SPEECH BY MRS JOSEPHINE TEO, SENIOR MINISTER OF STATE, PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE, MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS & MINISTRY OF TRANSPORT AT THE DAY OF THE SEAFARER CELEBRATIONS & LAUNCH OF SKILLSFUTURE EARN AND LEARN PROGRAMMES FOR THE MARITIME SECTOR ON 24 JUNE 2016 

Good morning friends from the maritime industry, ladies and gentlemen,

1.     It is a great pleasure to be here and join you for the celebration of the Day of the Seafarer. 

2.     As it turns out, a few months ago, during the Singapore Maritime Week, I met two young seafarers - Lay Ying, a captain, and Aaron. Lay Ying has been sailing for over ten years when I met her and she is now a Master Mariner for an offshore supply vessel (OSV). Lay Ying is very outstanding - although lady captains are not unheard of, they are still quite uncommon. Aaron was a third officer on bulk carriers when I met him and he is currently pursuing his Class 1 and 2 Certificates of Competency (CoC). 

3.     Both Lay Ying and Aaron struck me as being very enthusiastic about seafaring. I asked them if they had to say something to fellow Singaporeans who were deciding on which careers to pursue, what would they tell them. I was very pleasantly surprised that they both promoted the maritime experience with passion - Lay Ying even made a special shout out to the ladies to join the offshore sector. This morning, when I boarded the KOTA SABAS vessel, it turns out that one of its Fourth Officers whom I chatted with, Christina Tan, is Lay Ying's cousin. So Lay Ying's shout out was not for show, she actually persuaded and convinced her cousin to take up seafaring. 

4.     Seafaring careers are generally not so well known but in fact, they offer many good opportunities including for Singaporeans. Over 90 per cent of world trade is carried by sea. If you pause for a minute to look at the things around us, including our food, clothing, furniture, the equipment that we use for all kinds of work - almost everything or parts of it has been through a ship. It is very hard not to find things or parts of it that did not go through a ship. This is true not just in port cities like Singapore but even in remote parts of the world.

5.     Without shipping, the movement of goods on the scale necessary for the modern life would not be possible. Seafarers play a key role in sustaining this lifeline. The theme of this year's Day of the Seafarer - “At Sea For All” - is therefore not an exaggeration. The work of seafarers brings benefit to all of us.   

6.     As a global hub port, Singapore welcomes some 12,000 seafarers daily to our shores. Over the years, the Government, together with industry partners and unions, have put in place various facilities, programmes and year-round recreational activities to ensure seafarers' well-being. I am glad to know that the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) contributes $150,000 annually to improve the welfare services for seafarers calling in Singapore.

7.     As many of you know, the Port of Singapore is the world's busiest container transhipment hub with connectivity to 600 ports globally. Among other accolades, our port is widely recognised for its consistent service quality, innovation and reliability. Earlier this month, we were awarded the 'Best Seaport in Asia' for the 28th time. For Singapore to stay ahead as a leading hub port, it is vital that we invest in our youth and attract them to join the maritime sector.

8.     I am therefore pleased to announce that MPA has worked with the Singapore Workforce Development Agency and other partners to develop three new SkillsFuture Earn and Learn Programmes (ELPS). These ELPs will grow a local core of port operations officers, deck officers and marine engineers, and let more Singaporeans like Lay Ying, Christina and Aaron take up good careers in the maritime sector. Besides seafaring, there are job opportunities in port operations. Today I met some of them who supervise wharf operations. The nature of the work is very interesting, varied, IT-intensive and it calls for judgment. I think these are the things that appeal to young people. The jobs are not boring - you have to be alert, apply your senses and consider the different implications. These are good jobs and we want to let more Singaporeans know about them. 

9.     The ELPs will give fresh polytechnic graduates a head start in their careers, by putting them through facilitated training and mentorship programmes. The trainees will deepen their skills and acquire relevant work experience valuable to the industry, and receive a competitive starting salary and full-time employment with participating companies. The employers also benefit from being able to groom talents suited to their needs. 

10.     There are 30 trainees in this inaugural batch of SkillsFuture ELPs, and I had the opportunity to speak to several of them earlier today. Christina was one of them. Beside her cousin, Christina has an elder sister who is also a seafarer. I can see that Christina is doing well in her job and I believe that she will have a rewarding career at sea. It is also certainly foreseeable that she will captain her own ship in the future.

11.     I also met Muhammad Dinie Abdul Aziz, one of the trainees in port operations which I have mentioned. Dinie shared with me that he is confident that the programme will help bridge the gap between what was learnt in school and what will be required on the job. He has been doing this for about two years now. I am heartened by the enthusiasm of the trainees and wish them every success in their maritime careers.

12.     We will continue to invest in developing manpower for the maritime industry. The three new SkillsFuture ELPs complement the various manpower initiatives I have outlined for the sea transport sector during my Ministry's Committee of Supply debate in April this year. 

13.     Once again, let me thank our seafarers as we celebrate the Day of the Seafarer.  As a small gesture of our appreciation to all seafarers, MPA, together with the Singapore Maritime Officers' Union (SMOU) and Singapore Organisation of Seamen (SOS), will be presenting some 600 hampers to ships that call at our port today. We hope the goodies and travel tools in the hampers will add some comfort during your voyages.

14.     Wishing everyone a happy Day of the Seafarer!