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Dear Friends and Partners of Honour (Singapore),
Thank you for your unwavering support and standing with us over the years as we remain steadfast in our mission to promote a culture of Honour and Honourable Behaviour for the long-term well-being of Singapore.
Honour (Singapore) was founded in 2014 as a charity to promote the two aspects of Honour which form the foundation for the survival and success of Singapore as a nation. Singapore became independent in 1965 – it was an independence which was neither anticipated nor welcomed, but nonetheless embraced under the leadership of our Founding Prime Minister Mr Lee Kuan Yew.
Mr Lee "marketed" Singapore as a strong nation brand of trustworthiness, where we can always be trusted to deliver on our promises; we are reliable, dependable, incorruptible, and can be expected to work hard and to pay attention to quality – in short we, as a people and a government, will always Honour our Word.
But there is a second important reason for Singapore's success. We are a nation of many races and many religions, and maintaining peace, security and stability is therefore fundamental to national life. We therefore need to have a high level of concern and respect for one another with a natural acceptance of our diversity – in short, we Honour Each Other.
This quarterly newsletter serves to provide you an update on key initiatives, and especially on the Honour International Symposium 2024 for which we wish to invite your interest, your support and your participation.
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Living Out Honour |
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| Honour International Symposium 2024 (HIS24) |
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We organise the Honour International Symposium to be held every two years, where we get participants and speakers both from within Singapore and outside Singapore to speak on various aspects of Honour. Honour International Symposium 2024 (HIS24) carries the theme "Honour for Sustainable Success." It will start with the Opening Dinner on Thursday 26 September 2024 followed by a full day Symposium on Friday 27 September 2024.
The idea behind the Symposium title of "Honour for Sustainability" is explained as follows:
"The foundational end of sustainability has to be the sustainability of society. This strategic goal applies to government, as it also has to apply to business, to the community, to the family and to the conduct of individuals.
Peter F. Drucker, who was a world-renowned leadership guru, has pointedly said: 'None of our institutions exists by itself and is an end in itself. Every one is an organ of society and exists for the sake of society. Business is no exception. Free enterprise cannot be justified as being good for business; it can be justified only as being good for society.'
Government has to pursue whatever would enhance the long-term viability of society. Business has to exist for the good of society. Family has to prepare children for a beneficial future in society. Individuals have to behave in ways which strengthen the long-term sustainability of society and nation.
Underlying the motivations to seek the good of society has to be the virtue of Honour - to enhance trust, to invoke acceptance of diversity, and to seek the long-term well-being of each other."
You can see details of the previous Symposiums at https://honour.sg/symposium/, including a video address by Jack Ma which he specially recorded for the inaugural occasion; the video address can also be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1s8I2xREZs.
We are currently working through the programme details and getting confirmations from speakers. We will have esteemed Singapore speakers as well as foreign speakers. We will provide updates as we go along. Do look out for follow-on announcements, but block off your diaries – 26 & 27 September – now as well as think of who others you should want to bring along to the Symposium! You can be assured that HIS24 will be exciting and practical for work and life! There will be a session on Social Sustainability, a second on Business Sustainability and a third on Environmental Sustainability. Speakers will share examples on how Honour has been foundational to success because it is so essential in all successful organisational culture, and we all know that culture is the ultimate competitive advantage in any business or non-business enterprise. I look forward to welcoming you.
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The next forum will be held on 30 April 2024. The theme for the Leaders Forum will be “Unity in Diversity: Reaching Out for Greatest Success” to help and encourage Leaders as they lead their organisations forward. Our keynote speaker will be Mr Mohamed Irshad, Founder, Roses of Peace, and Member of the Honour (Singapore) Panel of Community Advisors, who will share how people from various races, cultures and religions can join together to achieve much in common purpose, a manifestation of what Dr Goh Keng Swee used to refer to as “enlightened self-interest”.
If you are a CEO and would like to attend one of these forums, please get in touch with me at limsiongguan@honour.sg to express your interest.
