After three decades of climbing the industry rungs, Kiong has reached the top spot as CEO of a hotel management group. Watch him build a ‘Singapore-inspired hospitality brand’
Arthur Kiong, CEO, Far East Hospitality (FEH), Singapore
Now that you are CEO, you can do things the way you feel they should be done, achieve dreams you’ve always longed for.
Those were exactly the thoughts that went through my mind when I considered this opportunity. At the top end, how many people in their careers have an opportunity to create a proprietary hospitality brand? And should one be given the chance, what would this brand be, how do you articulate it, how do you rally others to say, ‘yes, that resonates with me’?
And what proprietary hotel brand have you always dreamed of?
I’ve always dreamed of building a homegrown, world-class brand of hospitality which is Singapore-inspired, which I think will differentiate us.
Everyone says ‘we are Asian hospitality’. But in reality there is no ‘one Asia’; Koreans are different from Chinese or Thais. As a Singapore homegrown company, Singapore-inspired hospitality is what I want to deliver.
What is Singapore-inspired hospitality?
I thought of three words: kind, assertive and perceptive, i.e. observe and adapt what’s relevant.
I draw parallels of the Singapore story with us as an upstart. When Singapore first started, one man (Lee Kuan Yew) said this was all we’ve got and we have to make a success of it. We have a disparate group of people – Chinese, Malays, Indians, and Eurasians – and we must be inclusive. Pragmatism and striving for excellence are important.
How are you planning to translate this into a hotel brand promise?
I’ve come up with 10 core values under the acronym ACTOR’S CODE because this is how we are going to act: according to a set of principles that defines and differentiates us.
A is for attitude. If you think about it, Singapore is an attitude. It’s small with no natural resources but it not only wants to survive but compete with the best. We’re the same.
C is for customers. We strive to provide something that international hotel chains say, ‘hey, maybe they do this better’.
T is for team. Just like Singapore integrates its four races, we have to break down the silos, so it’s not departments versus departments, hotels versus hotels, but one cohesive team.
O is for others, i.e. we focus on the strengths of others and make their weaknesses irrelevant.
R is for responsiveness, S for savviness.
As for CODE, C is for change, which is constant, so people cannot hang on to old mindsets. O is for observation – we learn by observing. D is about delegation; when we delegate, we must ensure the person has the skills, autonomy and purpose to do the task. And lastly E is to engender trust.
Singapore’s hotel industry is 50 years old and Singapore’s success is admired globally, But few, if any, local chains have trumpeted the connection. Why is that so?
Their starting point is different. Many local chains benchmark against Western chains and seek to emulate them. But if we’ve come of age, shouldn’t we be asking, ‘who is our customer, who am I’?
Westerners eat with six cutlery and six wine glasses, and that becomes the definitive standard which we aspire to. Why not evolve from the banana leaf and redefine the meal? The lens then changes from a Western perspective to a local perspective.
You were with Far East Organization (FEO) heading its then new Hotel Division from 2005-2008. You returned last year to drive FEH, which is part of FEO’s recently launched REIT. How different is the game now?
When I first joined, the brief was different; it was to consolidate five disparate hotels, and eventually the service residences, into a division. It was an organisation challenge.
Is it a new game? Yes and no. No, because I understand the organisation, people and circumstances. Yes, because the REIT offers resources and opportunities.
“Many local chains benchmark against Western chains. But if we’ve come of age, shouldn’t we (question that)?”
Because of the REIT are you under pressure to grow quickly?
Yes, of course, the REIT was incredibly successful and with the price being decent, there’s a lot of enthusiasm. We also have a lot suitors knocking on our doors for our hospitality management business. But it’s for us to manage this and not be fools rushing in. We must be clear about who we are, and who we are is this: we are business people in a people business. Our development strategy is first through the EBIT yield of the site – is it sustainable? A hotelier’s way might be through product, facilities, level of service, then finding the customer for it. That’s not us.
Who, apart from Straits Trading, are the suitors?
Rendezvous, Toga in Australia – for every two we’re talking to, many are calling for a date. The danger is to be flattered and tempted into dating everyone, and before you know it, lose focus. No, we want to stay on track with our geographic and market focus and add value.
What’s your geographic and market focus?
We will grow in a disciplined manner, with Singapore as our primary focus, followed by South-east Asia, then balance the high growth and high risk of South-east Asia with Australia, which is transparent, predictable but has a different cycle. And after that, cast our eyes on Asia.
Our market is the upper mid-tier and, again, we must be disciplined. The upper mid-tier is itself a broad market, so we must be able to niche the sub-segments and define our brands clearly. Others may want to provide more and more; we want to provide what is relevant in the most elegant manner, comfort without excess that people don’t want to pay for.
Many people say your brands are a mishmash and confusing.
The priority is to consolidate everything under a master brand, FEH, which is the largest operator of hotels and service residences in Singapore. It’s the orchid if you like and from one stem, there can be different flowers – Oasia, Quincy, Village, etc. As I said, the upper mid-tier is itself a broad market. Oasia is for efficient, sharp, business people; Quincy is for the fashionistas; Village for those seeking local flavours. None of them want to overpay. All want comfort and don’t want to pay for the excesses.
So phase one, which we will embark on this year, is creating a strong master brand, FEH.
Are you only into management contracts?
FEH manages, Far East Orchard can invest or take an equity stake, and FEO (of which Kiong is executive director) has the resources/expertise to build and design.
What was your biggest challenge in the past six months?
Getting buy-in to the Singapore-inspired vision. To articulate it so everyone understands is itself a challenge, then communicating it, getting them to believe in it and seeing it have a life of its own. I don’t write the screenplay. I come up with the outline and we write it together. And in the end, we must be able to measure it through financial results and improved customer reviews. If not, we’re just believing our own hubris, we’re just on an ego trip.
