Industrial Photographer in Singapore - Food Safety Technology - Temasek Foundation International

More minds are better than one

Ma. Lina B. Gelonga, 49, believes that more minds are better than one in the food safety mission. This is because food passes through many hands – from farm to table, and from factory to shelf. Food safety work thus calls for dialogue among diverse parties. Lone rangers need not apply.

In 2013, the Philippines passed the Food Safety Act, which got agencies to share expertise and information with one another. This has been a good step, says Ms Gelonga, who investigates new microbiological testing methods as a science research specialist in the Philippines’ Department of Science and Technology. For even better standards, she suggests more inter-agency collaborations, feedback from the ground, openness to technologies and a willingness to share findings – aspects she was exposed to at the Programme in Food Safety Technology. “Each of us is capable of great change,” she says. “We need to come together as one.”

Jun Leo, 48, who also attended the Programme, agrees that food safety is about attitude. The food and drug regulation officer at Mindanao’s Food and Drug Authority Lab explains: “Technology and implementations are crucial, but without a change in mindsets that food safety is important, nothing is possible.”

To change perceptions in a country with 103 million people across 81 provinces is no mean feat. Given the unique characteristics of each province, there is a need to tailor-make approaches, Ms Gelonga says. For example, in urban Manila, there is more regulation of food manufacturing plants. In the Visayan islands, food establishments are the focus.

But the food safety mission is worth it, especially when it goes beyond public health to benefit the economy as well, says Ms Gelonga. She adds, “If we work hard and push ourselves, there is no doubt that our efforts will boost the economy.”

Participants from the Department of Science and Technology, Manila, and the Food and Drug Authority Lab, Mindanao, Philippines, in: Programme in Food Safety Technology by Nanyang Polytechnic International, Singapore, and Temasek Foundation International

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Text by Prabhu Silvam.

*More of such stories can be found in Temasek Foundation International's 10th anniversary commemorative book 'Leading Journeys: Inspirations for Asia and Beyond".

Arif Rahman - In Plain Words

Daring to chop and change

Taking a leap into the unknown is never say with a little help, Arif Rahman went from the field of hairstyling hair to computer programming.

From a young age of 14, Arif Rahman has been helping out at his family business of cutting the hair of many national servicemen at Pulau Tekong’s Basic Military Training Centre. It was a routine he stuck to for more than a decade before he finally decided to make a career change.

After a few misses, Arif finally found his next career calling in programming. He first heard about the job scope of full-stack developers, people who are familiar with all the layers involved in software development, from his friends in the infocomm sector. As an avid gamer and tech enthusiast, Arif was determined to turn his interests into a career.

“I thought programmers and coders were doing cool stuff. I wanted to be one of them. I did my research and found that the government was encouraging people to learn coding too,” says Arif.

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You can click here to read the rest of the article, as well as more stories from the Ministry of Communications and Information, Singapore.

Text by In Plain Words. 

SFS Global Logistics - In Plain Words

#SMETowkay: Eyeing growth through technology

For SFS Global Logistics, ensuring good driving habits among its fleet of drivers is more than a safety issue but a business-critical one.

Bad driving not only endangers its drivers and other road users but it could compromise sensitive cargo that is being transported. These goods include drugs for clinical trials and biological substances that must be transported in a climate controlled environment, or reach the recipient within a very specific time frame.

To nurture good driving behavior and keep an eye on its drivers, SFS Global Logistics turned to Mobile Eye, a tracking system from road safety solutions provider Chuan-Fa Auto.

The system helps avoid accidents by alerting drivers to impending collisions with other vehicles or pedestrians. It also warns drivers of lane departures and documents driving behavior.

If a particular driver is prone to speeding and braking hard, the data is recorded to allow the company to take corrective action such as issuing warnings to errant employee, according to Group CEO Roger Chew.

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You can click here to read the rest of the article, as well as more stories from the Ministry of Communications and Information, Singapore.

Text by In Plain Words. 

Poh Kim Video - In Plain Words

#SMETowkay: Raising performances with data

Mr Lim Chee Yong used to hire students to manually measure the traffic to his Poh Kim Video stores across Singapore. As a video retailer, his sales tend to fluctuate depending on films available. Knowing the in-store traffic provides a better gauge for the managing director to learn whether a particular store is performing well or not. However, this meant hiring at least two students at each of his 20 stores — a laborious effort only possible during the school holidays.

Today, this data automatically comes to Chee Yong by the second. With a click of a button on his laptop, he can immediately check the day’s walk-ins and even compare it to previous weeks’. This has been made possible by Poh Kim adopting a digital solution through the SMEs Go Digital programme by the Info-communications Media Development Authority (IMDA). Working with Ishikawa Consultancy, Poh Kim deployed a video analytics system that counts human traffic flow in a store called Prism Skylabs.

Besides the convenience of monitoring in-store traffic, going digital has also raised the performance of Poh Kim’s employees. Staff sales performance across its stores have become more uniform. In the past, his best employee could complete twice as many sales as his worst performing one. Chee Yong attributes this improvement in sales to the open sharing of video analytics with his employees. As they can objectively see how they perform in comparison to their colleagues, it fosters a healthy competition among them.

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You can click here to read the rest of the article, as well as more stories from the Ministry of Communications and Information, Singapore.

Text by In Plain Words. 

Alps Group - In Plain Words

#SMETowkay: Stocking Up For Growth

Struggling to keep up with customer orders and inventory levels hampered the initial growth of Alps Group. To resolve the issue, business partners Angela Sim and Lynn Yeo turned to technology to realize their company’s full potential.

“We were so frustrated,” recalls Angela. “We didn’t dare to take (on) more customers because we foresee more problems if we were to grow bigger.”

Alps Group, a supplier of bamboo-based tissues, initially used a manual record keeping system which often led to inadequate stock levels in some cases and excess inventory in others.

This all changed last year when the two business partners made a decision to automate the management of their orders and inventory.

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You can click here to read the rest of the article, as well as more stories from the Ministry of Communications and Information, Singapore.

Text by In Plain Words.