Bringing Festive Cheer to Seafarers at the Close of 2022 - SeaVoices - Singapore Maritime Officers’ Union (SMOU) Publication

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16 Mar 2023

3 mins

Bringing Festive Cheer to Seafarers at the Close of 2022

As with tradition, SMOU once again partnered the Mission to Seafarers Singapore (MTSS) to organise the annual year-end festive celebration at the Jurong Port seafarers drop-in centre.

On 27 December 2022, SMOU prepared a delicious spread of local and festive fare such as Christmas turkey and log cakes to celebrate the year-end season with seafarers. Upon receiving the news of the celebration, some 20 seafarers turned up at the drop-in centre in the early evening to enjoy the food, facilities, and interaction with SMOU and MTSS.

Before the celebration began, MTSS Port Chaplain Toh Soon Kok welcomed seafarers, and acknowledged SMOU’s presence and partnership to host the year-end party. He encouraged seafarers to enjoy themselves, and relax at the drop-in centre from their hard work on board their ships. SMOU Senior Industrial Relations Officer (SIRO) Kelvin Lin also thanked the seafarers for their hard work to keep the supply chains moving, letting them know that SMOU is here for them and that the celebration was a small gesture of appreciation for the invaluable contrition that are making towards the world.

Soon Kok also took the opportunity to share with seafarers on the WeCare mental health and well-being programmes which SMOU had launched the previous month in November. The two self-learning programmes are available to seafarers, and will equip them with useful skills for their financial and social well-being. The programmes can be accessed conveniently on their vessels with a mobile device and an internet connection.

In the spirit of Christmas and giving, gifts were also presented to seafarers before the evening event ended. It was all cheer with seafarers, as they soaked up the warmth and festivities at the drop-in centre.

Later in the evening, SMOU also brought some food to two vessels whose crew were hard at work and could not leave their ships to join the party. Crew members on board the MV Copacabana and MV Dolfijingracht were very grateful for the food, despite having missed the celebrations due to their duties, and were touched that SMOU would bring delightful food and snacks to them.

Visit to CBA vessels throughout December

To go further, SMOU also made special arrangements to visit crew on board SMOU collective agreement vessels. Throughout the month of December, SMOU made trips to the Pasir Panjang Terminal and Jurong Port to various ships that called at the Singapore Port.

Representing SMOU at the ship visits were officers from the Industrial Relations (IR) Department including Kelvin Lin, Dominic Yong, and Nariyan Abdul Majeed. They brought not only care packs, Ship gift items and festive snacks, but also year-end cheer and well wishes to the crew on board. A total of almost 20 ships were visited during this month.

As the year comes to a close, SMOU remembers and appreciates once again the invaluable contribution of seafarers and the important work that they do to keep the supply chain moving. Happy New Year to all seafarers!