Couple of you did have a whiff of what this body does. In the early to mid 70s, student agitation in Uni Singapore was growing and for the first time, they realised that there were no hidden hands, no foreign funding and worse still no covenient communist bogeyman available. It was a genuine student movement who became aware of the wider world. Toh Chin Chye was getting mad and demanding detention, deporting of foreign students and sacking. This guy was very anal.
PAP cadres and the Union movement actually started showing empathy. They fought the communist in the trenches and knew without doubt the differences between the red and this lot. Even more upsetting was that the general student population including academia were behind the student leaders and "freedom square" the quandrangle facing Raffles Hall was teeming with excitement. The suitability certificate introduced to keep d influenced students was not working. For the first time, old man and his close associates were in a quandary. ISA could not be applied. So the courts we brought in, Wah Piow charged, the Malaysian and HK students were deported. Others sacked.
To avoid another incident and the loss of support from PAP grassroots and cadres and the wider NTUC movement, the Singapore Labour Foundation Act was legislated in 1977. In US terms, it's called a special purpose vehicle, to the East Asians, it called a slush fund and for squeaky clean Singapore, ironically, it is to bribe politicians and union key officials to stay loyal and compliant. In the worse case scenario, it is the fighting fund for old man and his team.
In essence, it is a investment fund to look after key individuals and their families. The primary channel will be NTUC but linking it to PAP would not be wise and gives the game away. Thus you have key PAP officials holding responsibilities in NTUC at every level. The whole operation is so low profile that 99% of Singaporeans have no clue. It's no go zone for the intelligence services and they have no idea. Secondment of civil service to this entity despite it being a Govt vehicle is not allowed in the main. It's owns extensive assets, money comes from membership but more importantly from grants from the consolidated funds.
For you all blurfucks out there here is a good comparison. Every PSC scholar including the President's scholarship is open and transparent. Kids of PAP and NTUC loyalist given overseas "scholarships" for loyal service is never revealed and the money comes from SLF. A loyal PAP/NTUC with great track record of serving the regime and in a moment of indiscretion contracts STD while on a tryst in Taiwan and his health makes him unemployable. The Act allows SLF to look after his entire family. Ever wonder why journalists despite their high salaries are ardent unionists that has no parallel to any other vocation. Well they are NTUC members and therefore eligible for SLF benefits.
Its explains why PAP and NTUC is not rich or allowed to be rich. In the event, it is captured by a faction and there is very little money available to be used.