Dr Amy Khor,

Mayor of South West District,

Distinguished guests from our service industries,

Principals,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

                   Good afternoon.  “May I help you?”  At the National Day Rally, Prime Minister has shared about his vision of remaking Singapore and developing our own service culture.  Soon after that, I was appointed MOS for the Ministry of Manpower in October 2005.   One of our priorities is to look at issues pertaining to our service culture and standard.  Therefore, I am very happy to join this youthful audience today to share and hear your views on “Services: The Singapore Way”, as well as to explore how we can progress together as a nation towards service excellence. 

Having Our Own Service Culture & Standard

2                 Why is it important to have our own service culture and standard?  Services sector is one of the key contributors to our 6.4% GDP growth last year.  In 2005, we registered our highest tourist arrivals at 8.9 million.  With this record, we see blooming businesses in our major service industries, such as food & beverage, retail and tourism, which in turn, translate to more job opportunities and an improved quality of life for Singaporeans.  In order to sustain these positive returns, we have put in place several infrastructures and developments.   In a few years time, you will see our very own integrated resorts, marvel our magnificent skyline on the Singapore Flyer and shop at our VivoCity outside the Harbourfront Centre, touted as the “largest multi-experiential retails and lifestyle destination”.

3                 Our financial and healthcare services are also shaping up well, putting Singapore on the global map.   You might have heard about the IMF and World Bank Conference to be held here in September 2006.  The Conference is the largest ever and is expected to attract 16,000 finance and business delegates.  This follows our good showing at the International Olympic Committee Meeting, which incidentally put Singapore on the map for service excellence.  Not to mention the influx of foreigners who come here to seek medical help and attention.

4                 In terms of software, we have also introduced several programmes in schools and industries, to equip Singaporeans with the essential skills and mindsets.  At the national level, the Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA) introduced the Workforce Skills Qualifications System (WSQ) for industrial use when benchmarking their services.  On the retail front, the Singapore Institute of Retail Studies (SIRS), which was formed by the WDA and Nanyang Polytechnic, started its first course this January. 

5                 Our target is to double our tourist arrivals to 17 million, triple our tourist receipts to $30 billion and create 100,000 new jobs in the services sector by 2015.

WORLDview Youth Conference 2006 – Services : The Singapore Way

6                 I am particularly heartened by the initiative of the South West Community Development Council (CDC) to devote their annual youth engagement conference to the subject of Services : The Singapore Way. The success of this Conference will significantly boost our chances of achieving our 2015 target.  There are four reasons why this Conference plays an important role.

7                 Firstly, this Conference is for the youths and by the youths.  More than 50% of our services workforce is made up of youths (aged between 15 and 35)!   60% of our job vacancies are in the services sector.  By 2015, you would all have joined the workforce, most of you would have at least worked for three years.  You are now at a vantage point.  You can make a difference by proactively practise good service or even pursue a career in the services sector.  The future is in your hands.  We are planning and working for the future that we wish to have.  You can make this vision come to past.  You hold the key to the future.

8                 Secondly, I laud the conscious efforts of the South West CDC to include youths from international schools in the programme.  It is with this added exposure and interaction, that our youths, be they local or foreign, are able to think globally, and contribute locally.  Increasingly, the call for differentiation in a growing homogeneous global village is getting louder.  In order to survive in this competitive free market, we need to have a niche that sets us apart.  And more often than not, this trait is personified by its people.  As a young and cosmopolitan city state, it is important that we draw from our assets – our inclusiveness, our multi-racial and multi-cultural communities, to cultivate our unique way of life, which then defines our unique service culture.

