 |
Dear Friends of Honour (Singapore)
The team at Honour (Singapore) remains committed to promoting a culture of Honour and Honouring for the well-being of Singapore across all cultural, religious and ethnic lines. Our hope is that Singapore continues to be HOME, abundant with HOpe and MEmories, not just for our generation, but for the generations to come as well. Thank you for your continued support and encouragement. This quarterly newsletter serves to provide you with an update on our key initiatives.
|
|
|
 |
|
CEO Forum:
The CEO Forum is a periodic forum that we organise to bring together leaders of organisations, big and small, to share perspectives on Honour and discuss how Honour could be beneficial to their organisations and businesses for success and sustainability over the long term. Since our launch in 2014, we have convened 6 CEO Forums and connected with over 250 organisational leaders at the forums.
One particular challenge which we find CEOs facing is that of corruption, integrity, morals and ethics. As one of the CEOs had told us, representing what appears to be widely held, “Honour is a good idea, but not practical.” As the most serious aspect of corruption may well be the weakening of trust within a company as well as with customers and business partners, we can well understand the dilemma which many CEOs face of whether they can really avoid bribery if they are to succeed in business in a region and a world widely seen as inclined to compromise integrity. At the same time, we have come across companies which have successfully found ways to build relationships and succeed in business while maintaining integrity as a critical value or strategy for the long-term success of the company.
Someone has said, when the question on the issue before us moves from “Is this a good and right thing to do?” to “Is this legally defensible?”, senior management needs to know they have crossed the ethical boundary in the way they think of their business, and thereby risk undermining the moral underpinnings of the company both in internal management as well as in external relationships. But there are good stories to tell of how companies have successfully steered their way to success with Honour. It is with this end in mind that Honour (Singapore) is planning a special CEO Roundtable with the theme ‘Honour is Good Business’ on 24 July 2019 to help and encourage CEOs who wish to conduct their business in such honourable fashion. The Roundtable will bring together leaders of organisations to share and discuss why and how Honour should be an integral part of their leadership philosophy and strategy for sustainable success - to walk the talk, lead with integrity, and honour all whom they work with. It will be held on Wednesday 24 July 2019 starting at 10am and ending at 2pm with lunch.
Our three speakers at the Roundtable will be from an SME, an MNC and a large enterprise in the region, moderated by Mr Lim Soon Hock, former Vice President and Managing Director of Compaq Computer Asia Pacific. There will be a charge of $300 per person for attendance. If you are a CEO or in senior management and would like to attend this special CEO Roundtable, please get in touch with me at LimSiongGuan@honour.sg to express your interest.
Honour Partnership Lunch 2019: We celebrated our fifth anniversary with an Honour Partnership Lunch at The Fullerton Hotel, attended by some 230 guests. Over lunch, we updated our guests on what Honour (Singapore) has been up to since our launch in 2014. I also had the privilege of sharing on the topic of “Short-Term vs Long-Term,” the point being that Honour is a necessary part of survivability and success over the long term, whether it be in business, any social enterprise or our personal lives. We also had the opportunity to showcase some selected films from the Honour Film Initiative. |
|
 |
|
| Honour Film Initiative: This initiative continues to grow with new institutes of higher learning coming on board. Besides Ngee Ann Polytechnic and Temasek Polytechnic, we recently welcomed LaSalle College of the Arts and Republic Polytechnic to join in this initiative. Our most recent short documentary on “The Man Who Saved Lee Kuan Yew” was released on 23 March 2019. It garnered over 300,000 views in the last one week. All in, our films have attracted over eight million cumulative online views, with numerous positive and encouraging comments. With the kind support of the Tote Board and in partnership with our founding initiative partner Ngee Ann Polytechnic, we continue to support young filmmakers in telling stories of Honour through short films and documentaries on the theme of Honour and Honouring each other in helping bring about a gracious society where people look out and care for one another. |
|
 |
|
| Honour Learning Journey: Since the introduction of our Honour Learning Journey Programme in 2016, we have connected with some 18 schools and reached out to over 5,000 students and 100 educators. Through the highly energised facilitated sessions, the students were able to better understand the importance of Honour for work and life, and gained practical insights on ways of living it out in their own lives. If you are an educator and you would like to explore the use of our films in values education, please get in touch with us at admin@honour.sg. |
|
 |
|
HONOUR IN ACTION: Honour (Singapore) is working on a pilot programme we tentatively call HONOUR IN ACTION, where the practice of Honour, in its multiplicity of expressions, may become a natural part of the way we live and the way we are. If being a Gracious Society becomes a dominant characteristic of Singapore, we would be mining the “HIDDEN WEALTH OF SINGAPORE” where the quality of relationships among the people will enhance both economic growth as well as establish a social environment conducive to every child and every Singaporean developing their talents and abilities the best way possible. This idea is well described by David Halpern in his book “The Hidden Wealth of Nations” (Polity Press). Such a work of social transformation may take a generation, which is why we need people with the vision, resilience, patience and conviction to come on the journey. If you are a school leader and would like to participate in the pilot programme, please write me at LimSiongGuan@honour.sg to express your interest.
Honour Champions Community: We welcome all who are prepared and convicted to lead as Honour Champions in their respective organisations and other spheres of influence, to contact us so we can meet to discuss how you joining a Chapter of the Honour Champions Community can be useful and encouraging. Our belief is that the culture of Honour promoted through Honour Champions and Honour Ambassadors will not just be critical for Singapore’s continuing survival and success as a nation, but also is critical for the survival and success of our businesses and families, and our effectiveness as leaders and workers for the future. If you keen to be involved, please get in touch at admin@honour.sg.
Talks: I continue to speak about Honour, on an invitation-only basis, at schools, companies, and community groups. If you believe such a session would be a boost to the vision and morale of the people in your sphere of influence, do let me know at LimSiongGuan@honour.sg.
|
|
 |
Thank you once again for your support, encouragement and believe in our cause as we continue to promote a culture of Honour and Honouring for the well-being of Singapore. Should you wish to support our efforts financially, donations of any size will always be welcome and deeply appreciated. As Honour (Singapore) is a charity with the status of an Institution of Public Character, all donations from individuals as well as corporate organisations will enjoy enhanced tax deduction.
I look forward to hearing your ideas and feedback on how we might be able to do things better. Please get in touch with me at LimSiongGuan@honour.sg.
Wishing you all the very best.
Lim Siong Guan
Chairman
Honour (Singapore)
|
|
|
|
|
