30 December 2021
ACSA PRESIDENT ‘s NEW YEAR 2022 MESSAGE
Dear ACSA’s Valued Members,
In a blink of an eye, 2021 is drawing to a close. It was a challenging
year for all, presenting an unprecedented and unpredictable landscape
for the security industry.
I would like to express my heartfelt congratulations to each and every
one of you for your tenacity and high degree of resilience; coping with
the new work environment, and keeping up with the changing demands in
the wake of the global pandemic.
The varying waves of COVID 19 has literally transformed the work
modality for many and inadvertently exposed our security officers who
are at a higher risk of contracting COVID 19. This has hurt our
deployment plan when our officers were infected as well.
The manpower crunch, coupled with our foreign employees returning home
to be reunited with their family, had triggered business owners to
re-think of their human resource strategies to be aligned with the new
normal.
It’s certainly a tumultuous task for all of you, however I am heartened
to learn that you were able to rise up to the occasion to meet your
contractual obligations with slight hiccups.
Some of you have cleverly switched to an outcome based contracting model
(OBC). The adoption of the OBC will see the complementary role of
machines and our scarce manpower, principled by best sourcing practices.
I understand that many of you are reaping good results through the
adoption of the OBC.
Since May 2021, most, if not all government agencies, have converted to
the OBC. In the private sectors, where the buyers are better informed, I
envisage more buyers will be subscribing to the OBC. Studies have
suggested that OBC adopters have yielded desirable outcomes for the
service buyers and providers. Our security officers have also shared
that their work environment has seen a marked improvement and shaping up
to be more conducive. This is a clear testament that OBC is here to
stay. It will be a viable and most sought-after option.
The year also saw the approval by our government of the recommendations
proposed by the Security Tripartite Cluster (STC). The main focus of the
STC was to uplift the quality of life of our security officers, who
based on their current salaries, were classified as Low Wages Workers
(LWW). The STC’s recommendations bordered along the line of better
remuneration packages, improved work conditions and environment, as well
as up-skilling our officers to be better poised to improve performance
and increased productivity. This is all done with the hope that this
will translate to better security outcomes for our officers to reap the
gains.
ACSA, on her part, launched the Educational Awards to help the children
of our officers. The awards aim to provide some form of monetary support
for the needy officers’ families as they continue to pave the journey
for their children to pursue their educational voyages and realise their
dreams.
Forty children of our officers will be receiving the book prizes ranging
from $200 to $600 at a presentation ceremony on 4 January 2022.
The ACSA Educational Awards were made possible with the magnanimous
generosity of our members, partners and well-meaning donors. We look
forward to their continued contributions as we have established the ACSA
Educational Award for future educational awards as well.
The Singapore government has announced and formalised its plan to steer
towards living with COVID 19. The plans are underway to declare COVID 19
as an endemic as we move towards the new normal.
With this as a background, ACSA is desirous of celebrating its silver
jubilee with a slew of activities. In 1997, ACSA was established and
will turn 25 in 2022. It will be apt to mark the anniversary with a
series of events. Plans are being finalised and will be shared in due
course.
The celebratory plans will see an introduction of a few FIRST time
activities with greater emphasis placed on engaging our security officer
– a bottom up approach towards embracing the changes posed to the
security industry. Our regular events will be re-branded to achieve
greater impact for the industry as we drive towards digitalisation and
transformation.
We are fervently hoping to learn from the other international
associations, as we strive towards improving our security services for
our nation.
I will be sharing our anniversary plans in a separate communique in due
course.
Here’s wishing one and all a smashing 2022 and be bestowed with all the
blessings for the year ahead.
Happy 25th Anniversary to all our ACSA members!
Yours sincerely,
John Vijayan Vasavan, PBM
President
ACSA