Speech at The Work-Life Excellence Award 2008 Gala Dinner

Mr Hawazi Daipi, Chairman

Mr Gan Kim Yong,
Acting Minister for Manpower

Ms Claire Chiang,
Chairperson of the Employer Alliance

Mr Landis Hick,
Vice President for SNEF

Mr Cyrille Tan,
Vice President for NTUC

Distinguished guests,

Ladies and gentlemen,

Good evening. I am very happy to welcome you to the Work-Life Excellence Award 2008 Gala Dinner.

2.   This is the second time we are celebrating the Work-Life achievements of organisations through the Work-Life Excellence Award. Much has been achieved since the last Award in 2006. For a start, many of you may have felt the keener competition this year and were anxious to know the results. This year, we saw a 10% increase in the number of applications. The quality of the submissions has also improved significantly with many companies illustrating innovation and success indicators in their Work-Life strategy. As a result, the benchmark for the Excellence Award has moved up a notch. This is proof that more companies are adopting Work-Life strategy, and improving on their programmes and practices. It also shows that the Work-Life Harmony proposition is one that companies cannot ignore.

3.   Winning the Award is an acknowledgement of the effort and success in how Work-Life strategy has made a difference to your business, and to the very people driving your company ― the employees. As first-time Achiever Award Winner, Dow Chemical, puts it: "the human capital is the true competitive advantage that any company can have, because it is not replicable. Machines and technology can always be copied and further improved upon. But if you have a strong human capital, no one can copy you."

4.   Employees form the heartware of the company, and Work-Life Harmony can only be achieved when there are committed and passionate leaders to propel the Work-Life initiatives. To acknowledge the contribution of such outstanding individuals, a new category, the Work-Life Leadership Award, was introduced. I am pleased that we have 2 winners for this inaugural award. I congratulate Mr Gurchran Jit Singh, Group President and Co-founder of Cherie Hearts, and Ms Lim Soo Hoon, Permanent Secretary of the Public Service Division, on their laudable achievement.

5.   I am hopeful that the Work-Life environment will continue to flourish and I urge all of you to continue to adopt, adapt and advocate Work-Life Harmony in Singapore. Tonight as we celebrate the success, let's continue to be steadfast in our drive for Work-Life Harmony. On this note, I wish you an enjoyable and memorable evening.

Thank you.