Mr Lim Chuan Poh, Chairman, ST Logistics Board of Directors
Mr Logonathan, CEO, ST Logistics
Mr Tan Kok Yam, Chief Executive, SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG)
Bro Mak Mun Whai, Chairman, NTUC Land Connectivity Cluster
Bro Joseph Chong, President, Supply Chain Employees’ Union (SCEU)
Distinguished guests, partners,
Sisters and Brothers,
A very good morning to all of you. I’m delighted to join you today at the ST Logistics-SCEU Learning Festival.
I thank you all who are present in the collaboration between NTUC and ST Logistics, whether it is the SMEs or Government. Congratulations to ST Logistics on your re-appointment as the SkillsFuture Queen Bee for the supply chain and logistics sector.
This renewed mandate speaks volumes of the trust placed in ST Logistics to lead industry transformation and workforce upskilling, and taking care of workers.
THE DREAM, DARE, DO PHILOSOPHY
At NTUC, we have a simple philosophy of 3D’s: ‘Dream, Dare, Do’.
We Dream of a better future for the workers of Singapore, including PMEs; we Dare to take bold steps towards transformation, including maybe even setbacks or failures along the way. But always looking towards turning these dreams into realities, for the workers in Singapore towards a better life and livelihood.
This philosophy has guided our partnership with ST Logistics under the Company Training Committee (CTC).
I hear ST Logistics had dreamt of a Digital Worker 5.0 – workers who are digitally enabled, blending foundational skills with advanced technologies, so they are ready to thrive in the digital era.
Back in 2019, NTUC had the same dream. Partnering industry 4.0 technologies for Worker 4.0 for the future. Now, we are moving towards Worker 5.0.
Therefore, we have mutual grounds of collaboration and I’m glad we have partnered through the CTC, with the involvement of SCEU President, Bro Joseph Chong. Hand in glove, the company and the union had identified the essential competencies and developed a six-pillar Skills Framework that serve the company and workers well.
This included training in Artificial Intelligence – not just to understand AI, but to use it in real operations by your employees.
Let me share with you an inspiring story of Bro Neo Zhen Sheng, a Senior Innovation Specialist in the Strategy & Transformation Office at ST Logistics.
At the start, he had little experience with tools like Microsoft Power Apps, Power BI, and AI Builder.
With support from the Digital Worker 5.0 training initiative, backed by the Company Training Committee, Brother Neo put his skills into action on real projects.
The company gained tremendous productivity gains and went into a new area of business.
Brother Neo developed practical in-house applications. By helping the company succeed, he now qualifies for the $325 Skills Allowance, and gained recognition as a technology champion within his team.
It is not just the immediate wage increase that NTUC will be pushing for; we also want to improve our workers’ future work prospects.
The approach that our unions look at, are not just immediate rewards, but also work prospects for the future - to garner a sustainable ecosystem, both for company’s productivity gains, and worker outcomes in better wages and better work prospects.
Besides technology, he has gone into some form of managerial skills set development, being a coach and mentor to many, even training and facilitating PowerApps classes and other digital skills workshops.
A thriving, sustainable, win-win ecosystem for the company and the workers!
What’s important about this story? It shows that transformation can happen because of close collaboration between ST Logistics, SCEU and key training partners such as NTUC LearningHub, to push a common agenda.
Together, we ensure businesses can thrive, and every worker — like Brother Neo — is equipped to thrive in the evolving digital landscape; very quickly disrupted by AI.
Well done, Brother Neo, and well done to the teams in SCEU and ST Logistics!
FROM DREAM, DARE, DO TO DELIVER
In Singapore, our tripartism is unique.
Our unions work hand in glove with companies to thrive, so that we can have a long-term strategy of taking care of workers, not just on immediate wages but on long-term work prospects. More importantly, with the government to create a thriving Singapore that is pro-growth.
NTUC is pro-growth, pro-business and pro-workers at the same time.
