Singapore International Foundation

05 Aug 2009

Occupational Health Training Project Launch

Welcome speech by Mr Aaron Ng, Director, International Volunteerism, SIF, at the launch and Opening Ceremony of the Occupational Health Training Project in Riau Islands Province.

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Mr Rajkumar Rengaraju,
Singapore Consul in Batam

Dr. H. Abdul Rival,
Director of Occupational Health, Ministry of Health of Republic of Indonesia

Dr. Munzir Purba,
Head of Health Office of Kepulauan Riau Province

Dr Mawardi,
Head of Health Office of Batam City

Ladies and Gentlemen,


Hi, my name is Aaron, from the Singapore International Foundation. It gives me great pleasure to join you here in Batam at the launch of this Occupational Health Training project for the Riau province.

We are extremely honoured to be supported by the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Indonesia for this project.

The Riau islands have fast become an industrialised area, with the number of manufacturing plants on an increase. We understand from the Batam Municipal Health Office, that Batam island alone has a quarter-of-a-million workers employed by over three thousand companies (3,102 to be exact).

The first thing that struck us was this staggering number of workers. The next thing we discovered was that Batam has over 600 health centres, serving these workers – a wonderful testimony of the Indonesian government’s commitment to its workforce.

So, when we were approached by the Directorate of Occupational Health for Indonesia to help implement effective health and safety measures for factory workers, we knew he meant business. The Directorate already collaborates closely with companies to help their workforce tackle malnutrition, skin diseases and chemical poisoning.

To do their part to improve health and safety in the workplace, a group of Singaporean volunteers have committed to transferring their skills here in Riau. They come from the National University of Singapore’s Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine and also the Singapore Ministry of Manpower.

They will work with a dedicated team of Indonesian professionals keen on improving the standards in the province. Their Indonesian counterparts will then, go on to train their own colleagues and implement the practices they have learnt in their workplace.

Besides Batam’s 605 health centres, it is our hope that this project will also benefit the 700 occupational health practitioners from the other islands, chiefly Bintan and Karimun. As medical centres and practioners in Riau implement improved standards, there will be indirect benefits for the 250,000 predominantly blue-collar workers from the 3,000 over companies in Batam and a further estimated 200,000 workers on the other islands in the province.*

As the saying goes, teach a man to fish, you feed him for life. Similarly, through this project, we hope to provide awareness of the treatment, management and prevention of workplace health problems.

Our Singapore volunteers will no doubt be enriched by this experience too. Their interaction with the Indonesian practitioners and worksite visits will enhance their professional experience and deepen their understanding of their Indonesian neighbours.

At the Singapore International Foundation — or the SIF, in short — we celebrate the strong ties of friendship each project creates, as much as the performance outcomes each project achieves. A not-for-profit organisation that was set up in 1991, the SIF works to support communities for sustained development and promotes the sharing of knowledge and ideas between Singaporeans and people across the globe.

For example, through programmes like this Singapore Volunteers Overseas project, the SIF hopes to provide opportunities for passionate Singaporeans to take up the call of volunteering overseas. As our volunteers work among and with people from different cultures, they develop friendships and an appreciation of the world beyond Singapore.

The SIF is indeed privileged to work with our Indonesian partners and Singapore volunteers to build a better world of friends, of understanding, and of mutual development.

On this note, I would like to thank our volunteers. Professor David Koh, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore (he is in Singapore but has been guiding this project since the beginning); Associate Professor Chia Sin Eng, Department of Community, Occupational & Family Medicine, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, NUS; and Dr. Gan Siok Lin, Senior Specialist in Occupational Medicine at the Occupational Safety & Health Specialist Department, Occupational Safety & Health Division, Ministry of Manpower.

Much appreciation also goes out to the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Indonesia, the Provincial Health Office of Riau Islands Province, the Health Office of Batam City and the factories of Panasonic Shikoku and GPS in Batam for allowing us to visit them.

Thank you. I wish you a pleasant day ahead.

*Batam Municipal Health Office