Speech by Mr Seah Kian Peng, SNCF Chairman & Board Member, ICA, at the
Official Opening of the International Co-operative Alliance General Assembly 2007
on 18 October 2007, 9am
Our Guest-of-Honour, Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister for Community Development,
Youth and Sports and Second Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts
Mr Lim Boon Heng, Minister in Prime Minister’s Office
Mr Ivano Baberini, ICA President,
Mr Iain Macdonald, ICA Director General
Distinguished guests,
Fellow Co-operative Leaders,
Ladies and gentlemen,
A warm welcome to all of you to Singapore and to this ICA General Assembly 2007.
Thank you Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, for accepting our invitation to be our guest-ofhonour. Dr Balakrishnan is a strong supporter of the co-operative movement in
Singapore. This support comes, not only in the form of Government backing but also
putting on his football jersey and shorts and doing a spot of dribbling and goalkeeping at
the National Stadium. He was playing for the President’s Challenge Soccer 5, a
community fund raising event of which SNCF was one of the co-organisers. Dr
Balakrishnan also graced SNCF Annual Co-operative Leaders’ Conference in November
last year when we launched the Code of Governance for Co-operatives.
ICA has assembled a panel of esteemed speakers to discuss the key issues of the
changing environment. At the same time, the ICA is also strengthening its corporate
governance processes where amongst other things, the Restructuring Working Group will
give an update on the progress thus far. As a member of the ICA Board and the Board
member representing the Asia Pacific on this Restructuring Working Group, I cannot
over emphasize the importance and significance of this report. It will mark a new
milestone in the ICA history and more importantly, the future of ICA going forward.
Beyond these issues, this General Assembly provide an excellent opportunity for not just
Singapore co-operative leaders but all co-operative leaders throughout the world to
explore and to learn from each other and thereby gain a much richer and broader
perspective.
Co-operatives are generally known more for reliability and incremental progress, rather
than a snap of the fingers, lighting of a match magic. Yet, trustworthiness, sustainable
growth and social missions have a place, a big place in this world. Indeed, cooperatives
are the stuff of dreams too – a peaceful, evolutionary dream, into a common vision of a
prosperous, united, caring and peaceful world.
The hosting of the ICA General Assembly in Singapore demonstrates the close working
relationship between and SNCF and ICA. The SNCF, as the national centre of the
Singapore co-operative movement, was established in 1980. It has since grown from
strength to strength. Today, SNCF has 73 affiliates with a total membership of over a
million members.
Affiliated to the ICA as a member organisation since 1985, we are committed to
developing and maximizing the potential of co-operative leaders, and improving the
quality of lives of our members and the community. Over the years, we have stepped up
our involvement in the ICA activities. In year 2000, we witnessed a historical milestone
in the co-operation between ICA and SNCF with the establishment of the ICA Asia
Pacific Singapore Business Office. The setting up of this Business Office in Singapore
has helped to enhance the co-operation among co-operatives from other countries as well
as facilitate the promotion of inter-co-operative trade linkages. At the same time, its
presence in Singapore resulted in a number of mutually beneficial developments for both
ICA and SNCF.
Since then, SNCF has jointly organised various major ICA events including the first Asia
Pacific Co-operative Forum and the 4th Regional Assembly for the Asia-Pacific in 2000.
We have received many distinguished co-operative leaders from all over the world. Some
of our co-operatives have also established strong bilateral links with their counterparts in
Asia and Europe. I myself sit on the ICA Board and several of my SNCF colleagues also
assumed leadership positions in various ICA Sub-Committees at the regional levels,
namely in areas of Human Resource Development, Consumer, Women, University and
Youth.
Co-operatives in Singapore command a presence that is unmistakable. We have cooperatives that have become household brands and that are regarded as models for cooperatives in other countries. To date, co-operatives formed by the NTUC Sector provide
a wide range of services from childcare, housing, elderly care, food courts, supermarkets,
insurance, pharmaceutical products, family clinics to thrift and loan services. Our
cooperatives in the Credit, Campus and Service Sectors are also growing and impacting
more and more lives. We are proud that 2 coops from Singapore – NTUC Income and
NTUC Fairprice figure in the Global 300 coop rankings.
These are the better known cooperatives. Yet some of our smaller partners are important
and to me, just as if not more interesting. DEW – the cooperative for the development
and empowerment of women through microloans is one example. It lends small amounts
of money to women who otherwise would be considered bad credit risks. And in so
doing, lift families out of poverty through the ingenuity, frugality and sheer will power of
these women, many of whom are mothers.
Cooperatives, because of the way we tap into self reliance on the part of the beneficiaries,
and compassion, on the part of donors, wrap this into an overall package of a good
bargain. So, as far as I am concerned, co-operatives will always have a special and
enduring place in society.
We want to continue to find ways to strengthen the mindshare of the co-operative
movement as social enterprises playing a vital and valued social role. We need to be more
than an arena, we want to be a player.
On 11 November 2006, we launched our very own Code of Governance for Cooperatives. Good governance will create conditions necessary to facilitate and strengthen
the good work of the co-operative movement.
Through our Code of Governance, we can improve on our accountability and
transparency. I call upon every co-operative, every participant, to squarely confront this
responsibility, to establish sound parameters if we want to have best practices that will
strengthen the global Co-operative Movement.
In conclusion, I would like to emphasise that besides learning from one another ways to
boost our business linkages through this event, I hope all 1,047 participants will have an
enjoyable experience meeting and mixing with your counterparts from many different
countries in the process. Indeed, some 69 countries are represented here.
More
importantly, we welcome your participation in the context of a multi-racial, multi-cultural
and multi-religious society that is Singapore.
SNCF would also like to take this opportunity to thank our main sponsor – Singapore
Labour Foundation and all affiliated co-operatives, sponsors, supporters and partners for
making this event possible. For a major conference like this to be successful, a lot of
work goes behind the scene. Accordingly, I want to thank all my Exco colleagues and
staff in SNCF for their hard work and the tremendous efforts that they have put in.
Special thanks also go to the team in ICA HQ. It is a pleasure to work with all of you on
this.
Our invaluable appreciation also go to my colleagues on the ICA Board, led by President
Mr Ivano Barberini. Thank you for giving us the honour and privilege to host this very
important event.
Finally, we welcome and thank all distinguished delegates for your spontaneous support.
Your overwhelming participation is a clear indicator of the abiding interests of the cooperative leaders and Government officials in the development of co-operatives in the
face of globalisation and increased competition.
On that note, I wish everyone a fruitful and meaningful conference ahead.
Thank You.