Speech By Mr Lim Teck Yin at The Memorandum Of Understanding Signing Between SINGSOC And The SISO

Speech By Mr Lim Teck Yin, Singapore Southeast Asian Games Organising Committee (SINGSOC) Executive Committee (EXCO) Chairman, At The Memorandum Of Understanding Signing Between SINGSOC And The Singapore Institute Of Safety Offivers (SISO)

Mr Seet Choh San, President, SISO

Friends from SISO,

SNOC and SINGSOC colleagues,

All of our supporters and friends who have taken time off to be here this morning for the signing of this MOU,

1. Welcome and thank you for being with us this morning.

2. I think this morning's session marks a very important milestone in our SEA Games journey, as we have noted this is the very first MOU that we are signing for the Southeast Asian Games 2015. And I think it is most appropriate that our very first MOU should be signed around the subject of safety.

3. In just under two years, Singapore will host and welcome some 7,000 athletes and officials from around the region to Southeast Asia's largest multi sports extravaganza. A large part of this will be hosted at our spanking new Singapore Sports Hub. Many of you on your journey here today would have seen the Sports Hub. And if I could use the Sports Hub as an illustration of why safety is so important and how it will impact the Games as well, next year, we hope to be very proud at the opening of the Sports Hub. But, underlying that pride is the fact that the Sports Hub would have been built and established without the shedding of blood; without the loss of precious lives. Indeed, we are very proud that our partners at the Sports Hub have been able to achieve over 15 million hours of work with only one reportable accident. I think that's a marvellous achievement. But can we imagine a different scenario, a scenario where the Sports Hub is built and all of us go to this new facility and celebrate the opening of a new national icon, but in the backdrop of a series of serious accidents and the shedding of blood and the loss of lives - how much of a dampener that would have been on that front.

4. And indeed that analogy applies to the SEA Games. We are proudly embarking on this journey for Singaporeans and for our guests who will come from around the region. The success of the Games cannot only be measured by the tone of celebrations; the amount of celebrations; by the medals that are won; by national pride, but also measured by the fact that the people would have come - whether they are working under the SEA Games Organising Committee, or they come as a spectator, or they come as a participant, but they can come with the confidence that their environment is safe and they will be able to do their job, enjoy themselves, and depart with a memorable experience.

5. And so, when we look at this massive undertaking, we recognise that it will involve many helping hands to make it work. It is with this in mind that the SEA Games Organising Committee is embarking on a journey to make sure that we co-create the Games with all stakeholders in Singapore. This is not only a task for the SEA Games Organising Committee, it is Singapore and Singaporeans who are going to play host and we hope that in working with SISO in the particular aspect of safety, we will also be able co-create, co-own and share the pride of delivering the Games for Singapore and for the region.

6. We cannot, and I think all of you in this room are converts, we cannot take safety for granted. For any event of this size, we believe that if we don't pay attention to the most important aspect in this case safety, we are doomed to fail.

7. The partnership we are establishing with SISO today will see the development and implementation of risk management plans for the SEA Games itself. But I certainly hope that this MOU will extend the relationship between the Singapore Sports Council and SISO well beyond the SEA Games. There are many things that we can do together to promote safety, the Workplace Safety and Health in particular. And I think in as much as we are contributing to the SEA Games, we will learn much from you, and we hope to also bring a lot of value to your members.

8. SSC, together with our parent Ministry, unveiled Vision 2030 last year. Vision 2030 is a vision that aims to use sport as a strategy for nation building in Singapore and it is being taglined as let us all Live Better Through Sports. I think this is very pertinent to what SISO is doing, in the sense that we all hope to live better through the work and contributions of each of our organisations and I think there is much synergy that can now be built between SSC and SISO.

9. So as we start on this journey together for the 2015 SEA Games, I hope we can also get to know each other on a more personal level as well as institutional level and we need to seed more opportunity for us to collaborate with each other. I thank you once again for coming here this morning. For the members of SISO, for taking precious time away from your primary work to support this endeavour. It is a huge encouragement for the SEA Games Organising Committee, the Secretariat and my staff in particular to see you here and to see your support for this morning.

10. Thank you.