21 Nov, 2016
Pakir Singh, Secretary-General, ASEAN Tourism Association
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Date of Birth : July 21, 1945
Date of Passing: July 1, 2015
Place of Birth: Singapore
Religion: Sikh
Education :
Bachelor of Arts ( Honours ) in History from the National University of Singapore
Bachelor of Law from the University of London
Master of Arts ( History ) from the National University of Singapore
Master of Human Resource Development from George Washington University
Career
Chief Executive of the Singapore Hotel Association
Chief Executive of the Singapore Hotel and Tourism Education Centre ( SHATEC )
– President and Secretary-General of the ASEAN Tourism Association (ASEANTA) from 1989-2000
- Consultant to Vietnam National Authority of Tourism on the Luxembourg Training Project for Vietnam
- Chairmanship of the Excellent Service Awards
- Member of the National Crime Prevention Council
- Consultant and Project Leader of Systematic HRD in Thailand from 1993-1996
- Consultant and Project Leader of Systematic HRD in the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Nepal, Mauritius and China
Career
1969-1976: The New Nation newspaper as Deputy Editor
1977-1979: Dillingham Land Corporation as Marketing Consultant
1979 – 2005 Singapore Hotel Association as Chief Executive
1983 – 2005 Singapore Hotel and Tourism Education Centre (SHATEC) as Chief Executive
Awards:
1989: “Travel Personality of the Year”
1992: “Outstanding Contribution to Tourism”
“UBF Lifetime Achievement Award”
Human Resource Development
Instrumental in the founding of the Singapore Hotel and Tourism Education Centre ( SHATEC) in 1983 at Singapore. Wrote two training manuals, under the auspices of the European Commission. The training manuals – “Marketing Communications” and “Supervisory Skills” are used in ASEAN countries and also Thailand.
Prepared the curriculum for hotel personnel development in the region – Diploma in Hotel Management – was offered for the purpose of increasing the knowledge and skills in hotel administration. The curriculum was operated 4 times at Dusit Thani College in Thailand during the year 1994, 1995, 1996 and 2001
Consultant to the Dusit Thani Group for the establishment of Dusit Thani College and also gave advice on various aspects of education such as education quality, teaching and learning activities, education administration in hotels, culinary arts, and tourism, preparation of teaching materials, and so on.
SHA Secretariat
Raised the profile of the Singapore Hotel Association from a little known association of hotel and restaurant owners and managers in 1979 to a credible and influential chamber of commerce.
SHATEC
Took over the management of the hotel and catering school under the former VITB (now ITE) in 1983. SHATEC was given the “Outstanding Contribution to Tourism” award by the Singapore Tourism Board in 1992.
For four consecutive years, 2000, 2002, 2003 and 2004, SHATEC was the winner of the World Gourmet Summit Electrolux Culinary Institute of the year.
Spearheaded the establishment of four SHATEC commercial operations, Rosette fine dining restaurant, Petals Contemporary Restaurant, The Executives’ Club Fine Dining Chinese and Western Cuisines Restaurant and SHA Villa, a 40-room application hotel.
In 2004, SHATEC launched the College of Culinary Arts@SHATEC. To commemorate the launch, he edited and published “Gourmet Nites”, a compilation of the fine cuisines available at Rosette over the years.
Consultant and project leader of systematic HRD efforts in Thailand (Dusit Thani College), Philippines (Hotel and Tourism Institute of Philippines), Malaysia (Malaysian Association of Hotels Training and Education Centre, MAHTEC), Indonesia (Puriwisata Academy), Nepal (Department of Tourism, Government of Nepal), Mauritius (Hotel School of Mauritius) and China (Poly Property Hotel Management )
Appointed consultant by the European Commission to develop training manuals for use in ASEAN. SHATEC served as consultant to the Vietnam National Authority of Tourism on the Luxembourg Training Project for Vietnam which included the development of manuals and the training-the-trainers project
Marketing and Promotions
In the recent “SARS” crisis, he rallied SHA members to “fight” the problem while it lasted and to take advantage of the government’s assistance by using the down time to train over 3,500 hotel employees under the SARS Relief Tourism Training Assistance scheme.
Safety and Security
As a member of the National Crime Prevention Council since 1982, he was instrumental in initiating many of the programmes including the Annual Security Awards for both individuals and hotels, continuing education on security awareness and the annual SHA/Police Security Conference. In 2003, he wrote and published the SHA Hotel Security Manual for the industry.
Mr.Pakir and a few of his counterparts in hotel and tourism associations in ASEAN (then referred to as the Young Turks) revived the ailing ASEAN Hotel and Restaurant Association (AHRA) in the early eighties and in subsequent years, established the umbrella body called the ASEAN Hotel and Tourism Association (ASEANTA). Pakir was the ASEANTA President and then Secretary General from 1989 to 2000.
Community
As a responsible citizen of Singapore and the world, SHA, under Mr.Pakir’s leadership, seeks to promote industry awareness of its social responsibility by sponsoring and organizing activities such as the annual Chingay Parade, Service Gold Award – The National Courtesy Award, Clean and Green Week, Energy and Water Conservation programmes.
Date of Passing: 01 July 2015
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