Source : Straits Times – 5 Aug 2009
GUIDELINES defining the nuts and bolts for a national standard in hotel security are being drawn up, so hotels can benchmark their security measures against them.
They cover, among other things, access, electronic surveillance and the quality of security personnel.
More details of the Singapore Standard for Hotel Security, being drafted jointly by the public and private sectors, will be unveiled at a hotel security conference this month.
Announcing this yesterday, Senior Minister S. Jayakumar said it will ‘bolster Singapore’s reputation as a secure business and tourism destination’.
The minister, who is also the Coordinating Minister for National Security, urged all businesses to look at security as an investment, not a cost.
In these times marked by concern over the risk of terrorist attacks, security has become a key factor in decisions on where to hold international events, he noted.
‘Also, as travellers become more security conscious, they will look for destinations and hotels that have good records of security,’ he said to about 650 members of the business community at a security dialogue held by the Singapore Business Federation (SBF) in Orchard Hotel.
Reminding them of the recent hotel bombings in Jakarta, he said: ‘Just as an eerie calm can precede a tsunami, peace and quietness over a few years should not lull us into believing that it means the absence of risks.’
Security managers from top-tier hotels here said they already have a slew of security measures in place.
Mr J. Benjamin Charles, who oversees safety and security at the Conrad Centennial here, said cameras sweep all the vulnerable areas. Also, delivery workers entering the hotel are screened and monitored.
Dialogue participant Karambir Singh Kang, general manager of India’s Taj Mahal Palace & Tower, offered a perspective from experience. Staff at his hotel, the target of last November’s attacks on Mumbai, now know the importance of everyone down the line having a security mindset.
In his speech, Professor Jayakumar urged businesses to step up their capacity to cope with emergencies like terrorist attacks and pandemics – by forming security watch groups, for example.
Building owners and managers who did well in the security department received awards yesterday.
The SBF said it will launch a website by the year endto enable companies to assess their business continuity management levels.
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