When I was a Butler at Raffles Hotel Singapore
You could say I was the cover girl for any Raffles news there was back then. Young, driven and a blank sheet of paper in a world of adults. A degree holder picking up a non-managerial job can be quite a story to tell.
I must give credit to my mother who had been feeding me with stories about her friends whose daughters refused to take up any jobs that they deemed demeaning [in relation to their qualifications]. She told me that respect needs to be earned. I could be a great student in school but that will not necessarily make me a good worker. My father believes in starting from scratch and cultivating resilience is more important than any salary I can ever draw. I must have taken their words to heart to accept the personal on-call valet position at Raffles Hotel Singapore.
Pulling this 2005 newspaper article out again brought back so many fond memories. It wasn't just "no one expected a degree holder to work in a hotel" as reported in the first line but more of "no one expected a degree holder to choose a $1,339 salary per month polishing shoes, washing dishes and making the occasional bed".
I recall how I broke down and cried while servicing suites with two very heavy basket of fruits hanging from both arms plus two vases of flowers in each hand [i.e. four vases]. Questioning myself the reasons why I rejected a comfortable position with PhillipCapital because I didn't study so hard to put fruits on porcelain Copenhagen fruit bowls! One day, I heard a little gossip going around the departments. "Huh? What's she dong here? Graduates cannot handle our job one la. I bet she will resign before her probation ends." So, I've been made the talking point and I apologise to all who lost their bet on me. I hope the money wasn't too big!
Truth be told, being a personal on-call valet [what Raffles call their butlers] was the most fulfilling job I have ever held. I saw beyond the petty minute physical work behind it and looked at the horizons for my future. My horizon stayed only at Raffles Hotel Singapore. I couldn't bear to leave this beloved grand old dame for any other property even though I had generous offers.
They say not to bite the hand that feed you. I was fortunate that my superiors, including every General Manager that I've worked with, recognised me as an asset. I literally had a red carpet laid out in front of me throughout my career advancement with them. All I can give in return is loyalty after being promoted three times from a butler to an Assistant Director of Catering Sales in just five years.
The walk-in interview in 2004 was held in Lady Sophia Suite. I did not know what the term personal on-call valet meant and applied for the job of a front desker. I kept that newspaper clipping till today; a little yellowish on the top from 13 years of safe-keeping.
Tan Ker Lee, Assistant Director of Housekeeping, interviewed me in a room filled with at least ten interviews going on concurrently. I was 23 years old and had an ugly red spot beneath my lip from cold sore. I remembered it clearly because I wondered if that it would land my application in the Rejected bin just for looking ugly. How ignorant I was at 23.
I must have made an impression on Ker Lee in that short 10 minute interview because she told me to proceed to a second interview right away with the Manager of the Personal On-Call Valet team. The front desk job was not for me because I am a lady. I felt a little discriminated then but understood that Raffles Hotel Singapore wanted to uphold some strong traditions from the past - that women are not to be seen in the front of the house. Although it sounds very sexist, I wished this tradition hadn't change today.
Very interesting questions were posed to me that morning with the most startling one:
"You are a graduate and the only child? Will your parents agree to you working three shifts in this job and are you hardy enough to handle laborious work?"
I was called back to the hotel twice after that walk-in interview to meet with Mrs Yoko Massang [Director of Housekeeping], Ms Jennifer Tan [Director of Human Resources] and Mr Javier Rosenberg [General Manager]. In total, five rounds of interview before I was officially hired to be part of this legendary hotel - all within a week!
I felt pretty good about myself and honoured that the company wasted no time in getting me hired. If there is one company I want to work for, it will be this one.
It was further exemplified when I went for my last interview where it was to be held in the lobby. I got lost in the grounds of this massive hotel and approached a staff hurrying somewhere else, "May I know where the lobby is?" He stopped in his tracks and escorted me all the way to the lobby, making sure I was handed over properly to the right person. I was impressed because all he could have done was point me in the correct direction.
From then on, I never left any guests stranded in our hotel. I made sure they were escorted personally from point to point, even if it meant I was going to be late for a meeting.