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I am happy to announce a new scheme of partnership with corporates where we find common ground in mutually advancing our agenda of promoting Honour and Honourable behaviour, whether as individuals or institutions. If you should like to consider becoming a Corporate Partner of Honour (Singapore), please write me at limsiongguan@honour.sg.
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| Honour Champions Community |
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Honour (Singapore) is acutely aware that if the world of family, society, business and government is to benefit from greater trust and care and concern between people, the virtue of honour has to become a habit and a natural part of each of our lives. And this will not happen unless there are significant numbers of people who resolve to be “Champions of Honour”, as meaning they believe so much in the value of Honour for life and living that, whether it be social or business circles, they will champion the idea and practice of Honour as best they can. Honour (Singapore) enables and encourages this through the formation of Honour Champions Groups, these being groups of people who decide to come together to share their personal thoughts and experiences on promoting honour at home, in the neighbourhood and at the workplace.
We currently have a number of Honour Champions Groups of young professionals, educators, trainers, sustainability advocates, HR professionals, Agility and so on. We will be happy to create any number of new Champions Groups to meet the needs of more Honour Champions. Please contact us so we can meet to discuss how you can join or lead an Honour Champions Group, and succeed as leaders, influencers and multipliers of Honour. Our belief is that the culture of Honour promoted through Honour Champions will not just be critical for Singapore’s continuing survival and success as a nation, but also critical for the survival and success of our businesses and families, and our effectiveness as leaders and workers for the future. Should you wish to learn more about the Honour Champions Community and upcoming events, please visit us on LinkedIn at https://shorturl.at/els68.
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Thinking The Future |
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We continue with our "What Next?” programme where we run workshops to elicit participant consensus on what they think would make a sustainably successful Singapore decades into the future. We should want future generations of Singaporeans to continue to find Singapore as the place which offers them the opportunity to be the best they can be according to their talents and abilities. The workshop seeks to help participants think for the long-term without being side-tracked by the challenges and difficulties they face today in their personal lives or in running their enterprises. We need to have the confidence and gumption to deal with the Unknown Unknowns and to Expect the Unexpected.
Some needs for the long-term may well take 20 or 30 years to bring about. So if as a people we do not think with that longer timeframe, we will miss out on creating conditions which will allow our children and grandchildren to thrive in their time. We have conducted “What Next?” workshops with postgraduate business students, university undergraduates, young working adults, educators, parent support group leaders, community leaders. The survival and sustainability of Singapore is hope and life for all of us! We are happy to lead your people in thoughtful discussion on the matter of how they can contribute towards a successful Singapore for the coming generations.
We hope to reach out to parents, religious groups, and other communities who are interested in the longer-term development of Singapore as society and nation, so that they also can position themselves and their organisations better for the future. We invite all who are interested in hosting “What Next?” sessions to get in touch with us at admin@honour.sg.
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I continue to speak about Honour, on an invitation-only basis, at schools, companies and community groups. In the last quarter, I had the privilege of sharing with several organisations the criticality and cruciality of Honour and Honourable Behaviour for sustainable success. If you believe such a session could be a boost to the vision and morale of the people in your organisations, do let me know your interest at limsiongguan@honour.sg. |
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THANK YOU |
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We at Honour (Singapore) recognise that all progress to date has been possible only with the support and encouragement of many donors and partners. We have created 'The Honour Donor Roll' on our website to publicly thank all of our generous donors and supporters who have helped us so much over the years. Every donation is important, though we are especially acknowledging a special group of Founder Donors who support us with a donation of a million dollars and more. If you can be a Founder Donor, we will be so very grateful for your extra-generous support.
We welcome donations of any amount from both corporates and individuals, with the donations qualifying for tax deductibility as we enjoy the status of an Institution of Public Character (IPC). Sponsorship donations are also welcome for the Honour Film Initiative and our other initiatives and programmes.
My very best wishes to you and your family.
Lim Siong Guan
Founding Chairman, Honour (Singapore)
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