9                 Thirdly, in line with the Education Ministry’s approach to “teach less, learn more”, I am happy to note the move away from classroom teaching, to real-life attachment programmes to engage our youths in experiential learning.  More importantly, I look forward to more of this corporate-community partnership, where corporate partners such as (Finance) NTUC Income Insurance Co-operative Pte Ltd & Citigroup Singapore, (Food & Beverage) Shangri-La Hotel Singapore & Food Haven in Singapore Polytechnic, (Healthcare) Alexandra Hospital, (Retail) Bugis Street & Metro Singapore and (Tourism) Jurong BirdPark & Singapore Tourism Board, came forward to serve and offer an invaluable learning platform for our youths.  Not to mention the many parties who gave their expertise and time unreservedly, such as Mystery Shopping, EFG Bank (Singapore Branch), Tourism Academy @ Sentosa, Sheraton Towers Singapore, KK Women's & Children's Hospital, NTUC FairPrice Co-operative Pte Ltd, Night Safari and Yellow-Top Cab.

10               Last but not least, I am impressed with the concrete recommendations put forth by our youths.  In two weeks, they have been crammed with service jargons, theory and put through real-life scenarios at frontline counters.  Before I came in, I had the luxury to listen to some of these youths as they present to me what they would like to see in our services sector.  I must add that they have not only met my expectations, but exceeded them.  I understand that the recommendations will be circulated to all schools in the South West District.  I hope all of you would cherish this experience and realise the critical role you can play, and put your best foot forward for a uniquely Singapore service culture.  All of you are our Uniquely Singapore Service Ambassador. 

Moving Forward

11               Moving forward, the key challenge we face is to keep the momentum going.  I hope you will live up to your role as a Uniquely Singapore Service Ambassador and propagate the Singapore service culture to your peers and family.  With the combination of national and local efforts, we can cultivate our own service culture, as we have done for our heritage as a nation. 

12               I was told that the recent survey on services conducted by the South West CDC with 350 youths, aged between 15 and 35, has surfaced “Smiles in Services”, as the most essential factor to good service.  “Smiles” are not alien to us.  (Example of our ICA officers) A smile is a universal expression of happiness and is recognised by all cultures.  Even babies show a preference for a smiling face!  It takes as few as five pairs of facial muscles and as many as all 53 to smile.  It also makes good business sense to invest in “Smiles”.  Businesses are conducted more easily, relationships are confirmed, feelings expressed — all with a smile. With a coordinated approach and using education as a key driver, we should be able to rally the various sectors towards a “smiling culture”, over time.  I have also been told that our youths are advocating for national education and media campaigns to drive home the message of good service! 

13               On the flip side, patience is the number one trait perceived to be lacking in our services.  It could be a “by-product” of our very efficient working culture and fast-paced society, where we run like clockwork, people are quick to cut to the chase and close the deal.  Or for our service people, it could be to close the sale, or close the query.  (Example of Colarado)  Our objective is to serve, not just to make a sale.  If we serve customers well, sale is a consequence.  This is a learning point for all of us.   We should look into pacing ourselves in tandem to what the customers need and want, as we develop our Uniquely Singapore service culture.

14               When compared with our neighbouring and supposed world-class service-oriented countries, 97% of our youths were impressed with our services, giving an average and above rating.  In particular, two industries stood out with good reviews for their services: Finance and Tourism.  I hope this is genuine, ad not because our youths have not seen the outside world.  If it is true, this is good news to us as our youths resonate with our national approach in remaking Singapore, to expand our tourism industry with world-class developments, and strengthen our leading position as a financial and business hub.  We are definitely moving in the right direction, given our youths’ mandate.

15               Granted the many challenges and constraints that we face in terms of resources, we have come a long way as a young developed nation.  Only one-fifth of our youths feeling that we, or our local establishments, lag behind international brand names such as MacDonald’s and Citibank.  The majority of our youths believe that we are not that far behind.  Despite our relatively small size, we are quick in establishing ourselves as a credible and global hub for tourism and finance, amongst other things.  With the many exciting plans, and of course recommendations that we will be hearing later by our “future leaders”, I am confident that our 2015 target will not be a dream but a reality.  So let us create our own future and brand ourselves Greet, Smile and Say Thanks and more!

16               Thank you and have fun!