Wasteful security measures

To visit an office in Suntec City, I had to register with the security counter to get an access card and to fill in my particulars. On leaving the building, I had to return the access card. Both activity took me an additional 20 minutes, including time waiting in the long queue.  I had to carry two bags containing materials for my talk, so the security measures and waiting time is a big hassle. Nobody bother to look at the contents of my bag - to see if I was carrying a bomb.

Security is important, but are we overdoing it? Is there more effective ways to have security instead of asking visitors to spend a lot of time unnecessarily? All these hassles add to wasted time and higher cost of doing business. If there is a terrorist visiting any large office in Singapore, it is easy to bypass the security measures as the security guards are too busy doing paperwork and recording particulars of genuine visitors.

To be effective, it is better to employ more security guards (i.e. create more employment) to watch the strategic locations, such as lift lobbies or lift cars, and to watch people moving around the office. Security is watching people and not doing paperwork.

You can multiply the wasted time in all of the big office buildings in Singapore to get an idea of the scale of wastefulness. Anyway, Singapore is a wasteful society. We spend a lot of time and money on things that are look good but are not effective.

To be productive, we should be adopting practical measures that reduce our cost and achieve our goals. We have to cut down wastefulness.

Tan Kin Lian