On Mr Ng’s role in the labour movement, Mr Lee said that while it was unfortunate the PAP had lost Sengkang GRC – and with it, Mr Ng’s parliamentary seat – the union chief showed “grit and a sense of responsibility” by continuing to serve in the NTUC.
“He helped us, and got the unions to help us with his NTUC team to see through the crisis, help workers, train them, support them, encourage them, take care of them,” he said.
“And at the end, we came through. He proved himself reliable, trustworthy, committed.”
Mr Lee said he had therefore recommended fielding Mr Ng again in this election, a decision Prime Minister Lawrence Wong agreed with.
“I commend him to you wholeheartedly. I ask you to give him your full support. He will serve you well.”
THE INCOME-ALLIANZ SAGA
Mr Ng had publicly endorsed the proposed sale on Aug 5, 2024. The sale, announced on Jul 17, 2024, would have resulted in German insurer Allianz acquiring a 51 per cent stake in Income for about S$2.2 billion (US$1.6 billion).
However, it triggered a public outcry over whether Income would be able to continue its social mission.
Mr Ng said then that while he fully appreciated and understood the public concern, he noted that NTUC Enterprise – the parent company of Income – had “already put in significant amounts of money into Income over the years” and was unable to “do this on its own”.
He also said then that NTUC would remain deeply committed to its social mission, and that NTUC Enterprise would “continue to retain a substantial stake in Income” if the sale went through.
The Singapore government blocked the deal last October, with Culture, Community and Youth Minister Edwin Tong saying in parliament that it was deemed not to be in the public interest.
This was followed by NTUC deputy secretary-general Desmond Tan’s revelation that the NTUC central committee had no knowledge of a S$2 billion capital extraction plan under the proposed deal, due to commercial sensitivities.
Allianz eventually withdrew its offer to acquire Income Insurance on Dec 16, 2024.
