We got quite a lot of development projects that we need to put in. Can you help us?” As a government, they have many ways of transferring money to different government departments. So we latched in on a government department way of getting money. At one stage, we were getting… Read More
So if you insist on subsidizing all the visitors coming to the zoo, then spend it all on operations or else raise your damn prices and make yourself financially viable. And then you could spend all that money on capital development.” And we had always been very socialistic in our… Read More
So it was a dual partnership, public-private?… Read More
Yeah, you could say that. I think the government felt that in the case of the zoo, they were a little less strict than with the other government companies. So Singapore Airlines is a government-owned company. Singapore Airlines normally would never get any handouts from the government, although during COVID,… Read More
Where did the Singapore Zoo sit in the hierarchy of city government?… Read More
Up to the side part of it?… Read More
Yeah, very, very much to the side. We weren’t treated as civil servants, but we were treated as quasi-government. So as a government company, you have certain, I wouldn’t say privileges, but Temasek Holdings, the holding company, invites you to various seminars and things that say private sector wouldn’t be… Read More
What signs told you you were getting successful and was it hard to keep that momentum?… Read More
Well, we started to see the results with the increased tourist attendance. So as I said, when we opened, it was 800,000. We dropped to 500,000. We plateaued at 500,000 a year. Breakfast at the zoo kicks in. And then over the next three to five years, our tourist attendant… Read More
And so that’s what we stuck with until we opened Night Safari. And then Night Safari cannibalized some of the tourists, but at the same time, it wasn’t so dramatic. And so it attracted its own set of tourists. I read about a million visitors a year. Read More
Sometimes they were old exhibits that we totally renovated. But we started off, I think the first exhibit that we started off was Cuban Islands. And then we went on to sea lions and every year something reptile garden. Yeah. Read More
You started to make people think about Singapore is a world class zoo. Read More
When did you know or when did you start to think that your marketing ideas?… Read More
Absolutely. Well, I think we didn’t particularly plan it to be a world class suit. I think we’re always pushed on the fact that it should be a local attraction. And so one of his great philosophies was that we must have a new attraction open on an annual basis. Read More
Aside from wanting it to be the tourist attraction, were there other challenges you faced in turning the zoo from a local zoo to his and your idea of a world class suit?… Read More
And so that’s what I was tasked with. I think that’s probably was my most important role that I did. I just kept pumping them out. And so I developed a team that we call it the creative design team. At its height, before I left, it had four architect,… Read More
Can you tell me, do you have a favorite story about him and possibly your relationship, one that makes you smile?… Read More
Not offhand, not offhand. I may think about something later, but not at the moment. So now you have the chairman support. Mm-hmm. He wants to build the zoo. Read More
He drove the zoo forward. He thought about it day and night. He just wanted to just get this thing. He was his baby. He wanted it to do well. He wanted it to be successful. He wanted it to be commercially successful. He wanted it to be the best… Read More
How to write reports. He really talked about how to write reports. (Bernard laughing) I’m not kidding. I do it tongue-in-cheek, but he really taught me how to write reports. It just relentless, relentless corrections, corrections. I thought you were gonna give me something philosophical. I think he taught me… Read More