Today, I want to add a fourth ‘D’ – ‘Deliver’.
You must Dream, you must Dare, you must Do, and now that you have moved the needle with CTCs, we must Deliver the outcomes.
Brother Neo’s journey is a perfect example of what it means to ‘Deliver’ — turning plans into real, positive outcomes for business and workers.
The CTC model shows us that with targeted training and strong union-employer collaboration, we can make a real difference in workers’ lives.
Building on this success, NTUC is going beyond raising awareness at the company level, but going into a cluster Company Training Committee concept. So that transformation is going beyond one company, which started with ST Logistics, but now with ST Logistics as a Queen Bee, and in conjunction with SkillsFuture Singapore, to spread the initial good work under ST Logistics’ and Brother Joseph’s leadership, and expand it across the industry in protecting more businesses and more workers.
This is what we call the Queen Bee model. When the Queen Bee moves, the whole hive will be vibrant. When the Queen Bee hive grows too big, the bees will start migrating and colonise new Queen Bees. That is where we want the ecosystem to be.
From businesses to the economy, we want each sector of our economy to thrive. NTUC will play our part together with ST Logistics to seed this possibility for this sector.
The CTC Grant is a key enabler for this to work. With PM Lawrence Wong’s endorsement of a $200 million top-up to the NTUC CTC Grant, we are now in a stronger position to support this, working with more partners to drive transformation.
We were given $100 million initially, and now it is a total budget of $300 million.
VALUE OF THE NTUC CLUSTER TRAINING COMMITTEE
Looking at today’s uncertain operating environment – with geopolitical tensions, shifting trade rules and AI disruption – I know all business leaders understand the need to be more agile and be shock-proof.
Supply chain and logistics business will no longer be the simple movement of goods from Point A to Point B. It will be about building adaptive, AI-driven, sustainable networks.
That’s why I’m happy to hear ST Logistics’ focus on sustainability reporting, AI applications, and workplace safety - both timely and necessary.
With the Queen Bee concept and the cluster CTC level now, we hope to partner you to upgrade 15,000 workers of this sector of supply chain, so that we can uplift the workforce and the skills sets needed to support the businesses.
Take the example of ST Healthcare, a business unit of ST Logistics.
The NTUC’s CTC Grant, supported by SCEU, has made an impact. They implemented an AI-powered inspection system for medication pouching.
The robots compare photo images of each pouch, remove defectives ones, reseal the rest to ensure accuracy, scalability during peak periods and productive gains.
This saved an estimated 4,160 manhours annually, and redesigned jobs for 31 local workers who were upskilled into higher-value roles.
But transformation is not just about digitalisation. Sustainability reporting or ESG capabilities are now a must-have in the supply chain & logistics sector.
Global customers and regulators expect transparency, sustainability, and ethical operations.
We will partner you through our NTUC’s Industry Training & Transformation team to run targeted masterclass on sustainability, to upskill not just in AI but in other areas of businesses.
I hope the different SMEs supporting ST Logistics will participate in this and make use of the CTC Grant for your business transformation.
By moving together, we can build a sector that is resilient and future-ready.
CLOSING REMARKS
In closing, I thank ST Logistics and SSG for this meaningful partnership.
I encourage more SME partners to join the SkillsFuture Queen Bee programme and leverage our Cluster CTC model.
We will bring in our Operations and Technology Roadmapping to help you with business transformation in tandem with workforce upgrade.
Together, we can put the supply chain business sector in Singapore in the best position, to overcome the different challenges and headwinds we face today, and importantly, seize new opportunities.
If anybody can thrive, let it be Singapore.
The tripartite arrangement that can harness not just in the ideas and ideations; the dreams, and because of the trust forged over 60 years, we have the ability to dare, to do, and most important to deliver the outcomes for our country as an economy.
For businesses to thrive, and for our workers, especially the young ones, to have better lives and livelihoods.
Thank you, and I wish everyone a fruitful learning festival ahead!
