Young NTUC
Young NTUC (Chinese: 职总青年团) is the youth wing of the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) and was formed on 30 April 2005 and launched in the same month by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Young NTUC represents working adults aged 35 years and below, and currently has a membership base of more than 170,000, making it the largest youth movement in Singapore. Young NTUC reaches out to young workers in Singapore, engaging them through workplace representation, causes and social sustainability issues.
Young NTUC’s office is currently located at NTUC Centre, One Marina Boulevard.
Objectives of Young NTUC
Young NTUC focuses on the outreach, engagement and nurturing of youths to ensure the continued dynamism and relevance of the Labour Movement. Through various platforms of interaction with young union leaders, members and the community, the vision and values of the Labour Movement are imparted to them.
Engagement is done through the organization of activities at the workplace and in the community. Events and activities are centred on the strategic imperatives of Decent Wages, Advocacy, Fairness; Society, Environment and Space. Besides organizing key large-scale outreach events like Run 350 and Young NTUC Celebrates! National Day annually for youths, Young NTUC encourages activists to initiate their own activities, providing guidance and resources for their passion.
Vision
The vision of Young NTUC is to be a movement of young workers striving for fair and just opportunities and sustainable progress for all.
Mission
The objective of Young NTUC is to engage young working adults to form a large, vibrant movement with youths who are active in a purposeful way.
Engagement of members
Young NTUC engages her members through two main avenues; unions and cause-based groups that promote shared causes and interests.
Most of the 61 NTUC-affiliated unions have their own Youth Chapters. Each Chapter operates independently and organises social events to promote interaction among co-workers. Young NTUC also organises many activities for the leaders of Youth Chapters to network such as the Young NTUC Workplan Seminar, which is held annually to discuss workplace issues and global trends.
Youths who do not have a union at their workplaces are given resources to form cause-based or interest-based groups under the Team Young NTUC (TYN) banner. Each affinity group is formed and managed by members. TYN affinity groups give members an opportunity to pursue their varied causes and interests.
These are some of the affinity groups:
- Team Young NTUC 350 Singapore (Environmental Cause)
- Team Young NTUC p. L.a.Y! (Arts and Theatre)
- Team Young NTUC 20/20 (Photography Group)
- Team Young NTUC Volunteers (Volunteerism)
- Team Young NTUC Wildlife (Animal Welfare Group)
Activities
Each Young NTUC event is designed to positively value-add either to self, family, community or world while raising the visibility of the Labour Movement.
National Level Programmes
Young NTUC organises 2 National Level Programmes annually: NTUC Income Run 350 organised by Young NTUC and Young NTUC Celebrates! National Day.
Each programme allows for high visibility and mass outreach of thousands of youths.
350 Singapore
.jpg)
350 Singapore was founded by Young NTUC in March 2010. It is the Singapore chapter to the global 350 movement.
350 is widely believed by many scientists to be the safe upper limit of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Measured in parts per million (ppm), the measurement today reads 390ppm. Which is why the earth is heating up it seems.
To raise awareness on the need to lower the carbon level in the atmosphere back down to 350ppm, 350 Singapore aims to encourage Singaporeans to find out how they can contribute through our programmes. Here are the group's past activities:
Run 350
Run 350[1] is organized annually in support of the global 350 movement which aims to reduce carbon emissions. Some 1,000 Young NTUC members and friends took part in the inaugural run held at Pulau Ubin in 2010. The event was held on a larger scale at the Marina Bay area for over 7,200 runners in 2011. In its 3rd year running, Run 350 gained a stronger public interest and participation in Singapore with 10,000 runners who took part in the run on 22 April 2012 at The Float@Marina Bay. A new category – the 21 km competitive run was introduced to expand the reach of the eco message.
In 2013, the event signed on a record turnout, totalling 11,000 runners.[1]
Funds raised from the event were also used to further the environmentalism cause through the Garden City Fund's Plant-A-Tree (PAT) program which seeks to reforest the nation.
350 on the Streets
Held on 22 May 2010, International Day of Biodiversity, 350 on the Streets was organized to create awareness of the need to reduce carbon emissions. Volunteers went onto the streets of Orchard Road to encourage members of the public to adopt a single eco-friendly act to do their part for the environment.
