INTERVIEW
11
MAY-JUNE 2013
access
INTERNATIONAL
is very hard to recover them. But a lot of our
competition do not have a long term strategy
and are just grabbing immediate opportunities
as they come along; we, on the other hand, are
looking long term, we don’t just supply as the
order comes along.”
Despite the challenges Mr Ong puts
Galmon’s year-on-year growth over the last
two to three years of 20%. However, that is
offset by the rental rate. “If I didn’t grow the
business you would see my turnover drop 30%
to 40%. But still we are not the cheapest in the
market, in fact we are the most expensive in
Singapore.”
Government support
The government’s eagerness to improve
standards should help companies that offer
more ‘expensive’ and higher quality services.
As well as the code of practice, it is organising
safety forums in the country, with speakers
from neighbouring countries highlighting
their needs in the region.
“We have to maintain our standards:
the Singapore standard states that every
stakeholder in the pipeline is responsible,
whether it be the end user, the site supervisor,
the site project manager. In the past everybody
wiped their hands of any responsibility,” says
Mr Ong.
Galmon built its own trading centre last
year. “Training is very important; often you
will look at a photograph of equipment being
abused and you cannot believe how a person
can put themselves at risk like that. So, now
with training we can see the level of standards
has improved – operators understand the do’s
and don’ts.”
In the last 12 months the company has
trained 4000 operators, and plans to continue
at that level for the foreseeable future. “We
use our own independant training similar to
IPAF, and it is accredited by the Singapore
government.
“When the rules are fully employed, it will
be good for us. We will do our best to adjust
to the market.Those small players that are not
really looking to quality, and with substandard
maintenance, will gradually disappear.”
Bold moves
The next step will see the development of
rental in the ASEAN Region, even though it
is almost non-existent at present. “I think it
is a matter of time, but they are not there yet.
For example, in Vietnam the rental market is
very small, in Thailand there is a little more,
but in the rest of the countries, like Indonesia,
I don’t see anything yet.
“Thirty years ago, when I started the
company, my idea was to use Singapore as a
base and go out to the region, but I found that
is impossible back then.There are payment
and protection issues and that is why we are
based in Singapore. We have done some cross-
border rental in the past, but we had to make
special arrangements. Basically labour has
been too cheap in our area, except of course
Singapore, and there is a lot of wooden and
bamboo scaffolding.”
Nevertheless, Galmon will look to its
neighbours for future growth. “Singapore is a
very mature market.There is growth because
of rules and regulations, but our labour rate
has gone up, as well as land and other general
costs, and this will set the tone for the future.”
Mr Ong continues, “Singapore is small and
Galmon alone has about 2,700 machines; the
market is quite saturated here, so we must
decide which countries to go into, but we do
need to go.”
The increasingly prominent ASEAN Free
Trade Area (AFTA) agreement, originally
signed in 1992, should help things along. Back
then it had six members: Brunei, Indonesia,
Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and
Thailand. Vietnam joined in 1995, Laos and
Myanmar in 1997 and Cambodia in 1999.
The primary goal of AFTA is to Increase
ASEAN’s competitive edge. “Things will
definitely change,” insists Mr Ong, “But it is a
matter of time. Singapore is like a great door
to the region; everyone is looking to Singapore
for reference, but they won’t necessarily follow
quickly, mainly because of national pride.”
AI
LEFT: Desmond Ong, chief executive officer
of Galmon, with his son Shawn Ong, Galmon
chief operating officer
Galmon’s headquarters
in Singapore
Galmon negotiates a busy street
to carry out maintenance
