FOR a decade, security guard Tamilselvan A/L Poongan endured 12-hour shifts, worked even on weekends and public holidays, and brought home a basic monthly pay of S$750. Today, he works only during office hours, five days a week, and his basic pay is S$1,350 - a marked improvement, thanks to an invention by his employer, Concorde Security.

Mr Tamilselvan is stationed at a building cluster in Bendemeer where a working prototype of Concorde Security's i-Man Facility Sprinter (IFS) has been deployed since October.

IFS is the brainchild of Alan Chua, executive director of the security agency; it was borne out of his desire to improve the working conditions of security guards. In his 25 years in the industry, Mr Chua had not seen any significant improvement in the guards' arduous shifts and low salaries, despite all that has been promised.