Few nations can boast of effective use of green space and
national parks in its city centre, but Singapore is one of them.
And when it comes to maximising limited space into world class
outdoor parks, Singapore's Centre for Urban Greenery (CUGE) are the
experts.
CUGE, jointly established by the National Parks Board and the
Singapore Workforce Development Agency, are now using New Zealand
company, Thought Planters to develop staff skills and
qualifications in areas such as the cultivation and management of
trees, otherwise known as arboriculture.
"Thought Planters' trainers are specialists in their particular
subject field, and we had a shortage of such specialists for
training in Singapore," says P Teva Raj, director of CUGE.
The company has been instrumental in building educational
frameworks for staff across the park and helping educate industry
professionals, such as during a productivity study visit to New
Zealand last year by industry stakeholders.
They are professional and have a great track record," he
says.
"They were willing to come in and help us get our programmes
going and were committed to our concept of transferring knowledge
and expertise to Singaporeans. They helped to build up a pool of
local trainers."
The company's modus operandi of providing highly skilled
in-house training is relatively new in Southeast Asia, despite its
prevalence in other parts of the world through polytechnic courses
and apprenticeships. This is due to the relatively low cost of
hiring unskilled, transient workers in Asia.
However Thought Planters director, Richard Wanhill, said this
culture is changing in conjunction with the realisation that
quality can also be a cost-saver due to higher productivity.
"Our challenge is to show the decision-makers that there is
another way," he says.
Through horticultural and arboriculture skills training and
refresher courses, as well as management and leadership training by
experienced staff, the company gives long-term benefits to local
workers and their employers.
"There are plenty of people with a high level of theoretical
knowledge but less with hands-on experience. We train people using
people who work in the industry," says Mr Wanhill.
The Thought Planters directors have done the hard yards in the
field - between the five of them, they have around 100 years
experience. While experience and training makes all the difference
in quality for the trees, it is also a cost effective.
"With pruning, a tree might be visited twice a year. If was done
properly by trained staff, it might only need to be done once every
two years. It's spending money to save money," says Mr Wanhill.
One of the challenges is convincing local companies that have
access to cheap labour that it is worth the investment, says Mr
Wanhill.
"A trained worker can be seven times more productive and the end
result is better quality; and an educated staff member is also more
likely to stay. That worker is then going to take more care and
understand the needs of the tree better.
"As workers' safety becomes increasingly important, there is
also the need for proper training of staff. Asia has a much higher
rate of incidents than in New Zealand because many staff are not as
widely trained on how to work safely in trees."
The company plans to continue to grow through Asia, building
networks and delivering a quality service.
"The big push is with hotels. They realise the importance of a
long term need to have quality grounds, with healthy trees, and
trained staff to care for them."
Working through Singapore parks has also been an important step
for the company.
"Singapore has a massive amount of influence in the region.
Developing nations look to success stories in the region and
Singapore is one of them."
