SpeakIn Podcast with Mr Abdul Samad: Be Willing To Learn, Unlearn and Relearn

SpeakIn Podcast with Abdul Samad Bin Abdul Wahab, PBM

A Journey of #Growth and #Transformation

It was an absolute pleasure to get the opportunity to speak with Mr Abdul Samad to hear more about his personal journey of growth and transformation. Today, we hear from Mr Abdul Samad about his background and how he got to where he is today.

Who is Abdul Samad? How has it been growing up to where you are today?

Thank you for giving me this opportunity to share my journey today. I am not a highly intellectual guy, I'm just a normal working person, just like other Singaporeans on the street. I'm 50 this year. I start from normal livelihood and today I am a father of three, grown up kids, the youngest one is 19, doing her final poly studies, the second one just completed his national service passing out and the eldest is now working as a lab assistant in the Sengkang Hospital whereby she will do the test. Any of us that go to the hospital, for sure you need to do a blood test. I have a wife who is a supporting housewife, I don’t call her a housewife actually, I call her the ‘Home and Finance Minister’ because she takes care of my home and she also helps me to take care of my budget for the family.

I started my journey in a neighborhood school. I stand by what the government says, ‘Every school is a good school’. I started my journey in a neighborhood school in Mei Chin Primary which is located in the central and then I went up to Yusof Ishak Secondary School. What’s unique about my Secondary School - I was someone who was in dreamland. In primary 6, I applied for Raffles Institution as one of my options for going to secondary school. However, I didn't meet the requirement to go to RI, but I went to ‘YI’ - Yusof Ishak Secondary School, another neighborhood school and that is where I started my secondary journey and that is also where my teacher identified me and gave me opportunity to do a public speaking at the age of 15, asking me to speak in front of the whole school and I remember the talk was about independent school. One of the issues I raised was ‘No Smoking is allowed in an independent school’ and this was in 1987. So I left Yusof Ishak and I didn’t go to RI, but I went to ‘YI’ and I still did well. So it does not mean that you need to go to a good school. After I left Yusof Ishak, I went to Singapore Polytechnic, did my Diploma in Mechanical Engineering and I continued to where I am today. I still have not gotten my Degree, but I keep learning new things that can help me to grow as an individual, that can help me to grow as a worker and as a senior officer which I am today.?

So paper is one, but it takes an enlightened employer to actually acknowledge your efforts, your performance and your contributions. So I can attest to the government that you don’t actually need a paper. Maybe 5-10 years in the future, we will see Singaporeans without any paper qualifications and can still grow. But what we can learn - there are opportunities if I want to put in play, so this is where I am today, being a General Secretary of The Union, taking care of, close to 6000 workers in the power industry and in 2015 earlier, I remembered I was called out by one of the senior leaders, and was asked if I want to be in the NTUC Central Committee. That wasn’t in my mind at all, to be sitting at the highest level. So I told him, ‘if that is what they want me’. For me it is simple, I am not into achieving so high, but I want to do my best every time, giving the best I can, whatever assignment is delivered to me, I want to do my best. Maybe I am just humble, I am wary of my expectations - ‘Can I actually do that?’ But opportunities come to me and I make sure that I deliver with the trust that is given to me.

So in 2019, I went through the election. I was being called to the side - ‘We want to make you Vice President of NTUC’. I was totally in shock. I asked, ‘Are you sure you want to make me Vice President?’. They said, ‘Yes, we want to make you Vice President of NTUC.’

So then I became the Vice President, then another big shock came in late 2020 when I was approached by NTUC Secretary General - ‘We want to make you the Nominated Member of Parliament’. That was the biggest shock of my life. I asked, ‘Are you sure you want to make me a Nominated Member of Parliament? I don’t have a degree.’ I was told, ‘Because you speak for the workers.” That is the trust that was given to me, then I am willing to open up. I thought after the submission, that is it. It didn’t come to my mind that I had to face 8 cabinet ministers to answer queries and they asked, ‘What makes you want to be NMP? I said, ‘No, I didn’t want to be NMP, but I was assigned to be NMP and I will do my very best.’. They asked many questions, so imagine yourself, you don’t have that kind of high education level, facing ministers of Singapore, there were 8 on the table, full ministers, notwithstanding 1 opposition MP, you have 2, 3 new MPs that just joined onboard. But truth to be told, I cleared the huddle and here is where I am today.

