Expect “vigilant raptors” on alert at Asia Conference, as the CHC security team undergoes fitness conditioning.
Contributed By Gideon Foo
 |
|
| CN PHOTO: Gay Sen Min | |
With more than 30,000 delegates expected to convene at Singapore Expo for the upcoming Asia Conference this May, the City Harvest Church (CHC) security team is determined to ensure the conference runs safely and smoothly. The outfit has been gearing its volunteers up physically and mentally by engaging them in monthly training sessions since November 2009, in preparation for the event.
Security team leader Cheah Kok Yew told City News, “The training sessions aim to equip our personnel to more effectively perform our operations, such as crowd control, customer service, escorting of pastors and guests, securing of offerings, securing of auditorium during service, and emergency response.”
City News visited one such session at Singapore Expo Hall 1, Conference Room 1 after the Saturday evening service. There were 150 security personnel who attended the session, dubbed “Operation Raptor”.
Trainer Javier Ow likened security personnel to “raptors”. Like birds of prey, they are on a constant lookout for suspicious people and troublemakers. Ow explained, “As we perform our security duties, we need to have spiritual discernment to identify potential troublemakers.” With that in mind, he elaborated on how the security personnel should perform their duties.
In the second segment, Cheah shared his insights on engaging people. He encouraged the members not only to be efficient in executing their duties, but to perform them in a Christ-like manner that will leave a positive image on the foreign delegates. He used the acronym “G.S.T.” to impress upon the security personnel the three steps of great customer service: Firstly, greet everyone with a smile. Secondly, speak positively. Thirdly, thank the customer at the end of the conversation.
In order to test the readiness of the security personnel, the third segment of the training involved role-playing of scenarios that could possibly occur during the conference. Scenes that were acted out included: queue-cutting by conference attendees, CHC members having prayer meetings at public areas in Singapore Expo, and people being turned away because the halls were full.
The security personnel reacting to each scenario had to think on his feet and resolve the situation in the most timely and appropriate manner he could manage. The other volunteers would then offer their comments and suggestions on how the situation could have been handled better. It was a light-hearted time as the scenarios were humorously enacted.
Security ministry member Jaydee Quek summed up the purpose of the training, “I believe ‘readiness and being prepared’ means we are able to handle any situations that may arise during the Asia Conference swiftly and effectively.”