Memorabilia that will be treasured in this lifetime.
Tan Ker Lee, Assistant Director of Housekeeping, interviewed me in a room filled with at least ten interviews going on concurrently. I was 23 years old and had an ugly red spot beneath my lip from cold sore. I remembered it clearly because I wondered if that it would land my application in the Rejected bin just for looking ugly. How ignorant I was at 23.
I must have made an impression on Ker Lee in that short 10 minute interview because she told me to proceed to a second interview right away with the Manager of the Personal On-Call Valet team. The front desk job was not for me because I am a lady. I felt a little discriminated then but understood that Raffles Hotel Singapore wanted to uphold some strong traditions from the past - that women are not to be seen in the front of the house. Although it sounds very sexist, I wished this tradition hadn't change today.
Very interesting questions were posed to me that morning with the most startling one:
"You are a graduate and the only child? Will your parents agree to you working three shifts in this job and are you hardy enough to handle laborious work?"
I was called back to the hotel twice after that walk-in interview to meet with Mrs Yoko Massang [Director of Housekeeping], Ms Jennifer Tan [Director of Human Resources] and Mr Javier Rosenberg [General Manager]. In total, five rounds of interview before I was officially hired to be part of this legendary hotel - all within a week!
I felt pretty good about myself and honoured that the company wasted no time in getting me hired. If there is one company I want to work for, it will be this one.
It was further exemplified when I went for my last interview where it was to be held in the lobby. I got lost in the grounds of this massive hotel and approached a staff hurrying somewhere else, "May I know where the lobby is?" He stopped in his tracks and escorted me all the way to the lobby, making sure I was handed over properly to the right person. I was impressed because all he could have done was point me in the correct direction.
From then on, I never left any guests stranded in our hotel. I made sure they were escorted personally from point to point, even if it meant I was going to be late for a meeting.
Memorabilia that will be treasured in this lifetime.
In this personal on-call valet job, my primary task is to create a memorable experience for all my residents. We call our guests residents because Raffles is a home away from home and when they check in with us, we make them feel as if they haven't left home. I deemed my job as pivotal and most influential in getting my residents to come back again. If I win their hearts with the service I provide, no way will they ever return to Singapore without staying at the Raffles. That was my primary goal.
Growing up with a domestic helper serving me at my beck and call, I didn't know how to iron clothes, make latte or cappuccino, polish shoes, make a bed or differentiate the front and back of an orange. All these were part of my job and nobody was interested to go through a step-by-step training on how to wash fruits and arrange them into a platter. I mean, isn't it common sense to place the smaller fruits in the front and larger ones behind? As a rookie, every room I set for arrival [placing a fruit platter and utensils on the dining room, checking every light bulb to make sure they are working, reseting the television channels, making sure every amenity is placed in suite] was checked. Just like military training, I do not get gentle reminders about what I have missed but stern talking tos about my mistakes. I appreciated them.
It came to a point where I started working for passion over the pay check every month.
Having a keen eye for detail is not in-born. It is trained. I was trained the Raffles style and very [very very] proud of the skill set I picked up from there. No wonder I became the super luggage packer I am today, fitting one week's worth of clothes for my family of four on a holiday. I was trained. How to pack a good bag if a resident requested, how to colour-coordinate the wardrobes with their clothes and how to fold a suit without creasing it after a flight.
What do we actually do when a resident stays with us?
We service their rooms every morning and evening together with the housekeeping staff. They clean the room and straighten the linens out, change used bath towels into fresh ones and empty all bins. I, on the other hand, go in to look for details just like a crime scene investigator!
On arrival, we may place a variety of fruits on the fruit bowl but will notice on Day two if our resident have a preference for a certain fruit. If she picked only the strawberries to eat, I will refresh the fruit bowl to her favourite fruit without her asking - strawberries. I take my time around the suite to pick up hints on her likes and dislikes. A novel by her bedside with a page dog-eared will have me rushing to the pantry to get our signature Raffles leather bookmark for that page. If all the beers were gone in the mini-bar, I would reset it by adding more alcoholic drinks. Noticing medications are also a sign that my resident is not feeling well. I would read the prescription on the medication and act accordingly. Danzen means sore throat and peppermint tea would help sooth it out for her. As part of our service standards, we will place in a hot water dispenser with a few packets of peppermint tea and honey [in case she likes her tea sweet] together with a note to wish her well.
