Looking back in gratitude
Thomas Rufener looked back at yet another not-quite-normal year and the people who made difficult times a little easier and things a little more "normal" for everyone.
As yet another unusual year comes to a close, it is easy to overlook what may have helped to make this less-than-normal year a little more “normal”. At the Singapore-ETH Centre, everyone probably has a fair share of challenges this year, but some have taken on a bigger share – simply in the name of “service”.
A number of our colleagues have been at the front line dealing with evolving government regulations, border restrictions, and office reopening measures, which come with unique sets of challenges and require sheer hard work. They have stepped up to the challenges that the pandemic brought to the SEC as an organisation. However, you might hardly notice these acts of service, as these individuals go about doing what is needed – simply to make difficult times a little easier for everyone.
At the forefront of the challenge are two teams
- the office reopening team: Nora, Aaron, Chyi Jing, and Geraldine; and the safe management officers (SMOs): Nora, Aaron, Faizah, Jean, Piriya, Rita, Siow Boon, Tanvi, and Ting Ting. Special thanks go to Nora for taking the lead – from the series of snap planning to the more arduous daily tasks; and
- the human resources team, which has been constantly confronted with changing entry restrictions and residency applications, and in spite of these, have successfully brought in numerous employees to Singapore in 2021.
Other contributions, while potentially less noticeable, should be also lauded: the IT team has made the prospect of remote working a lot less remote and a little more seamless. The finance team has re-engineered typically very paper-based processes to become more digitally enabled during the extended work-from-home period. The communications team has also stepped up efforts to get everyone in-the-know and connected through the e-newsletters and SEC Townhalls.
A preview to the "refreshed" SEC
Raintree meeting room at level 8 Tamarind meeting room at level 8
One of the offices at the new SEC level 8 overlooking UTown Green
Angasana meeting room at level 7 (previously "Nova Atlantis").
Lalang and Pandan meeting rooms at level 6, as well as the Mimosa meeting room, which doubles as a nursing room
Ixora meeting room at level 6, alongside the Ginger meeting room
Ginger meeting room at level 6, beside the Ixora meeting room Frangipani and Candlenut meeting rooms at level 6, back to back with the Attap and Petai meeting rooms (this cluster was recently known as the "Incubator")
Attap and Petai meeting rooms at level 6, back to back with the Frangipani and Candlenut meeting rooms (this cluster was recently known as the "Incubator")
When physical access to the office is possible again, you will find noticeable differences. New meeting rooms have been installed and existing ones given a new life. SEC meeting rooms are now named after Tembusu, Mimosa, Pandan and other native or common plants in Singapore, thanks to Geraldine and Ghaya. And of course, our new offices at level 8 are now ready, after a year of planning and coordination. A big thank you goes to Rea and Nora for all their respective contributions.
During this WFH period, much of these efforts may have gone unnoticed. In the spirit of looking back at the year with gratitude, let us give thanks to the amazing team work that made 2021 more “normal”.
