Singapore is buzzing

Citation

(2010), "Singapore is buzzing", International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, Vol. 59 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijppm.2010.07959aab.006

Singapore is buzzing

Article Type: News From: International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, Volume 59, Issue 1

TEAMY the Bee could be buzzing back with a turbo-charged boost into offices in Singapore. The cute cartoon insect – Singapore's first productivity mascot in 1982 – may be given a movie-makeover and resurrected to front a new campaign.

“After 30 years, we will have Transformer Bees because the world has gone on to The Matrix and Transformers,” Mr Lee Yi Shyan says with a grin, referring to the science-fiction action films.

There is, after all, a Transformer known as Bumblebee – a black and yellow Autobot which transforms from a Volkswagen Beetle into a dynamic robot.

Mr Lee's comments on movie-theme mascots are clearly tongue-in-cheek but the Minister of State for Manpower, and Trade and Industry is serious about pushing companies to work smarter and faster.

He is overseeing a new government task force which aims to pump up productivity levels, which have been plummeting over the last three decades. The slide has become more pronounced in recent years.

Companies are not producing as much or as fast as before with the number of workers and resources they have – leading to lower output per unit cost.

To counter this dip, civil servants in the inter-agency task force have been wracking their brains to find a way to convey the message that more can be done with less – through automation, innovation and imagination, for example.

In this battle for greater productivity, a Transformer Bee could be the new-generation mascot to help propel Singapore forward.