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Speech at Groundbreaking Ceremony of The Ministry of Manpower Bendemeer Office

Mr Gan Kim Yong, Minister for Manpower, 1500 Bendemeer Road

Employment practices
Distinguished Guests

Ladies and Gentlemen

Good morning

Introduction 

  1. It gives me great pleasure to join you this morning for the groundbreaking ceremony of the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) Bendemeer Office. Today marks another milestone in our journey towards service excellence.

    Delivering World-Class Service at Bendeemer Office
  2. Presently, our various service centres are situated at different locations. An employer who would like to submit a manual work permit application would need to go to our Work Pass Services Centre at Tanjong Pagar. But if he would like to enquire about the employment rights of his workers, he would need to meet MOM officers at our Havelock office. All these will change by mid-2012. The MOM Bendemeer Office will consolidate our offices and services into a centre that serves wide-ranging needs of our customers1.
  3. The four-storey building will house our three main business divisions, namely Labour Relations & Workplaces, Occupational Safety & Health and Foreign Manpower Management, as well as the Work Pass Services Centre. A Customer Service Centre will also be set up to provide services such as consultation and inquiry on employment and work injury compensation matters. Our valued partner, the Workplace Safety & Health Council, will also be relocating from the Ministry of National Development Complex to this building. With our business divisions and most of our frontline services housed under the same roof, we will be able to streamline and integrate our operations, delivering seamless service to our customers.
  4. In January this year, I launched the Employment Pass Services Centre2, which sets a new benchmark and paradigm in Government service delivery. Similarly, the MOM Bendemeer Office was conceptualised with the same customer focus - to provide a world-class service experience for our customers. We will be adopting customer-centric tools and approaches, such as design thinking and prototyping to improve services that matter to our customers.
  5. The new Bendemeer Customer Service Centre will have dedicated service ambassadors to assist customers to navigate the various services provided at the centre, and guide them to the right service counters. Customers with specific needs can make e-appointments in advance to save time and enjoy prompt service.

    Leveraging on e-Services and New Media
  6. Besides the MOM Bendemeer Office, I am also proud to launch the refreshed MOM website - which attracts more than eight million page views every month and is already one of the top five 'top-of-mind' Government websites3. MOM customers can now enjoy an enhanced user experience as the new website is designed not only with a new look-and-feel but also with a user-centric information architecture. We have made significant improvements to the website, based on findings from usability studies and focus group discussions.
  7. In line with the Government’s move to tap on more e-services and to boost productivity levels, we have improved our service offerings to customers through new e-features. In the past, customers had to come down to our offices and submit documents manually. With the iSubmit portal, customers can enjoy greater convenience and reduce transaction time through online document submissions. Besides this, we are also enhancing the engagement with our customers through the new iSuggest feature. Customers can put forward their suggestions electronically on how MOM can improve our services and processes. This means customers are more involved with MOM in the feedback process. With these exciting new changes, I urge you to log on to MOM website today and experience the new website features.
  8. Singapore ranks highly as one of the most connected countries in the world. With an internet penetration rate of 72%, many Singaporeans are familiar with new media and social media platforms. I am pleased to inform you that we have set up an MOM Corporate Blog as well as a Facebook Page to further facilitate a two-way communication process with our customers. Individuals can gain insights on a wide variety of issues and policies that MOM deals with and benefit from the rich conversations online. I have started the ball rolling with my first blog entry –and I look forward to your participation online as well. You can also join our Facebook page today!

    Conclusion
  9. The MOM Bendemeer Office, our refreshed website and new media channels represent a culmination of both hardware and software efforts to significantly raise the level of customer service and engagement. I am confident that the Bendemeer Office will be able to deliver on its promise of service excellence and MOM’s customers can look forward to an integrated and first-rate service centre when it is operational by mid-2012.
  10. Thank you.
    1 MOM Headquarters: 18 Havelock Road, Singapore 059764
    Work Pass Services Centre: Tanjong Pagar Complex, 7 Keppel Road #02-27/29, Singapore 089053
    MOM Kim Seng: 120 Kim Seng Road, Singapore 239436

    2 The Employment Pass Services Centre is located at The Riverwalk, 20 Upper Circular Road, #04-01/02, Singapore (058416).

    3 The finding is from Project Two-One which delivered a report on focus groups for pilot agencies on 1 September 2008.