Tamil Nadu Housekeepers Association, in collaboration with SICA (South Indian Chefs Association) organized two competitions – Best Creation out of the Waste and Towel Art for the housekeeping community on August 23 and 24. Around 30 hotels participated in the competitions along with the colleges. Usha Ramalingam, Corporate Housekeeper, The Raintree Hotels with her vigilant team of champions coordinated the competition along with SICA members. The judges were Saravan Kumaran, Director Housekeeping, Oakwood Asia and Anuradha Khot, Housekeeping Trainer & Hospitality Consultant.
Both the competitions demanded a show of creativity to present a theme. The assessment process was well thought out by the organizers, but the actual assessment was made very difficult by the creative genius exhibited by the participants. Selection of the waste material, quality of workmanship, artistic composition and eco awareness were some to the criteria to judge Best Creation out of the Waste. The Towel Art competition on the other hand were judged on the composition of towels, the degree of creativity, practicality and presentation. Gold, Silver and Bronze medals were presented to the winners on the basis of the points they scored on the judgement criteria
Anuradha Khot voiced her thoughts, “These creative decorations can be used effectively to create awareness and spread a social message. They will no longer be limited to only enhancing the visual appeal of the hotel.” While presenting the medals Saravan Kumaran said, “Participation is winning. We recognize the efforts each of you have put in to make it difficult for us to award the points.”
The second event organized by the housekeepers with SICA was ‘Say No to Plastic.’ This movement has been initiated by S.Nagarajan, Executive Housekeeper, The Residency Towers. This was his first step in fulfilling the oath he took when receiving the ASIA’S BEST HOUSEKEEPER AWARD at IHS 2018 in Sri Lanka. While life without plastics is unimaginable…., doing away with plastics is the way forward to save our planet for the future generations,” he said, at the inauguration of this event.T he challenge is to replace plastics in our day-to-day life.
College students were shown how to make bags from newspaper. The students then practiced making them with the help of volunteers from Light Up. This event was graced by the presence of many housekeepers from various hotels. Nagarajan led a procession of students and housekeepers with slogans of “Say No to Plastic”. This procession received a standing ovation from many of the stall owners. Paper bags were distributed to the exhibition stall members and visitors to create awareness to refuse plastic bags in day-to-day life. This initiative will go a long way in demonstrating responsible housekeeping. bags in day-to-day life.
