By Naseema Banu Maideen
A book of truth, trials and tribulations. “Winning Against The Odds - The Labour Research Unit In NTUC’s Founding” is a reflection of some paths in the journey of the Labour Movement as told by President S R Nathan. He gifted this book to the Labour Movement in celebration of its 50th birthday and has dedicated this book to the late C V Devan Nair, the man behind the existence of the NTUC today.
“…as a witness of his uncanny ability to lead and motivate the loyalty of the bunch of comrades who followed him, I can do no less. He had to overcome the heavy odds stacked against him, as he strove to establish the NTUC. If only for that reason, he merits this accolade as the founder of NTUC,” he said.
Speaking at the launch of the book at the NTUC Centre on 25 January 2011, President Nathan cited several reasons that led to the documentation of his meaningful recollections.
He shared: “One reason is because it is about some interesting times in our past which I lived through. It is also about the Labour Research Unit, an unusual agency, and the role it played in the founding of today’s NTUC. It was composed primarily of Civil Servants and some Trade Union leaders, who were thrown to undertake, without much experience, a much needed task in what traditionally would have fallen on trade union activists and others with a political calling”.
In honest thoughts, he said that he offers no apologies for readers’ possible perceptions of a “highly selective account of those times” and “disjointed or even incomplete” parts in the book as he emphasised that these stories have been told as they remain in his memory.
He added: “I enjoyed living those years, with their challenges and frustrations. I would not wish to say anything differently, even if there are differences of views by others, interpreting the happenings of those times differently.”
In his book, President Nathan also recognised the contributions of many stalwarts of NTUC who served its cause. He cited leaders like Hsu Tse Kwang, Mahmud Awang, Ho See Beng, Seah Mui Kok, Aziz Karim, Bernard Rodrigues, T V Gomez, Joseph Tan, Lawrence Sia, Eric Cheong, Tan Soon Yam, Gopalakrishnan, Hashim Idris, Peter Lim, Francis Rozario, Michael Chua, Choo Eng Khoon, Lim Keng Hoe, Chin Harn Tong and others not named.
In essence, President Nathan said this book carries stories of those “interesting and dangerous times which today’s generation must have some insights into.”
