Employers, unionists support Ng Chee Meng staying on as labour chief

Singapore

EMPLOYERS and analysts have joined the labour movement to support Ng Chee Meng, who remains as the leader of the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC), despite no longer being a Cabinet minister.

NTUC president Mary Liew said on Tuesday that Mr Ng would retain his position in the labour movement following the defeat that he and his People's Action Party team suffered in Sengkang GRC at the hands of the Workers Party in last Friday's General Election. His post as NTUC secretary-general is an elected position "which stands independent of political appointments", she said.

Mr Ng, who used to be Minister in the Prime Minister's Office and a Member of Parliament for Pasir-Ris Punggol GRC, said on Facebook that "while the roles of labour chief and Cabinet minister have been inextricably linked..., they are in fact independent".

For the past 40 years, the role of NTUC secretary-general has been held by a full government minister in Cabinet, an arrangement made at the request of NTUC's central committee. Union delegates elect the secretary-general once in four years.

The arrangement reflects the "symbiotic relationship between the NTUC and PAP - a bond which Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong reminded NTUC leaders last October that must be sustained and strengthened.

In a statement following NTUC's announcement, the Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF) reaffirmed employers' tripartite partnership with NTUC, which has often been credited among the reasons for Singapore's economic success.

SNEF said Mr Ng has helped businesses transform by convincing and supporting workers to reskill. He also consulted employers and embraced their feedback on employment issues.

Said SNEF president Robert Yap: "I am confident that the tripartite partnership in Singapore remains strong with Brother Ng Chee Meng as the secretary-general of NTUC."

Kurt Wee, president of the Association of Small & Medium Enterprises, said tripartism would not be weakened "in any way" with Mr Ng losing his Cabinet position. "When government, businesses and labour are working together, they don't see it from a political or politically coloured perspective."

Mr Wee said it is a good thing that Mr Ng now has no political role: "It sets a new precedence. It's always good to have that level of independence; it's not a bad thing at all."

CIMB's private bank economist Song Seng Wun sees this as "a maturing of the political landscape when we don't need a political position to have someone in charge of NTUC". "It provides a better picture of independence, so that tripartism is given more credence, and there'll be a truly independent labour movement. At least, it's the first step taken toward a truly independent labour movement."

Still, some analysts say Mr Ng may not have the same influence he once had. Gillian Koh, deputy director of research at the Institute of Policy Studies, told TODAYonline that some unionists may ask just how much Mr Ng can represent their voices as NTUC chief. But Eugene Tan, law lecturer at the Singapore Management University, said NTUC should not be seen as an "inferior" tripartite partner now: "The government still endorses Mr Ng as the labour chief.

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