On 28 September 2018, Force 21 with two other partners, Tactics SOG and Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA), a Philippines national government agency had committed to a partnership strengthening engagement in Singapore. The three organizations, having the common interest of sustainable development, has come together to solidify their efforts in realizing an inclusive and more sustainable Mindanao through technological and community development solutions.

The partnership strengthening included executive meetings, joint planning workshop, and a signing of a Memorandum of Understanding in hope to support and accelerate the growth of joint initiatives for Mindanao, Philippines. During the event, MinDA has properly presented both opportunities and challenges of this region which is among the fastest-growing in the country, boasting a 14.4% share in the national economy.

However, despite the enormous potential for economic growth, Mindanao is home to three of the five poorest provinces nationwide. This poverty is largely driven by lack of access to basic needs and services. MinDA believes that sustainability and inclusiveness can be achieved through the use of technology and solutions that increase the quality of life, something that Force 21 and Tactics can offer.

The planned joint initiatives are first and foremost directed towards the rehabilitation of Marawi due to the urgency of humanitarian need, and will then be rolled-out to the rest of the region. Opportunities discussed include solutions for access to safe drinking water, urban planning, disaster risk reduction, agriculture and trade, among others.

On 25 July 2018, Force 21 signed a Memorandum of Understanding with G Element Pte Ltd to collaborate in joint business and solution development for the regional sea port market. G Element is a smart visualization consultancy firm based in Asia and the Middle East.

With the strategic partnership, we can focus on the demands of smart technology integration in aspects of facility, safety and security management systems around our neighbouring ports. This initiative is in sync with the nation’s vision, to integrate Singapore into a smart nation.

The MOU was inked by Daniel Cheah, CEO, Force 21 and Yeow Shin We, MD, G Element. The signing ceremony took place in Singapore at G Element’s office. G Element, VP, Eric Loh commented that: “Being equipped with the innovative and uniqueness of our solutions, along with proven results, this collaboration will definitely be a fruitful one.”

Force 21 Vietnam participated in the Homeland Security Expo (HSE) Vietnam on 3 to 4 October 2018 in Hanoi. HSE is instrumental in bringing the latest and modern equipment, technology and products for the homeland and public security. It has been an annual event since 2016. Many big boys in the defence and security industry came together to confer and exchange ideas.

We showcased our advanced body armour, metal box, Tascent InsightOne, Tascent MobileX and Protect Fabric. We are very pleased with the potential leads we have garnered through the exhibition. We are looking forward to engage our customers with our highly customised solutions.

Following the success of the focus seminar on 1 August 2018 on IoT Technology – Smart Management Solutions, Force 21 Vietnam launched the Nucleus packages campaign with the objective of increasing the knowledge on Nucleus – Smart Management Platform.

There are two main packages which are reasonably priced, targeted for small and medium enterprises to manage their CCTVs and experience six amazing features of Nucleus, which encompasses: 2D/3D model, CCTVs integration, virtual tour & bookmarks, incident reporting & management, asset annotations and scenario management.

On 20 September 2018, our Technology team participated in the ASEAN Fair in Savannakhet, Laos. The ASEAN Fair was an opportunity for economic trade and investment. It linked up 10 countries in the ASEAN region and created a network that leads to the expansion of various industries in these countries. There were more than 200 booths present across 5 dynamic industries involving 5 different countries that was responsible for the footfall of more than 8000 attendees.

In partnership with Fidelium group, Force 21 showcased our smart building management systems. At one glance, our management system allows command centre operators to identify and monitor daily operations of the building effectively by providing a 3D mapping of the premises with integrated smart sensors and security components. In addition, our bi-directional system actively retrieves live reports from personnel on the grounds resulting in accurate real time updates of the building situation.

We received numerous positive enquiries and we look forward to working closely with the relevant authorities to place a footprint in Vientiane, Laos.

