Well, I think it’s very important for the director to find out what’s going on the ground. And I think a lot of directors nowadays don’t do that. I think it’s a very German thing where the German zoo director would always do a round. If it’s not a daily… Read More
Is it just a sort of a this is what I want you to maintain and this is my stand?… Read More
That’s why I will always pick up a piece of litter in front of a staff member because it drives home the message that if he can do it, then I should do it as well. So I think that’s just something which I think is being lost in a… Read More
Why do you think they’re beneficial for senior staff?… Read More
Well, as I was just describing earlier, I think the purpose of a retreat is to get all the staff of one level, so senior management, middle management, junior management together, and just get them to be more of a team to feel more… If you know people in your… Read More
And I took senior staff and then I took a whole bunch of middle management staff on retreats, two-day retreats out of the country, but just to Malaysia. And we went through the whole philosophy of why we were merging, how we were merging, what were the benefits, what were… Read More
Zoo directors in the US seem to be doing pretty good. Well, yeah, I think the Germans don’t… And I was talking to a German zoo director recently at WAZA, and he was saying, “Well, we don’t earn much money because we’re all civil servants.” And although they’re not, I… Read More
But that’s partly because Singapore has also pegged its civil servants and politicians on industry. And so politicians in Singapore and top civil servants are paid very, very high salaries indeed. I mean, a politician earns a million dollars a year. You mentioned retreats before. Read More
You must love people ’cause you’re a sociologist. I say, “No, love my wife, maybe my kids.” So it’s like but I respect animals now and a sociologist would respect people. I think it’s a subtle difference. And I think there are some people who love all animals. I think… Read More
You’ve said that being a zoo director, that even if you’re good, you don’t make a lot of money. Read More
Do you think it’s still true in all the markets?… Read More
What would you say is the differences you see it between loving animals and respecting them?… Read More
Sure. So often journalists ask me, “So you must be a animal lover.” And I said, “No, I’m not an animal lover. I don’t love animals. Maybe I love my dog or my cat. Read More
But it’s like asking a sociologist, do you love people?… Read More
Tiger gets out. Well, tiger gets out, had to shoot it in the Night Safari. So it’s written more of… Elephant turns around and steps one of his keepers in the chest shatters his sternum. I mean, there’s not much point hiding it. It’s just trying to manage the fallout. Read More
And that was actually nothing to do with any of those incidents I’ve spoken about, but we had a volunteer who was really causing a lot of problems, who actually went on to set up animal rights NGO in Singapore. But he felt that we were treating our chimpanzees quite… Read More
How do you handle somebody who’s like kind of hitting you at every side?… Read More
Why were you successful and what tips would you give a young zoo director?… Read More
I think I got thrown in at the deep end with the media from almost when I was first joined, I started being used as a voice, mainly because I was working with animals. And a lot of the times, the media wanted to look at new births and new… Read More
With my superiors and my subordinates. Well, I mean, no, I’m pretty much the same. I worked very closely with my subordinates, as I mentioned earlier. It’s more a question of hiring them, getting on with them, tasking them, and ensuring that they just get on and do it. And… Read More