PRIME MINISTER LEE HSIEN LOONG'S MAY DAY 2010 MESSAGE

While May day may just be another non-eventful public holiday for Singaporean, the same cannot be said for some countries as we see demonstrations and even violence by workers on the street. I feel fortunate to be a Singaporean who, despite having differences, are normally rational enough to address challenges and issues in more peaceful and effective ways. We would like to present Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's May Day 2010 Message which calls for a united front towards sustaining continuous growth for Singapore.

Working together to sustain growth

THANKS to the efforts of Singaporeans, our economy stayed resilient during the global economic crisis last year. We were hard hit. But unions, employers and Government worked closely to help firms and workers ride the storm. Our focus on saving jobs paid off. Singapore's employment actually grew amid the downturn, a remarkable achievement.

The economy is much better this year. Our GDP went up 13 per cent year-on-year in the first quarter. The Government has raised our growth forecast for the entire year to between 7 per cent and 9 per cent.

We must see this remarkable performance in perspective. This quarterly growth figure reflects the volatility of our small, open economy. Some sectors like electronics and biomedical sciences expanded sharply, but others have not done quite as well. Furthermore, the jump represents a transient rebound from the sharp dip last year, and is not a sustainable long-term growth rate.

Nevertheless, we have emerged from the storm in a strong position, and can look forward to a good year. We must make the most of this opportunity to push forward our longer-term plans: transforming the economy, upgrading our workforce and raising our productivity.

Other Asian economies are also progressing rapidly and catching up with us. But if we make a concerted effort, we can maintain our lead, achieve our target of 3 per cent to 5 per cent annual growth over the next decade, and continue to improve the wages and lives of all Singaporeans.

Firms will be at the forefront of the productivity effort. They need to be well managed and focus on quality, not quantity. They need to restructure their own organisations - cut waste, streamline processes and automate routine work. Firms have to constantly innovate and invent new products, fight for market share and strike out into new, unfamiliar territories. There are numerous ways for businesses to do things 'Cheaper, Better, Faster'. Only when the firm is in the right business, and is operating efficiently, will its workers be able to work productively.

To support this effort, workers need to update and improve their skills, pick up new abilities, and achieve greater mastery at their jobs. Worker upgrading is a marathon without a finish line. Singaporeans are already working hard, and it is important to make every working hour count. During the downturn last year, workers actively attended training programmes. We must keep up such efforts now that the economy is growing again.

The Government will do its part too. We will spend $5.5 billion over the next five years to boost productivity. We are building a first-class Continuing Education and Training system, which will do for adults what our schools and post-secondary institutions do for our young. We are also raising foreign worker levies to encourage businesses to improve their productivity and not rely excessively on cheaper foreign workers.

The National Productivity and Continuing Education Council, chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean, is overseeing this national effort. Each sector and industry will have its unique challenges and priorities, and we must tailor our efforts to fit each of them.

More immediately, with the strong pickup, many companies are restoring the wage cuts and shorter work hours introduced during the downturn. Others are awarding bonuses and increments. These companies have remembered the sacrifices made by workers during the crisis. Their actions are strengthening the trust between workers and employers. They should work with the unions to look beyond the immediate optimism, build up variable bonuses and structure their wage systems to be sustainable and flexible over the longer term.

The Government will pay special attention to low-wage workers. We have enhanced the Workfare Income Supplement and raised its income limit from $1,500 to $1,700. The new Workfare Training Scheme will encourage employers to send workers for retraining, and workers to complete their training programmes.

Singapore has successfully tackled past challenges because of our strong tripartite partnership. Unions work with employers and the Government to enlarge the pie so that all will have more to share. Investors and businesses value highly our collaborative spirit, facing difficulties and solving problems together. Our track record of tripartism is a key competitive advantage for Singapore.

Our union leaders understand what Singapore's prosperity, and our workers' well-being, depend upon. They know that there is no substitute for hard work, ingenuity and enterprise. They have done much to help workers understand the economic trends affecting them, and encourage them to go for retraining and upgrading.

The Government will continue to give the unions full support in our tripartite efforts. We must maintain our cohesive spirit. We have to work together, uphold tripartism, focus on productivity, and give special attention to low-wage workers. Then we can improve workers' lives and sustain inclusive growth for all over the long term.