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In this Issue
The Bank of Thailand (BoT) released a BCM/BCP policy for financial institutions in January 2007. You can download this 15-page English version of BOT Notification No. 118-2550 (23-01-07) translated by Thailand's Foreign Bankers' Association.
Banks in Thailand have until January 2008 to comply. The policy requires board-level involvement, identification and recovery plans for "Critical Business Functions," written plans and tests at least every 12 months. Pretty standard stuff. An appendix lists sixteen (16) "Examples of Disruptive Events" for which continuity plans should be made. Tsunami is listed, of course, but so are "volcanic eruption" and "hostage taking." You don't often see those particular threats mentioned specifically in national BCM guidelines. For commentary on the Thai guidelines, read Nathaniel's "BCP Confidential" article here.
The 2006 Compensation Report for BCP professionals in Asia Pacific was released this week in Singapore. Published by U.S. placement and research firm BC Management, it covers Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Australia.
Download your copy here.
Average full time compensation in Singapore was SGD 158,800 in 2006, versus 141,557 in 2005, a 12% increase. In Malaysia MYR 116,678 versus MYR 105, 655 the previous year.
Startling facts: BCP professionals in Singapore get paid about three times what the professionals gets paid in Malaysia
About 70 people responded to the anonymous, online survey that ended in February. There were insufficient responses from Japan and Taiwan to publish results. The winners: average total, full time compensation in Malaysia is MYR 132,000 (USD 36,000); in Singapore is SGD 135,000 (USD 85,000); and in Hong Kong is HKD 1.2 M (USD 155,000). I sure want to meet the person getting paid SGD 458,997 (USD 288,000) doing BCP. Nice work if you can get it. Tip: If you aren't from Asia, use this currency converter to translate the numbers into "real money."
The most dangerous place in Singapore - the petrol kiosk (gas station) at the Golden Shoe Car Park - pumped its last liter on Wednesday, 2 May 2007. Common sense has prevailed, at last. As a contingency planner, I am delighted it closed.
Golden Shoe Car Park is eight (8) floors of parking for more than 1,000 vehicles, in the heart of Singapore's Raffles Place financial district. If that parking were full (as it is most weekeday) and each parked vehicle had a 40 litre tank, that makes 40,000 litres (about 10,000 gallons) of fuel waiting for an ignition source.
Below the 1,000 vehicles, there are about fifty (5) stalls in a two-storey food court, each stall plumbed with LPG gas under pressure. More fuel waiting for ignition. These remain in operation after the closing of the petrol station. And below the stalls and the vehicles, on the ground level, was this gas station with underground fuel storage, and open 24 hours a day. It had no automated fire suppression system - only the handheld extinguishers you see in this photo.
In short, Golden Shoe was an enormous BLEVE waiting for a careless smoker to drop a cigarette in the wrong place at the wrong time. The Singapore Land Authority did not renew the station's lease, and owner CapitaLand plans to convert the space into more street-level shops, according to a story in The Business Times. The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) has instructed petroleum retailers in Singapore to close and relocate their stations located on the ground floors of commercial buildings. There were eight (8) such stations in Singapore; four (4) have now closed, and the four (4) others will be closed as the sites are sold. New stations must be 100 meters from residences and 50 meters from commercial areas. SCDF has also ordered retail fuel operators to install remotely-activated anti-hijacking devices on their trucks to prevent the use of a loaded fuel tanker as truck bombs.
Pengurusan Krisis Accusations of unsafe and non-halal food, contaminated cosmetics and inadequate security caused the four (4) business crises examined in this feature article in Malaysia's The Star newspaper. Our Director, Nathaniel Forbes, commented by email on the crisis responses of multinationals Procter & Gamble, IKEA and Malaysian companies Silver Bird Group and the Bangsar Shopping Center to public relations fiascoes that occurred in the last four (4) years. Read the story here.
How companies in Asia respond to crisis - how quickly, how truthfully - is particularly relevant to planning for a much-anticipated outbreak of human-transmissible avian influenza.
Outsource Your BCP Work in Asia Contact Elaine Khaw at elainek@calamity.com.sg or Nathaniel Forbes at nforbes@calamity.com.sg Visit our web site at www.calamityprevention.com for samples of our work over the past 11 years. Or call us in the Singapore time zone (13 hours ahead of U.S. Eastern Time, 8 hours ahead of London time) at +65 6324-3091. Need help? In Singapore, call: +65 6324-3091 Fax: +65 6324-3093 Email: info@calamity.com.sg | |||
: nathaniel_forbes | AOL IM: KingmanReef|
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