Message by Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister for Foreign Affairs, SSEU Advisor for SSEU Souvenir Publication 2019

Congratulations to the Singapore Shell Employees' Union (SSEU-Shell) on celebrates your 35th anniversary this year! During this time, the Union has steadfastly championed the cause of workers, and actively and constructively engaged the management on workers' concerns and aspirations. It has reached out to its members, provided for their training needs and welfare, and rallied their support for initiatives that bring long-term benefits to Shell and its workers. Even today, Shell-SSEU continues to work to expand its coverage of workers that it represents. The close cooperation and dialogue have forged a strong and resilient partnership between the Union and its members, and management. Shell has been in Singapore for over a century, and has a special place in Singapore's history. At the same time, it has evolved and moved with the times. Today, we are living through a fractured world over and accelerating digital disruption. This disruption brings challenges, but also opportunities. I am heartened that SSEU-Shell has continued to keep its workers up-to-date with relevant skills throughout their working life, and which will benefit both employers as well as workers themselves to ride the wave of change. The strong tripartite partnership between workers, employers and the government is unique to Singapore, and our key competitive advantage. It has been instrumental in creating a favourable business and investment climate, enabling us to attract companies to invest and do business here. Going forward, we must continue to work together in this spirit of tripartism to upgrade and remake our economy, adapt, and seize new opportunities. This is the way forward to grow and prosper, create more jobs for Singaporeans, and pave the way to a better future for all of us in this age of transformation.