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SINGAPORE: The Singapore Hotel Association has issued an alert to all hotels in Singapore to ramp up security following the terror attacks in Mumbai last week.
Singapore's Shangri-La Hotel is a prime venue for many international meetings involving corporate captains and government leaders and it has also ramped up its security measures following the industry alert.
Shangri-La Hotel manager, Richard Cooke, said: “We have more patrolling going around in all our offices. For the rank and file, they have been told to be more careful with parcels and packages. We also have five times more the number of cameras. I have every part of this hotel covered. We have surveillance teams monitoring the CCTVs constantly as well.”
Shangri-La said it sets aside an annual budget just for security.
One of the first things that all new staff have to go through when they join the hotel is a thorough security briefing and how to handle a crisis. They are also taught how to handle situations like a chemical attack at the hotel's premises.
The heightened sense of security is also evident amongst major corporations.
Security solutions provider Certis Cisco said it has received requests from some organisations to beef up their security systems following the Mumbai attacks. The company said robust security solutions go beyond hardware.
Jasbir Singh, Certis Cisco's deputy managing director for security consulting, said: “Having good protection means having integrated security systems which will give us a layered approach and depth of protection. No security system can give us 100 per cent protection.
“Having a robust response strategy is important. And this was seen played out in the last Mumbai incident where you need good crisis management plans so that you can respond effectively and swiftly when events do occur."
Meanwhile, the Home Affairs Ministry said the Mumbai attacks are yet another painful reminder of the real and continuing threat that terrorism poses to all societies.
Thus, the Home Team agencies such as the Singapore Police Force, Singapore Civil Defence Force and the Internal Security Department will continue to reach out to the public to raise awareness and educate them on emergency preparedness.
The ministry said it will glean lessons from incidents such as the Mumbai attacks and share them with community leaders and the industry. - CNA/vm
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