The goosebumps of the first time giving a speech in parliament still holds in me and until today, I am very happy and blessed that I can continue to give back to society. When people come to me asking if I want to do this, to me, these are opportunities. So in the world of Singapore, when we talk about minorities being marginalized, I would like to diffuse that. It is not about minorities being marginalized, but we as a minority must prove that we are ‘a shining fish in a big tank’. We are not just one of the fish in any tank. But we must be a ‘shining fish in a big tank’. We can be small, that is okay, but we must shine. If you choose to be big, it is okay, it is up to you but you must make sure that you are there, you deliver and people always look to you for assistance. Not looking up to you to take a photo, that is not in my mind at all. Look up to me - if I can help in one area or two. But the challenge I face now, whenever I am in public or public domain, inside TV, the next day, I make sure to use my mask so people don’t easily identify me. But I am very fortunate and blessed until today that I am given this opportunity in life to serve and reach out to those in need to serve them and to provide whatever avenues and opportunities so they can continue to enjoy what life is about.?

Long story short. I went through the election and we have won the election twice over a four year period and this is where I am today, going through the election of being the voice of the workers, speaking up for them at the workplace, identifying what are the welfare benefits, what are the things I can do for them.

So we started back in 2006, I became a Union Branch Official, called it the ‘lowest grade of all and today I am actually the General Secretary of my own Union and I’m also the Vice President of National Trades Union Congress Central Committee which takes charge of slightly above 1 million of workers in Singapore. So this is where I am in 2021, I was appointed as a Nominated Member of Parliament to speak on behalf of a Labor Movement just for workers itself.

My language is about ‘normal Singaporeans’. As I said, I don’t have a degree, my English is not so good but my language, the way I speak, connects to all the Singaporeans on the ground.

What are the three lessons you would give to people who are starting their careers, the new age Singaporeans who are coming up and finding their hold in the professional journey?

Be willing to Learn

OK, the world of today’s career is unlike 20 or 30 years ago when I started working and it is a totally different kind of landscape. But I shouldn't say the acceleration of technology makes a worker or every Singaporean out there needs to be updated. What can actually technology do for you, what can actually enable you, enhance you, in terms of your workers output. It’s not just about what you learn in theory, in tertiary, but what you can do from the knowledge that you have and what you can do from the technology, new way of modes, and data analytics, artificial intelligence tools. These are the tools that you should use for yourself when you go exploring into the working life. Don’t aim too high at the start, what you should need for every Singaporean worker is to seek the necessary experience, get the exposure, get the experience they require and you grow along the way.?

Be willing to Unlearn and Relearn

The key to all of this for you to grow, is always be willing to unlearn what you have learnt and then you start to relearn what are the new skills, what are the new knowledge that is required so that you can value-add yourself and for your employer. If you apply these 2 basic skills of unlearning and relearn, be rest assured, I believe you can go as far as high as the sky. And this is what I tell myself because what I did 25 years ago, It's not the same way as today. I have to find ways, even now moving another 10 years of my career, I should start to think, “how do I change the way I do, how do I change the way I get outcomes to my work”, if I don’t do that, then I know my job will be redundant, me as a worker will not add any more value and I can’t be demanding anything extra for my employer, for my fellow colleague.

Share with us your journey and the kind of #mentors and support you have received all your life.

In my working world, we do have a few mentors and colleagues that actually guide me through, along with my work and the long word is, ‘What is most important is notwithstanding the mentors that are available”. As an individual, I always took the extra step to find and seek knowledge and information on my own because as much as a mentor can guide me, that may not actually fulfill what I want to do. Being myself as someone who consulted, guiding people and advising people out there how to protect power cables, how to protect gas pipes.

I have to learn ways to find my own knowledge, to find my own sources of information, how I can better improve myself, how I can better represent myself in front of contractors, in front of principals, in front of consultants.

At the Union, there is a lot of guidance, there are a lot of causes you need to know, but what’s key to me, is that the individual must find what he or she doesn’t get from his mentor. He must find a way, whereby, “I cannot get from this mentor or I wouldn’t know how to get it out from my mentor.” Every mentor will try to teach as much as possible.

If you want to go the extra step, you always need to find the extra push in yourself, then you can actually steer yourself to be someone who is a few steps ahead, not a few steps behind.

