DPM Heng Swee Keat at the Enabling Mark Awards Ceremony 2024

Senior Parliamentary Secretary Eric Chua,

Mayor Denise Phua,

Mr Moses Lee and Ms Ku Geok Boon, Chairman and CEO, SG Enable,

Ladies and gentlemen,

Good afternoon. It is my pleasure to join all of you today to recognise the contributions of individuals and organisations in promoting disability-inclusive employment in Singapore.

In a few months, we will enter 2025 and mark the 60th year of Singapore’s independence.

Like any milestone anniversary, it is a good opportunity for us to both celebrate the progress we have made and prepare for an even better, brighter tomorrow.

After all, nation-building is a constant work-in-progress.

As we build our shared future together, it is important to recognise that each and every one of us has a part to play in writing the next chapters of the Singapore Story.

Building a more inclusive Singapore, where people of different abilities can thrive, is therefore a key plank of the Government’s Forward Singapore agenda.

Over the years, various community initiatives have raised public awareness and brought our society closer together to support and uplift those among us with disabilities.In August 2023, for example, SG Enable and SPD launched the first Enabling Services Hub at Tampines West Community Club.

This brings community and recreational activities, peer support networks, skills-building opportunities and training support closer in proximity for Tampines and Bedok residents with disabilities, as well as their caregivers.

And this past weekend, we saw a successful 12th edition of The Purple Parade draw a record turnout of around 15,000 participants.

So I would like to recognise Moses, Geok Boon, and their team at SG Enable – as well as all volunteers who have contributed over the years – for the good work that they have done in promoting and building a more inclusive Singapore.

Let me also acknowledge my fellow parliamentary colleagues Denise Phua and Ong Hua Han who are joining us today.

Denise has been an ardent advocate in this area for many years, championing many impactful initiatives. And Hua Han is contributing in a number of ways to making Singapore a more inclusive home for everyone.

Over the years, we have been strengthening support for different members of our community, to enable everyone to be at their best.

All Singaporeans – including those who are differently abled – must also be empowered with opportunities to grow, learn, lead meaningful lives and contribute productively to the community.

This is critical to building our individual and collective resilience as a society.

It is about a fundamental shift in mindset. Rather than treat disability as a weakness, we should enable those who are differently abled to identify and build on their strengths, so that they can be at their best, and make a positive impact on their families and our community.

One important part of this is shaping workplaces that tap on diverse skillsets and abilities and allow every worker to reach their fullest potential.

Since 2020, the Enabling Mark has served as a powerful framework to help organisations benchmark their progress – against themselves, as well as others – in fostering a culture of workplace inclusion.

The Enabling Mark celebrates not only the spirit of inclusion, but also how organisations translate their commitment into action.

Moses earlier touched on the six different areas of inclusion and empowerment under the Enabling Mark framework in which organisations must demonstrate credible efforts to earn this recognition.

In doing so, these organisations lead the way in creating opportunities for every individual to contribute and thrive in the workplace.

Equally important, they also inspire others to embark on their own journeys to inclusion.

So let me congratulate the 98 organisations receiving the Enabling Mark accreditation this year.

It is especially encouraging that this year’s tally is the highest since the Enabling Mark was first launched 4 years ago.

This brings the total number of organisations accredited with the Enabling Mark to date to 246.

Well done to all!

Transforming our workplaces to be more inclusive and empowering is a multi-faceted task.

It often takes all-hands-on-deck and requires both individual and collective action – to better integrate workers, redesign job roles, and harness workplace innovation.

It is therefore appropriate that the Enabling Mark Awards recognise both individuals and organisations for their accomplishments and contributions.

Individual ideas, actions and initiatives can start the ball rolling to catalyse wider organisational and societal efforts.

These will shape the wider movement towards a more inclusive and enabling society.

The leadership and management of an organisation sets the tone, steering workplace culture towards one of greater inclusion and identifying roles and opportunities where persons with disabilities can contribute the most.

The four recipients of this year’s Enabling Champion Award – Mr Iker Ibanez, Mr Bernd Starke, Ms Tong Ling and Ms Linda Loke – have made commendable efforts in creating such opportunities and promoting inclusivity to the broader community.

Making workplaces inclusive also requires colleagues and supervisors who step forward to mentor and buddy persons with disabilities and help them integrate better into teams and organisations.

This year, we recognise three such individuals – Ms Loh Sau Kuen, Ms Pooja Vishwanath, and Mr Dai Wei Xuan, with the Enabling Buddy Award for their efforts in providing natural support in the workplace for colleagues with disabilities.

At the same time, persons with disabilities can themselves actively build a more inclusive workplace.

By harnessing their unique strengths and talents, they pave the way in showing how people of all abilities can contribute and motivate and inspire their peers.

