Speech at Work-Life Conference 2013

Mr Hawazi Daipi, Chairman, Concorde Hotel Singapore

1. A very good morning to all of you. It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to the Work-Life Conference 2013, organised by the Tripartite Committee on Work-Life Strategy.
   
   Work-life has advanced to a new level in Singapore
2. During my nine years chairing the TriCom, I have seen work-life harmony progress from a fairly new concept to one where there is greater awareness amongst Singaporean employers and employees. In recent times, we have also seen more discussions on work-life harmony at the national level, which is a reflection of its importance in today’s context.
3. As we come together to discuss this topic at today’s conference, I would like to first call upon everyone here to reflect on what work-life harmony means to you as an individual as well as an employer. At the individual level, we must first recognise that all of us play various roles in our lives, whether it is somebody else’s parents, spouse, children or a worker. At some point in our lives, there might be changes that we have to make to harmonise our work and personal needs. As an employer, does work-life harmony then necessarily mean that personal needs have to be sacrificed for career development and vice versa? I don’t think the two are mutually exclusive.  
   
   Flexibility for Work-life Harmony
4. The TriCom believes that work and life can co-exist and not at the expense of each other. What this means is that employers must put in place flexibility at the workplace to allow employees to harmonise work and personal needs. Last year, 41% of employers offer at least one form of flexible work arrangements, an increase from 25% in 2007¹. I think we have made progress, however, a lot more can and should be done.
5. This is why the theme for this year’s conference is “Flexibility: Transforming Workplaces for the Future”. I think we all recognise that we are facing a manpower shortage, and we need to respond to this challenge. At this conference, you will be able to learn about best practices from leading companies which have successfully implemented flexibility at their workplaces and are already reaping the benefits of such arrangements. It is never too late to start implementing flexible work arrangements at your workplace. Very often, big changes start with small tweaks.  
   
   Conclusion
6. I would like to thank members and partners of the Tripartite Committee on Work-Life Strategy for organising this year’s Work-Life Conference and for their relentless efforts in promoting work-life message to organisations as well as employees. I am heartened by the strong turnout today, and I am confident that we will continue to make good progress towards greater work-life harmony in Singapore.
7. I wish you all a fruitful Conference. Thank you.