He is also elected the Chairman of FIATA Advisory Body Vocational Training (ABVT) which oversees National Associations’ training programs in over 118 countries, assisting to setup and qualifying the standards of international freight forwarding & logistics training materials/curriculums, and the eventual FIATA Validation of their national training programs. He was chairman of the Working Group on Education & Training under that ASEAN Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations (AFFA).
Thomas represented the UNCTAD, UNESCAP, ADB, AFFA, FIATA-ABVT/FFVT and many international organizations as resource person and master-lecturer to develop and deliver the Training-of-the-Trainers (TOT) and numerous capacity-building programs spanning Latin America/Mercosur, Middle East/Africa, E.U./Russia, Asia/CAREC/ASEAN and the Pacific since the past 18 years.
Since 2004, he has been as a senior Steering Group Member and Panel-Judge of the FIATA-Thru Transport Club (TT Club) ‘Young International Freight Forwarders’ Awards’ (YIFFY), an international competition to promote and motivate young logistics professionals’ competition.
He is regularly lecturing at the Singapore Management University (SMU) for the national Professional Conversion Programme (PCP) on international trade for industry professionals whom seeks to be educated and trained in cross-functional roles to enhance their employability in different industry sectors. He covers Supply Chain & Procurement Management, International Trade Documentation, IOT for SCM (e-Commerce/LMF, Global Supply Chain Safety & Security and Dangerous Goods/Hazardous Substance Handling. He is also currently a Mentor to a group of SMU industry-learners on the PCP Programme.
He sits in the Singapore Ngee Ann Polytechnic’s Multidiscipline Engineering Division Advisory Committee (MEDAC), and has been the Deputy Chairman of the Business & Services Academic Advisory Committee with the Institute of Technical Education (ITE), Singapore, assisting in the development, review and qualification of the logistics technical training curriculums, in preparing the pool of Business and Logistics’ Management students for the future entrants to the logistics industry.
He represents the Association in the WSG’s Manufacturing Generic Skills Validation Council (MGSVC) that periodically review and advises the WDA on relevant trends and practices of international and local business communities including the logistics industry as well as current knowledge and skills gaps.
Thomas contributed in the SLA-launched book (September 2006) – “The Practitioner’s Definitive Guide: Multimodal Transport” published by the Singapore National Printers for the logistics industry, which has now published its 3rd Edition.
He is humbled with the recognition on the “Global Educational Award 2017” for the numerous Training-the-Trainers (TOT) programmes in Africa for more than 20 Years (1996-2017) bestowed upon him from the Chairman of the African Union (AU), Mr. Maculay Kalu and the Secretary-General of the AU, Dr. Beatrice Njenga.
On 2nd August 2017, Thomas received another coveted and prestigious national ‘SkillsFuture Fellowships Inaugural Awards’ from the President of Singapore, Dr. Tony Tan Keng Yam, and the Singapore Minister for Education, Mr. Ong Yi Kung. This ‘SkillsFuture Fellowships Awards’ is a tripartite initiative, the highest national award that recognizes Singapore Citizens whom have acquired deep skills through significant work experiences industries or job functions. Individuals must be champions of lifelong learning and deeply committed to contributing to the skills development of others – ‘Celebrating Mastery, Inspiring Passions’.
With Thomas’s extensive knowledge and working experience, he is able to impart valuable industry knowledge to the trainees.
