MR TAN RICHARD

General Secretary, United Workers of Electronics and Electrical Industries

Public Service Medal

Veteran trade unionist Tan Richard, 54, who is also a member of the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) central committee, is a strong advocate for workers' training and career progression.

In his role as co-chairman of the NTUC's electronics and precision and machinery engineering cluster, he played an instrumental role in the development of Singapore's industry transformation map (ITM) for the electronics sector.

The ITMs are blueprints that map out how key industries in Singapore should transform themselves for the future.

Mr Tan, an employee of Hitachi Chemical (Singapore), also walked the talk at his workplace.

When he was in the firm's training department, he managed to convince his management team to introduce robotics into the company's operations, which in turn raised productivity as well as workers' prospects. "As union leaders, we do our best to help workers and we don't expect anything in return. Serving workers, ensuring that their livelihoods are secure - that makes us really happy," he said.

A full list of this year's National Day Award recipients is available at the PMO website.