Rare for Singapore political parties to use background screening firms to vet candidates: Industry players
Avvanz Founder, Kannan Chettiar, underscores the importance of background screening in building trust and credibility, as highlighted in this Channel News Asia feature.
These checks are becoming increasingly relevant in an era of heightened scrutiny, with social media, news platforms and online forums providing vast amounts of accessible information, said industry players.
"The use of background screening firms could help prevent such situations", said Mr Kannan Chettiar, CEO and co-founder of due diligence firm Avvanz.
“It is quite rare in general for political parties themselves to employ the services of background checking firms like ours. I haven't seen any such cases before,” said Mr Chettiar, who has over 12 years of experience in the sector.
Mr Mervyn Ho, general manager of background screening firm RMI, emphasised the importance of vetting for public-facing roles like Members of Parliament. Any allegations, derogatory articles or media mentions would affect the public’s view not just of the candidate but also the party, he said.
“It protects the party, as the party is showing the public what they have done and the steps they have already taken to ensure due diligence,” said RMI's Mr Ho.
“Arguably as important is that we are experts in this area of work and a non-biased independent third party," Kroll's Mr Tan said.
The person being screened is aware of the checks being done, and has to give consent before the process can begin, said Avvanz's Mr Chettiar.