dealing with Adversity

By Steve Farber , business speaker and author

At some time or another, for example, you have reported to bosses or people in positions of ‘greater authority’ who are self centred at best and idiotically egotistical at worst. They took all the credit and none of the blame, and could care less whether or no you succeeded or failed.
You may have spent some amount of time and energy navigating your way through challenges that come from trying to lead in those conditions. It is just the price you pay for being a manager.
Now, add to that the current implosion in the economy, and it is easy to see why , with all your efforts to be a positive, productive leader , you still get knocked down from time to time.
Your knee-jerk reaction in times of crisis is to hold tighter, to be more cautious in your actions, and more protective of your resources.
There is, however, a much more powerful course of action, which – though counter intuitive in these hyper-competitive times – is based on a timeless reality of true leadership.
Your own greatness as a leader lies, paradoxically, in your ability to cause others to be greater than yourself.
Said another way, your best way out of leadership challenge or crisis is NOT to focus on your own peril or rut but, instead, to reach out and try to boost someone else over your head.
Instead of wallowing in your own despair, pick someone at work to invest in, with the intent of making that person greater that you.
Be a coach, guide or mentor in the truest, most personal sense of the words by choosing someone to be your GTY (Greater Than Yourself) project, and see what that does to your own predicament, your own state of mind.
And don’t be surprised if – through your example- your whole organisation, company or team rises to establish itself as the new gold standard of leadership.

Read the full article here
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My view maybe different from others who read in this article.To me,it really opened my eyes on what is true leadership. In reality ,I know it's a rarity to see such leadership style. Fortunately for me ,I do see leaders embarking these GTY project in my union life. They asked us to take up responsibility, task and guiding us how to a good or great leaders. My branch chairman get my special mention here.
Mr Anbalagan s/o Veeramuthu
He's not highly educated but nevertheless a fiery union leader.Always full of confidence when leading our meetings with the management. I doubt he reads books on leadership like us the younger ones but that does'nt deter him in showing a very strong leadership character and willingness to impart his skills. One who is not afraid to hand over leadership but fearing instead of whom is capable enough to succeed.
A rarity but not impossible to find one.

Straits Times CATS RECRUIT page...

I love to read The Straits Times CATS Recruit back section where leadership gurus, business speakers or consultants wrote in their views of managing people, leadership style, motivation etc. I’ve been collecting/cutting a number of these articles over the years and have benefited a lot from these reading.

This is the first one I liked to share. An excerpt taken from an article by Mr Steve Faber , business speaker and author . He is currently in town to give one day seminar ‘ Greater Than Yourself: The New Gold Standard of Leadership Performance in Turbulent Times’

It's in my next blog post.

Executive membership in Union..

Executive membership in union is one of my concern as a young unionist. More and more young executive are joining my workplace but their union membership enrollment is very low.Gathered from some chat with the younger executives at my workplace, the misconception they have is that union representation is only for the junior officer or the rank-and file, technician, low wage worker etc.. They don't believe that the union can help them in dire straits or problems they might face at work.

Can the unionist do more to change this misconception?
Have we done enough to educate executive on the benefits of being a union member?

Here's an interesting article on this topic...how the Industrial Relation Act has evolved to help executives in their union representation. I quote some of the articles here for your view.

The traditional role of trade unions as the champions of the 'rank-and-file' employees shifted with the enactment of Part IIIA of the Industrial Relations Act (Cap. 136) ("IRA"), which came into effect on 1 September 2002. Rank-and-file trade unions1 are now able to represent executive employees. The rights of representation2 by such trade unions are limited to certain types of executive employees individually (and not as a class) and for the limited purposes as provided under the IRA.

Scope of Representation
Only a recognised rank-and-file trade union may represent a given executive employee for the following purposes:

1. to make representations to the Minister of Manpower ("MOM") for dismissal without just cause or excuse;
2. upon the retrenchment of the executive employee, to negotiate with the employer to resolve any disputes relating to the retrenchment benefit payable to the executive employee;
3. to negotiate with the employer to resolve any disputes relating to a breach of contract of employment by the executive employee or the employer;
4. to represent the executive employee in proceedings before the Industrial Relations Court in respect of (i) the dismissal or reinstatement of the employee in circumstances arising out of his union or industrial activities or (ii) any matter referred to in paragraph (b) or (c) above.

An "executive employee" is defined in the IRA as an employee who is employed in a managerial or an executive position. .

Read the full article here

OTCi Graduands Dialogue with SG....Can't attend:(

Today there'll be a a dialogue session for graduands( mostly unionist and number of HR practitioners) of OCTI .
Being a former graduand (Diploma in Employment Relation etc.),I was really looking forward to participate in this dialogue session. I'm very curious how the exchange of views will be like especially with an audience of unionists. Dialogue sessions with unionist are always exciting and we normally come strongly with our views.

Unfortunately, there's a minor change of my working arrangement today (got to be on standby till 12am)thus I'm unable to attend .
I guess I got to wait till the next NTUC Newsletter coverage of this event. I promise I'll share it here.
Stay tune...

Its 2am in the morning...

I've just finished preparing our Learning Report/Seed Funding claim for our last bowling event organised by my union Youth Chapter.
Seed Funding by Young NTUC is a great way to help young unionists to take leading roles in organising events, managing/proposing/negotiating about the budget etc.

Here's an article about Young NTUC Seed Funding Scheme

We've organised about 4 Seed Funded events since my Youth Chapter was formed in 2007 ...it sure was a lot of hardwork but the satisfaction of seeing the events turning into reality..nothing can beat that ;).


Our upcoming event will be the Futsal Tournament..due on 1st Aug 2009. Minor glitches here and there but we are hanging on. Honestly, yeah I'm abit worried. The E-blast launching was quite slow thus making our schedule a bit tight..Seriously we need more time to gather the participants etc.

One thing I noticed, the teamwork from my committee members is a lot better this time round... Keep it up guys!!!!!!

My First post

Hello everybody!!!

I've always wanted to write a journal/blog where the main focus will be on my involvement in the labour movement or Union work , HR policies and a thing or two about leadership . It's not that I don't give my comments on the net but it's mostly on music blogs or forums (my other favourite pastimes).

For those who knows me in person, I breath and live about union work whenever we talk about the worker's plight.

I joined as a union member in 1996. Dissatisfied with the plight of my fellow colleagues and wanting a change, I decided to give a shot at the union elections in 2003 . I've been actively involved in the union work since then.

2007 opened a new chapter in my union work. After joining Young NTUC, we formed our own youth chapter with a total number of 13 committee members from various branch in my union.

A short article of my involvement in the labour movement on NTUC News in 2008

I will be doing my Bachelor of Human Resoure Management at Uni-SIM end of July 2009. Knowledge is the key to Wisdom...


Come join me in this journey.... My Union World:-)

' Leadership is not about Position. Leadership is all about Action"..