So I am heartened to see that we are recognising five individuals – Ms Yap Qian Yin, Mr Jerry Chong, Ms Weng Jiaying, Mdm Mardiana Binti Akhir, and Ms Tan Li Xuan – with the Exemplary Employee Award this year.

Congratulations to all of you. I look forward to meeting you and hearing about your experiences later.

Individual actions by such changemakers can be amplified further, and given greater momentum, by efforts at the organisational level.

Around the world, there is growing recognition in recent years of the power of businesses to serve as catalysts for good – creating positive impact for people and the planet.

For companies, championing greater inclusion is also good for business.

It meets the growing expectations of customers and clients for enterprises to be socially responsible to do good even as you pursue profits.

Just as critically, it also enhances companies’ attractiveness to draw in top young talent amid rising competition globally.

Of this year’s list of 98 Enabling Mark recipients, 10 organisations have progressed upward in their accreditation.

Well done, and I hope this sets a positive example for others to follow!

As Moses alluded to earlier, I hope that all organisations strive to better themselves with each subsequent cycle – if you have the Silver, go for Gold, and if you have the Gold, go for Platinum!

And it is encouraging to see that companies of all sizes are joining in on this inclusion movement.

Of this year’s cohort, 40% are small-and-medium enterprises. Whether your business is big or small, you can still do good.

On the part of Government, we want to encourage even more companies on their inclusive employment journeys.

As part of the Enabling Masterplan 2030, the Taskforce on Promoting Inclusive Employment Practices released recommendations last month to strengthen support and bolster inclusive employment opportunities for persons with disabilities.

One key recommendation is to grow and develop the capabilities of inclusive employers.

I am happy to announce today that we will introduce a new Employer Development Grant, of up to $40,000 per employer, to support companies further.

This is in addition to the existing Job Redesign Grant – of up to $20,000 per employee with disability – and Training Grant for employers under the Open Door Programme.

This will help enterprises scale up their efforts to hire persons with disabilities and support their employment and retention.

This could include engaging an inclusive workplace champion or in-house job coach to put in place inclusive hiring practices.

Concurrently, the Government will also work with SG Enable to support inclusive hiring champions in reaching out to other employers within their sector, to increase the pool of inclusive employers.

I encourage employers present to consider tapping on the grant to build up your inclusive hiring practices and capabilities, and for more experienced inclusive employers to step up to reach out to others in your network.

Working together across stakeholders brings me to my final point – that collaboration, including between organisations, is critical to developing sustainable and impactful efforts in inclusive employment.

Over the years, SG Enable’s efforts in strengthening the ecosystem for inclusive employment have been reinforced through partnerships with the Singapore Business Network on DisAbility, the Singapore Business Federation, and the Singapore National Employers Federation.

Cross-sectoral partnerships between different companies and organisations are also paving the way for long-term, meaningful employment opportunities.

Last month, we saw the launch of the first Enabling Pathway Programme, co-created by the SIM People Development Fund, SG Enable and the Institute of Technical Education.

The inaugural partnership welcomed onboard SBS Transit as the first employer, supporting students with disabilities pursuing engineering courses at ITE through internships that build their exposure to different technical positions.

The HR Powerbank launched by Human Capital Singapore is another example of an innovative and collaborative solution.

This supports the training and employment of persons with disabilities as HR and general administrators and provides inclusive options for SMEs looking to outsource these functional services.

Later this afternoon, we will also be launching a new initiative by HR Powerbank – “The Next Workforce X” which leverages artificial intelligence to provide persons with disabilities with career coaching and professional development.

I commend HR Powerbank and its partners, including SG Enable, for harnessing technology to strengthen support for more inclusive employment.

In a similar vein, it is encouraging that UOB – an Enabling Mark (Platinum) recipient this year – has committed S$2 million in continuous support of SG Enable’s inclusive hiring initiatives.

In 2019, UOB partnered SG Enable to launch “The Unlimited” as the first public-private-people sector collaboration for inclusive hiring in Singapore to promote sustainable employment for persons with disabilities.

This latest commitment from UOB will enhance “The Unlimited”, expanding its outreach to even more employers and supporting learning journeys and the development of additional resources.

Thank you to UOB for your continued commitment, and for enabling stakeholders across the ecosystem to create more opportunities for persons with disabilities and build a more inclusive workforce.

In closing, let me once again congratulate all award recipients this year for blazing the trail in building more inclusive workplaces.

As we accelerate our efforts toward disability-inclusive employment, I encourage all of you to engage and learn from one another, and explore how you can collaborate and co-innovate for even greater and more purposeful impact.

Let us inspire one another and create meaningful change as we work together towards an inclusive society. Thank you.

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• Disabilities