"Our progress will be determined by our vision of the changing profile of industrial security, by our capacity to anticipate and respond to the imperatives of changes. The changes in our profile have to be basic, fundamental and even radical," - "And so our slogan for the next century should be "Change or Perish" - so concluded Mr. K.N. Prasad, Chairman, IISSM, in his welcome address before the IISSM'99. Quite in line with this conclusion was the assessment by Dato' Ismail Bin Hamzah, Deputy Secretary General, Ministry of Home Affairs, Malaysia, in his inaugural address: "With rapid changes in the world today, coupled with the use of high technology in business, particularly information technology, professionalism and management of private security agencies and their capacity in meeting the demands of clients, will have to advance in consonance with the developing world." In extending his "Salamat Datang" to all those present in the Seminar, Dato' Haji Rahmat Bin Ismail, Vice Chairman, IISSM, therefore felt, "we are pretty confident that once we all leave this Seminar, all of us will be a better person in terms of knowledge and business wealth, and hopefully, we could respond and adapt to changes that await us in the future." How prophetic he has been indeed!
Thus had begun the 3-day (July 12-14) long IXth annual International Seminar of the IISSM at Paradise Sandy Bay Hotel at Penang Island of Malaysia, known as the Pearl of the Orient for its beauty and charm. The theme of the Seminar was: "Changing Face of Industrial Security in the Coming Millennium." When at times the intellectual contents of the Seminar started appearing heavy, the healthy sea-breeze came as highly refreshing during breaks! So captivating and participative had been the discussions after each presentation that we feel proud to state that the percentage of presence throughout the Seminar was indeed highly satisfying and encouraging. Our gratitude to the esteemed members of the faculty and salutation to delegates!
A welcome addition to the IISSM family this year was the Kruse couple from Denmark. So also was another couple, namely, Chowdhurys, coming from Bangladesh after quite some time. While the IISSM continued to attract friends from the countries already in the IISSM net, it is worth highlighting that we had a fair number of representation from Malaysia also even when the country was passing through some degree of economic slump - thanks to the cooperation of cosponsors, namely, Messers SRT-EON Security Services of Kuala Lumpur, led by Dato' Haji Rahmat Bin Ismail and his illustrious son Mr. Razali who was the Chairman of the International Organising Committee. The IISSM would like to put on record its deep appreciation of the active cooperation and assistance received from them towards successfully holding the Seminar at Penang.
The papers presented in the Seminar were both varied and rich in their professional content, covering areas from Integrated Security Management to Technological Aids to Security via the routes of Human Resources Development and Leadership Challenges to special emphasis on the basic premise that Security Requires Precise Language. An integral part of the business session was the presentation of the speakers and the moderators by the IISSM's celebrated Master of Ceremony Mrs. Renu Mattoo, who did so with real aplomb and in her inimitable style that enthralled the participants all the time.
Though originally decided by the Board of Governors, no Exhibition alongside the Seminar could be planned this year. But such has been the call of the IISSM to all those who have heard of the IISSM, it will not be any surprise to know that some Exhibition booths had to be arranged on an adhoc basis to accommodate some enthusiastic distributors of security related equipment at the venue itself. We thank the Exhibitors for displaying state-of-the-art technologies in some areas and welcome them to display their wares in our next Seminar in Bangalore in the year 2000.
A special feature this year was the institution of nine (9) annual awards. The awards were:
Security Practitioner of the Year 1999 (Mr. Vishwanatha V. Katti, India),
Security Agency of the Year 1999 (Premier Security, Singapore),
Private Investigator of the Year 1999 (Mr. James Tappin, UK),
Loss Prevention Executive of the Year 1999 (Capt. (Retd) S.S. Iyengar, India),
Security Operations Manager of the Year 1999 (Mr. Harindran A., India),
Security Consultant / Trainer of the Year 1999 (Dato' Haji Abdul Hamid B. Mustapha, Malaysia),
Security Supervisor of the Year 1999 (Mr. Inderjit Singh, India),
Security Guard of the Year 1999 (Mr. Jugtar Singh, Malaysia) and
Fireman of the Year 1999 (Mr. R.K. Trivedi, India).
The Chairman, IISSM, had announced a 3-member Committee to be chaired by Mr. S.J. Grogan, Regional Vice President of the IISSM in the USA. The other members were Mr. K.P. Medhekar, India and Dr. M. Jeyaraj, Singapore, both Vice Chairmen of IISSM. The awards were distributed at the Gala dinner in the evening of July 14, 1999 by Arthur Edmonds, Chief of Police of Penang. The IISSM congratulates the winners!
The IISSM felt happy in conferring Fellowship on as many as 11 (eleven) experts and special recognition awards to 29 (twenty nine) veterans of the IISSM. Additionally, all participants received Certificates of Participation and Affiliate Membership as well. The opportunity was also availed of to hand over CSC Certificates.
As in previous years, the sightseeing programme of the accompanying spouses was again a big hit. Mrs. Rita Kishore Sinha, ably assisted by Mrs. Chitra Nath, had earlier scouted the island of Penang and finally took the spouses to enchanting sightseeing programme that included a day-long visit to the famous Coral Island of Malaysia. We are told it was as fascinating as one could imagine. The ladies deeply regretted that they did not have their spouses beside them during this visit. An important segment of the spouses' programme was the shopping-spree, which was also "meticulously" planned to "ruin the pockets" of some, we were told. None, however, had any regrets!
The post-conference tour of these Seminars was as in every year a duly orchestrated programme. A good number of delegates and their families landed on Genting Highland as per schedule and well, indulged in some activities which are duly permitted by law but need not go on record for the future. The spirit was infectious and the overall programme was delightful.
So concluded the IXth Seminar, beckoning to the Xth scheduled in the last year of the millennium 2000 (July 10-13) at Bangalore, India. Our preparatory work for this has already started and our first coloured brochure is already out and will soon hit the website also. If we may share with you, some booths in the Exhibition to be accompanied with the Xth Seminar have already been booked. So, now that you have the detailed information with you, we shall look forward to meeting you at Bangalore around this time next year. And you know the theme of the Xth Seminar: "Industrial Security: Vision and Mission in the New Millennium." We are confident you will like to share your vision with us at Bangalore.
