Sunday Times, Singapore, 29.02.04
SM's meeting with pilots: What happened at the Istana
By Zuraidah Ibrahim
'You play straight with me, I play straight with you. You play ducks and drakes with me, I play ducks and drakes with you.' -- SM Lee Kuan Yew
Repeat of all that has been reported by Rebecca Lee in the Straits Times during the past week………………………..
Finishing with ……. They told him 38 pilots had left in recent months. Where were they going, he wanted to know.
There will be changes, he said.
'I am assuring you that the Government will make sure that SIA acts in good faith,' he said.
Mr Lee went on to answer one of the main questions on the minds of Singaporeans: Why did the Government need to intervene in an internal company matter? 'We are the majority owners and we will ensure that they act in the interest of the country, and the interest of the country requires cooperation, trust and confidence from the unions.'
Why did it have to be the Senior Minister?
As he explained it, he had dealt with the airline from the beginning, it was fair he saw to it that the restive relationship between the pilots in the early years still continuing today, end.
But he was also realistic enough to concede this much: The residual feelings of suspicion would still be there.
Capt Mok too made this plain enough when he told the media later Alpa-S was not ready to embrace NTUC.
But yes, he and the others pledged to work on a clean slate, work in partnership with management and give things a go. They would use the negotiations for the new collective agreement as a time for trust-building.
By the end of it, it felt as if the fog of suspicion that had settled between Government and Alpa-S these past months had a good chance of lifting.
As the press walked in at the tail end of the meeting and posed questions, Captain Mok insisted on looking forward, vowing to make a clean start.
Details of difficulties with management? No, he wasn't keen on hitting the headlines with that.
Details of demands? No, not keen either.
Management should thank him for closing the books thus.
The meeting ended with handshakes all around, even with the solemn-looking Capt Goh.
If there was any sense of deja vu in the room, Captain Freddie Koh must have felt it most.
He was among a posse of union pilots Mr Lee summoned to the Istana in 1980 for daring to fan a go-slow action to vent their disgruntlement over pay and work conditions.
He told them then in unvarnished language: 'I do not want to do you in but I will not let anyone do Singapore in.'
When trouble with Alpa-S began, Mr Lee said he wanted to clean up on the restiveness that was resurfacing. 'This is a job that has to be finished and I'll finish it.'
Thursday afternoon moved towards that conclusion.
Looking back, throughout it all, the Senior Minister in effect employed the familiar strategy of good cop, bad cop. Except that he played both roles.
Now that he and the Government have said their piece and the pilots have made peace, SIA needs to break its deafening silence. Soon.