National Day Message 2025 by NTUC Secretary-General Ng Chee Meng

NATIONAL DAY MESSAGE 2025 BY NTUC SECRETARY-GENERAL NG CHEE MENG

Dear Sisters and Brothers,

Happy 60^th National Day! We have come a long way since independence. Our nation’s prosperity and progress have been painstakingly forged over 60 years by generations of Singaporeans.

Working with workers, for workers

In this journey, we have weathered through numerous adversities, and in the process, built a nation of united people.

In overcoming these adversities, NTUC has played a key role. During the 2008 global financial crisis, NTUC helped Singaporeans keep their jobs by working with employers to cut costs (including salaries) to save jobs. In addition, NTUC acted quickly to upskill workers in anticipation of helping them rebound after the crisis.

To do this, we worked closely with tripartite partners to implement the Skills Programme for Upgrading and Resilience (SPUR) and sent workers for training during the downtime. Workers were able to seize new and good jobs after the economy recovered.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, NTUC put our full support behind the SGUnited Jobs and Skills initiative, which included the Jobs Support Scheme (JSS) and Self-Employed Person Income Relief Scheme (SIRS). We concurrently started the NTUC Care Fund (COVID-19) to provide relief to our members.

These efforts were timely and proved invaluable to our workers to be able to emerge stronger from the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, as we celebrate SG60, we find ourselves in the midst of great uncertainties in the way ahead. There are new challenges arising from deepening trade wars, exacerbated by the US tariffs. The wars in Europe and the Middle East have also impacted international energy markets, commercial aviation, and global supply chains.

These worrying developments are expected to have long-term impact on the global economy and Singapore.

NTUC will support the efforts of the Government to navigate this developing landscape. We will work with tripartite partners as part of the Singapore Economic Resilience Taskforce (SERT) to support our workers, including PMEs, in overcoming today’s challenges and seize new opportunities.

Shaping the future of work

Besides the changing global landscape, Singapore will also have to develop strategies to explore and exploit artificial intelligence (AI) to our advantage. AI will significantly disrupt the workplace and jobs. While the rise of Generative AI is inevitable, human skillsets remain relevant and the human touch remains irreplaceable.

We should all embrace AI to augment our work productivity. However, AI should be harnessed in ways that would ensure fair workplace practices and not be inadvertently used in ways that can lead to disrupted livelihoods and hardships.

To better support our workers, NTUC will refresh the Job Security Council (JSC) to help companies and workers pivot, adapt, and capitalise on emerging AI trends so that they can be upskilled and be relevant in the new economy.

Through the JSC, we will work with companies to drive business and workforce transformation. For workers, we will continue to support you to future-proof your careers through relevant career guidance, AI and other upskilling, mentorship opportunities, and purposeful job matching.

In the face of change, the best way to future-proof yourself is to upskill to stay abreast of new developments and technology. To date, NTUC has formed over 3,300 Company Training Committees (CTCs) to help businesses transform, redesign jobs, and prepare for the future of work. With the $200 million top-up to the CTC initiative announced in Budget 2025, NTUC is well-positioned to continue these efforts, so as help our workers, including PMEs, to achieve better wages, welfare and work prospects.

Sisters and Brothers, as we celebrate SG60, let us continue to build a more resilient economy and workforce in solidarity. NTUC will work closely with the Government to shape the development of our future economy, and ensure that our workers, including PMEs, remain competitive in the global market.

NTUC will innovate to strengthen job security for our workers, and ensure we remain agile, adaptable and resilient in the face of uncertainties.

Whether you are a youth, mature worker, lower-wage worker, freelancer, PME, platform worker, caregiver or migrant worker, NTUC will continue to work with you, for you. That is our promise to you.

I wish all our workers a very Happy National Day!

Majulah Singapura!

Ng Chee Meng

NTUC Secretary-General