Coastal Clean-Up
Young NTUC organises regular clean-ups at Singapore's beaches, clearing litter from the coastal shoreline. Keeping beaches litter-free protects marine wildlife from the dangers of water pollution and promotes a healthy eco-balance in the seas.
Earth Hour 2011
Held in conjunction with worldwide efforts to create awareness about climate change, Young NTUC gathered volunteers at Wisma Atria, Orchard Road to promote Earth Hour efforts to the public. Volunteers shared about the perils of climate change and collected signatures and pledges from the public.
Find us at: www.350singapore.com
-
A group shot of the volunteers after a hard day's work.
-
The symbolic creation of "60" using candles during the Earth Hour.
Young NTUC Celebrates! National Day
Young NTUC, on behalf of the Labour Movement of Singapore has been organizing Young NTUC Celebrates! National Day since 2007. This companion event to the annual National Day Parade signifies the Labour Movement being a co-owner of Singapore’s development since independence.
Members gather each year to view the live telecast of the parade together and also enjoy performances put up by p. L.a.Y!. This celebration has grown from strength to strength, from 8,667 in 2007 to more than 9,000 in 2012.
In 2007, 9000 participants formed the largest human Singapore flag using red and white umbrellas. In 2008, the feat was re-attempted with 12,288 participants. This time, inflatable red and white paddles were used to form the day flag and LED lights strobes were used to form the night flag. These achievements were recorded in the Singapore Book of Records. For the 2009 National Day Celebrations, 10,200 participants attended the event at the Padang. Candles were lit and the National Pledge was recited exactly at 8.22 pm at the “Pledge Moment”. In 2010, the celebration took place for the first time at The Promontory@Marina Bay while 2011’s celebration broke the nation record for the largest human Singapore flag formed at Padang with 13,000 participants.
In 2012, it was a picturesque moment when over 9,000 participants lit up the candles to signify the ‘Celebration of Unity’ at The Promontory@Marina Bay. ‘Celebration of Unity’ is a traditional candlelight moment that invokes a sense of inclusiveness and solidarity, where Singaporeans come together in celebrating the nation’s independence as one.
-
Young NTUC Celebrates! National Day 2009 held at the Padang.
Youth Lab
Young NTUC Youth Lab is the leadership development incubator of Young NTUC and its objective is to provide platforms for the next generation of young union leaders to learn and grow in.
Leaders come from two main pipelines: unions and general branch members. Youth leaders from the unions are usually nominated by their unions for development and represent their unions’ Youth Chapters. Youth Lab organises various levels of development programmes under its framework to nurture them.
For general branch members, their development paths will follow the causes and/or interest they represent. For example, an activist involved in environmental sustainable efforts may be able to form a community of people passionate about environmental sustainable development. He will be nurtured to be the opinion leader of the group and therefore act as their leader.
Coffeeshop Talk
The Young NTUC Coffeeshop Talk was conceived with the aim of gathering real feelings at the ground level and to receive feedback from Singaporeans. Conducted in an informal kopitiam setting, the sessions allow participants to be engaged in discussions with policy-makers to talk about current issues and concerns.
The topics discussed by guests so far include:
- "The Budget - Why it Matters to U" with Mrs Lim Hwee Hua, Minister of State for Finance.
- "Creating an Innovative Workforce - Why it Matters to U" with RADM(NS) Lui Tuck Yew, Senior Minister of State for Education.
- "Budget 2009 - Why it Matters to U" with Mr S Iswaran, Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry.
- "Shaping Singapore's Future, Together" with Ms Grace Fu, Senior Minister of State for National Development and Education.
- "Your views on the National Day Rally speech Aug 2011" with Mr Tan Chuan-Jin, Minister of State
- "Budget – March 2012" with Ms Josephine Teo, Minister of State
- "Your views on the National Day Rally speech September 2012" with DPM Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Deputy Prime Minister & Minister for Finance[2]
-
The dialogue with ministerial guests in a coffeeshop setting.
Uth! Campus
Uth! Campus is a special program for young working adults. Through team-building and knowledge-sharing activities, members get to interact and have fun while gaining a clearer understanding of the role of NTUC in the Labour Movement. The 5 Values of Uth! Campus are
- • Change mindset
- • Communication
- • Commitment
- • Capacity building
- • Collaboration