THE father of Singapore’s hospitality training and a strong proponent of ASEAN regional tourism cooperation, Pakir Singh, passed away yesterday morning after battling Parkinson’s disease for many years.
A luminary with the gift of the gab and both the ambition and steel to turn vision into reality, Pakir was the man behind the setting up of the Singapore Hotel Association Training & Education Centre (SHATEC) in 1983, the region’s first dedicated hotel school, which contracted the world-renowned Swiss Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne to develop its courses.
He was the CEO of Singapore Hotel Association (SHA) and CEO of SHATEC from 1979 to 2005. Pakir also served as secretary-general of the ASEAN Tourism Association for many years.
In a book to commemorate SHATEC’s 30th anniversary in 2013 written by this editor, Pakir, when asked why he was passionate about hotel training & education, said: “There was an urgent need in the 1980s for Singapore to develop skilled manpower for the hotel trade and industry. Singapore needed workers for the many hotels that were being built and I wanted to help solve the problem.
“I always felt that there was room to grow (no pun intended). I myself believed in the pursuit of excellence for its own sake. And service training – if well provided – would result in service excellence.”
In the book, veteran hotelier Jennie Chua, said: “Pakir was unique in his passion to grow SHATEC…and he did it not to make a name for himself, but to fulfil the needs of the industry. He could have done other things in life, but SHA and SHATEC were his whole life.”
The early success of SHATEC spawned other hotel schools in the region, with SHATEC even sharing its expertise to further the education cause in Asia. Said Chanin Donavanik, CEO, Dusit Hotels & Resorts Thailand, whose Dusit Thani College was set up with SHATEC’s expertise: “Pakir believed in training and education. He believed in the future of Asian travel industry. He believed in the young people of Asia.”
Margaret Heng, CEO, SHA, told TTG Asia e-Daily: “Mr Pakir was a remarkable man in every sense of the word. He is also very much a visionary who was ahead of his time in the area of hospitality education, training and development.
“It was his foresight that saw the beginning of SHATEC. His passion for SHATEC was the key driver for the success of the school. His enthusiasm for SHATEC had rubbed off on every one of us at the school and that is why we are so committed to continue his legacy.
“He was a great boss and I am very fortunate to have him as my mentor. All of us at SHA and SHATEC, and in particular myself, will definitely miss him.”
