Speeches
Speech by Mr Masagos Zulkifli BMM, Senior Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Education at the Financial Services Managers Association 11th Singapore Agency Managers Conference on Monday, 25 Feb 2008, at 9am at Rasa Sentosa Resort
Mr Darren Thomson
CEO, ManuLife Financial
Mrs Hauw Soo Hoon
Senior MD, Great Eastern Life
Mr K L Tay
Deputy General Mananger and Vice President, AIA
Distinguished guests
Ladies and Gentlemen
A very good morning to all.
I am pleased to be here at the 11th Singapore Agency Managers Conference (SAMC). Started more than 10 years ago, SAMC has since been an annual affair with different themes each year based on pertinent market needs and the existing environmental situation.
A platform for greater synergy
The theme of today’s conference - V Leadership - is inspired by the flight of the Canadian geese. As some of you may know, Canada geese fly in V formation and they do this for a very pragmatic reason: a flock of geese flying in formation can move faster and maintain flight longer than any one goose flying alone. In essence, this is what we call synergy - when two or more agents or forces interact so that their combined effect is greater than the sum of their individual effects.
Over the past 10 years, SAMC has worked to draw together a variety of speakers and participants from countries like Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong, Indonesia, New Zealand, Australia to share their expertise and winning perspectives on leadership and management. By providing a platform for our financial experts, leaders and managers to come together to network and share ideas, we are creating a synergistic collaboration of sharing and networking that will help build up our economic capacities for the future. Such co-operation and sharing provide the opportunity to develop new friendships and networks which are also important in cultivating an innovative spirit and culture within the industry.
Continuing Education and Training
We live in a global economy. This was a key message last week at Budget 2008. The recent example of the US sub-prime crisis and the ripples it has made in the financial world has shown us how intrinsically inter-linked and connected we all are to our regional and international counterparts. To succeed in a global economy, it is important that we look ahead to create new advantages and fresh opportunities in an increasingly competitive world. How will we do this? By being a top quality economy. This means top quality people, and top quality enterprises.
Aligned with our aim of grooming a top economy that produces the right people and processes, MOE is committed to providing a full range of education and training opportunities for people to find and stretch their potential. Going forward, one of the government’s key areas of focus will now be continuous education for adults. In support of Singaporeans who take the initiative to upgrade themselves, the government will further extend subsidies beyond vocational education and training. In 2007, we subsidised 80% of the cost of Advanced Diplomas and Specialist Diplomas for adult learners to take up post-diploma courses in the polytechnics, in areas like Infocomm Security and the Logistics and Semiconductor Technology. This year, we intend to provide subsidies of 40% for part-time degree programs at the three publicly-funded universities and UniSIM for those who have not previously benefited from a government-subsidised undergraduate education.
These measures support and maintain the competitiveness of our workforce, in a world where we are no longer competing on costs alone, but on skills, quality and productivity.
It is heartening to see conferences like today, organised to provide education and training so as to strengthen, enhance and update the knowledge and skills of leaders and managers in the financial industry. Such training provides our people with the extra edge in going forward and becoming even better at what they are doing. It also acts as a form of motivation, inspiration and intellectual stimulation for the participants, who have come here today to absorb and imbibe new learning points, strategic reasoning and models of leadership.
In organising today’s conference, FSMA has further supported the government’s focus in training and better developing our working professionals. It has also provided leaders in the finance industry with a valuable resource centre and a vital point of networking. As one of the key financial bodies with almost 500 members and prominent industry leaders counting amongst them, FSMA is well-placed to help spearhead the drive in educating, promoting and promulgating the rationale and benefits of the latest government financial initiatives.
Conclusion
I note that today’s conference has lined up a list of reputable speakers from a wide cross-section of financial expertise, agencies and subject fields. I trust that you will have a fruitful time over the next two days gaining insights from one another.
I take this opportunity to wish you a stimulating, enriching and fulfilling time at this year’s conference.