After more than half a decade of working with Singapore’s uniformed agencies, from Singapore Armed Forces to Home Team Academy, FiTSA has set our sights on the education sector albeit starting in the tactical training area. We recently received the approval as a Non-Accredited Training Organisation to conduct SkillsFuture courses and provisional approval as an Approved Training Organisation to conduct Workforce Singapore (WSG) related courses.

As part of pursuing the initiative on the fitness education, Force 21 will be setting up FiTSA Academy. The focus of FiTSA Academy will be on development and conduct of fitness training curriculum across various populations and disciplines. To raise the benchmarks of our courses, our educators will be sent for relevant adult facilitation courses from SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG) to ride on their initiatives on adult education and facilitation.

FiTSA will launch our very own Tactical Strength & Conditioning Specialist Certification that is aligned to current training requirements from Singapore Armed Forces and our Home Team Agencies. Certified personnel can look forward to gaining knowledge and skills on tactical training for the relevant agencies as well as basic facilitation skills on delivery. FiTSA aims to align to the directions of Workforce Singapore and SkillsFuture Singapore visions:

• Promote lifelong learning through the pursuit of skills mastery and strengthen the ecosystem of quality education and training in Singapore
• Promote the development, competitiveness, inclusiveness, and employability of all levels of the workforce to ensure all sectors of the economy are supported by a strong, inclusive Singaporean core

Over the next few months, FiTSA will look to launch several courses in various settings, addressing the possible gaps within the fitness and health industry. This is to increase the employability of physical trainers/coaches looking to advance their careers in the fitness & health industry.

Look forward for pictures and updates as we launch our internal Tactical Strength & Conditioning certification for our full time trainers training our Home Team recruits in November 2018!

The Asia Fitness Conference (AFC) was held in Bangkok, Thailand on 5 to 7 October 2018. This is an annual event for the fitness professionals to attend and have access to leading international presenters in the field, to network with regional leaders, and to share ideas and experiences on the growing, prospering health and fitness industry in Asia.

FiTSA is highly committed to excellence in fitness training and education. We value and reward our staffs by sending them to AFC, to upgrade themselves and keep abreast with trends and the latest happenings in South East Asia. Staffs will then be able to add value to our wide ranging fitness projects and benefit our customers eventually.

Some thoughts by our staffs who attended AFC :

I’ve learnt how SPIDERfit Kids does children training through promoting physical activities using games that are targeted to improve certain fundamental movement skills. This is an important lesson for me as now I can re-design the Recharge programme that I am currently in charge of. The presenter, Brett Klika shared important pointers on how we should conduct the session with kids. We as the instructors must be able to have fun ourselves before we are able into influence the kids to have more physical activity. And the most important tip he shared with us is that we should not be afraid to make a fool of ourselves if we really want to help the kids. I feel this is an important lesson as we as trainers must always put the interests of whoever we are training first.

Raymond Chen
Senior Executive, FiTSA Community Health

On the whole, AFC was useful in a number of ways. It provided a window to refresh and renew our knowledge as well as introduce the latest developments based on research. That had been the most fundamental thing: this was not pseudo experts or charlatans spewing fitness myths. Instead, the work was evidence-based and in areas that help us deliver the best outcome to clients. The conference also helped to reinforce things I already knew, showing that we are on the right path and that we should continue the good work we are doing.

Viknesh Pillai
Chief Trainer, FiTSA Tactical Performance

Besides pre-workout “regime”, I also learned different types of training that can really benefit young adults especially for us as we train NSFs. One of the few examples is agility training. Agility is not just about speed, but it is about the speed of changing direction. How we react and move sharply without getting injured. I learned some agility drills such ball reaction drill, agility ladder and mirroring our buddies for agile footwork. If we incorporate this form of training to HTA or NSTI, it will improve the fitness test results that we conduct. Research have shown that agility training improves balance and coordination. Most importantly it also reduces injuries and speeds up recovery.

Fahmy Fareed
Centre Manager, FiTSA Tactical Performance