Once you are a few steps ahead, you keep trying to ask yourself, what can I do more because that would differentiate you between you and the group. If you keep following the same tone, you will be in the same group together and you won’t be leading.

What would like to tell our youths of today, particularly in terms of ties to #family, the importance of being with family and staying close to people who care for you???

Notwithstanding we are exposed to the world, with all this technology and the internet, we must never forget 2 things - history and family. History to where we are today, why we are enjoying the success, the peacefulness and family values. Family values matter a lot to me. Things will go away from you, but your family will never leave you behind. So always spend time, always make sure you have quality time with your family members. They are the one with you, especially your wife, your children, your siblings. If you don't find time with them, I can honestly tell you:

You will have a tough time at your workplace and even in the journey that you are on because that’s how you actually manage your personal life. If you don't have time for family, naturally there’s a repercussion.

I believe that you can also not have time for your family, for your work and other areas. So in terms of family values, I always ensure to put aside days that I will be away with them, go back after work, spend time with my wife, spend time with my children, talk about things, explain to them what the world is like, the other is, we must not forget the journey to where we are today. What happens to what you see in Singapore today, the peacefulness, the transformation from a Kampung to a Metropolis. It is something that does not happen by chance, it takes effort from leaders, from workers, to slowly transform Singapore into what it is today. Younger generations must be mindful of that, look around at our neighboring countries in terms of political instability, in terms of war. We are very fortunate that in Singapore, we don't have that at all because we have a stable government, because the government leaders understand the importance of multi-racial, multi-religious in the country and respecting each other's rights, respecting each other’s common space and that is where we are. So every young Singaporean must know this -

What you are enjoying today is the efforts and work done by the leaders and workers of yesterday. Who is going to enjoy tomorrow, it is the work that is going to be done by us today.

We are the one that decides the kind of life, the kind of future for our young children, our young students, or young workers. You decide what is what, don't be selfish just because what you have today, you demand more, what we have today, is the efforts of yesterday and what you're going to give to the future is the efforts of today.

What would you tell the youths, three areas that you would do differently had you been in their shoes today?

What the young Singaporeans are worried about today, we are worried about foreigners coming in. So as young Singaporeans, we have to ask ourselves, are the foreigners really coming in or are we not willing to compete with the foreigners? The kind of job, the kind of careers we want, there are a lot of job opportunities, we shouldn't be looking at jobs taken over by foreigners. How many jobs are there that Singaporeans choose not to do and when foreigners take over the job, we blame that they are not enough jobs for us. Always look at opportunities, always find the belief in yourself that you can aspire to be someone who is better than what the foreigners are.?

We must not be living in a competitive world within our own peers. What we should learn is actually a strong working family, a strong team so Singapore can grow together.

Do not just be into your ‘I’, it should be about ‘we’ because this is where we are today and we have to have that kind of quality. Every one of us has our own strengths. Let’s not look too far. Look at our hands, we have five different sizes, five different lengths of fingers. Imagine if one finger is off, how does our hand actually function? So that is how we should do an analysis of life. Every Singaporean is unique, every Singaporean is special. It is important to continue to be humble, continue to learn new things, and continue to make friends. Don’t find enemies, whether they are foreigners, or locals. Everyone that comes to Singapore, make them our friends, do not make them our enemies, when we are together, we can do more, we enjoy the common space, we enjoy success together.?

If I were to be young today, I would be worried, a lot of foreigners are coming in. But I should not take that as a point to stop myself from growing because I believe the world today is full of opportunities. For example, working from a flexible work arrangement or working from home, can we now turn it into work from anywhere. Are there any opportunities globally that we can actually work from Singapore? So, we should start to look at opportunities. How are we going to seize those opportunities, what are the measures that are in place that help us reach those opportunities? It may be fast, even if it is slow, we have set ourselves a dream - I want to look at those opportunities, I want to seize those opportunities within my own capabilities. That is how we young Singaporeans should look at - I want to work hard, I want to live for a future Singapore that is good for those who are after me.

About SpeakIn

SpeakIn is Asia’s largest digital learning platform for executive learning. SpeakIn brings together the best of thought leadership, ideas, and discussions. In this inaugural podcast by SpeakIn, we bring the best of thought leaders and their leadership to the region.

This brings us to the end of our conversation. It was an absolute pleasure to hear from Mr Abdul Samad and the wonderful words of #wisdom from him.

Listen to the podcast here!