On my last blog, I mentioned I would blog more about security. And here is what triggered me to bring up this topic. On 4th of April, a security guard at Roxy Square was punched by a man. The whole incident was recorded on camera. This incident made the news and was the topic of the day for a couple of days after. I thought I would share my views on security guards here in Singapore and the premises that they trying to guard.

Expectations vs reality

I feel that many of us have this simple expectation of a security guard. The security guard must be physically able and mobile and be able to protect himself and others from physical attacks. This simple expectation would then naturally translate into a male who is young, tall and physically fit. However, more often than not, the reality we see, is that many residences, installations are being guarded by older men or women who do not look physically fit or capable to protect themselves, let alone others. It seems that there is this big disparity between our expectations and reality, so what gives?

The simple explanation I have is to look at the premises they are guarding. If the premise is one of the thousands of condominiums around Singapore, then it is very likely that the building or estate management deems that the security risk or the security requirement is low and they will engage a security company to provide the required service at a low price of course! On the contrary, look at the high risk buildings such as embassies, government offices and residences of the rich and powerful. The security guards there are exactly what we expect. The differences are stark and this boils down to the deemed security risk and of course to the dollars and cents. High expectations placed on the security guards equate to high compensation packages or high costs to the building/estate management. This goes for any other profession as well.

So building/estate management has a fine line to tread when it comes to security. How to balance the requirements placed on the security guards against the costs of having this level of security?

Final thoughts

The level of security of a building or estate is a fine balance between costs and deemed security risks. Let’s not forget that the next time we complain about the security guards at our residences.

Ethan Foo, Manager
Defence Systems