Chairman opened the HDB Annual Conference 2021 with a timely reminder of how being Resilient helped HDB get through some of the most daunting challenges that the organisation has faced in the last year as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
These included setting up quarantine facilities and rehousing migrant workers, all in double quick time. HDB staff were also called on to helm call centres and walk the ground as Safe Distancing Ambassadors and Enforcement Officers. But even as we contributed to these Whole-of-Government (WOG) efforts to battle the pandemic, the needs of our customers and our staff continued to remain a priority. We were able to deliver essential services to our customers and residents, as well as help our staff to work from home productively while supporting their health and wellbeing.
Chairman noted that instead of being overwhelmed by the challenges, we buckled down and viewed them as opportunities to make progress in several areas of our transformation journey. For example, we were able to further nudge our customers to transact with us online, and ourstaff also acquired more digital tools under their beltto help them work and collaborate better virtually.
Take pride in being a part of this organisation which has, over more than 60 years, met the housing aspirations of Singaporeans and written successive chapters of the well-known Singapore public housing story. Post-COVID, I am confident that HDB will continue to do the same – always looking ahead and ready to seize new, to better position HDB for the future.
While we have achieved much in the last year, Chairman cautioned that the road ahead in a post-pandemic world would not be a breeze to navigate. It was thus important to keep these goals within view.