All these will be carefully recorded into our system and handed over to the next working partner who will be caring for her needs. These details are important for us to anticipate her return to Raffles. It could be a year or two later but knowing these details will keep a continuity going even if her personal on-call valet would not be the same person, "Welcome back Ms Fernandez! How have you been? We have placed a bowl of strawberries for you in the suite, please enjoy."
Wouldn't she be floored?
We go out of the way to create memorable experiences which include throwing surprises for them if they are celebrating a special occasion. There is no need for them to declare when their birthdays are because when we check them in, we take note of the birth date written on their passport and plan a birthday surprise accordingly.
I learnt so much from being a personal on-call valet that I would never have learnt if I was working for PhillipCapital. Because of the nature of my job, I got to learn about wines when I had a wine connoisseur as a resident and I read the books of any authors I was going to service so as to strike up learned conversations with them. I basically grew up on the job.
The complimentary letters I received from Day one were overwhelming. I gave my all and within the first month of probation, my manager [Lynn Pereira] recognised my efforts by sharing every letter I received with the General Manager. I was not her pet. She did the same for every colleague of mine, sharing commendable compliments that her team has garnered every single week. The Dear May moments were what drove me to do better every single day.
Heart swells when I receive a compliment on top of a compliment! Both General Managers, Mr Javier Rosenberg and Mr Robert Logan, would pen down encouraging words and smiley faces on the letters we received. Small gestures like these make an impact in our lives as well.
Are handwritten letters a time of the past? I treasure these letters and they are the reason I stayed on the job for 18 months before moving into the Sales & Marketing department.
The experiences of serving then CEO of Raffles Holdings, Ms Jennie Chua, Queen Sofia of Spain, Jerry Archer, Maggie Cheung, senators, cardinals and head of states shaped the person I am today. It proved my capability and the trust my superiors had for me to run the entire stay well. I couldn't disappoint their faith in me and went beyond the call of service each time.
Living up to Raffles Hotel Singapore service standards, the personal on-call valet job is a 24-hour one. If my high profile resident stays for a week, I will be his/her sole personal on-call valet for the whole week. There will be no handovers to colleagues to keep security levels at its peak. I will have to be standing at the door before he/she wakes and leave only after they sleep.
Midnight shifts are one-man shows. There will only be one personal on-call valet throughout the night, answering to calls from 103 suites. To be able to run the graveyard shift, this valet will have to "graduate" from the day shifts and showing full capability of handling the whole hotel well on his own.
I cannot decide which is most memorable because every one of them were just as amazing! Though the complimentary letter I'd like to share here is from Chris Wayne who sent me a personal letter to share his gratitude for former President Bill Clinton's stay at the hotel. I found a United States Secret Service badge in my box of Raffles treasures at home. I cannot remember who gave it to me but putting these two together, it must have been Chris.
Without these ground-up experiences, there was no way I was going to be an outstanding sales manager. It gave me a strong foundation and I know better to not oversell the property since I understood clearly the operations part of it. Without it, I couldn't possibly be a better leader when I eventually led the Weddings department as Assistant Director.
After seven years with the company, I am proud to say that the personal on-call valet stint was the most gratifying amongst all the positions I have held. The pay was low but the satisfaction, big.
Today, we will see Raffles Hotel Singapore undergo a careful restoration. It will be fully closed in mid-December 2017 with its grand opening planned for Fall 2018. My heart ached as I watch it close but full, knowing that it will be led in good hands.
So proud of our relationship that I still refer us as We.
Growing up with a domestic helper serving me at my beck and call, I didn't know how to iron clothes, make latte or cappuccino, polish shoes, make a bed or differentiate the front and back of an orange. All these were part of my job and nobody was interested to go through a step-by-step training on how to wash fruits and arrange them into a platter. I mean, isn't it common sense to place the smaller fruits in the front and larger ones behind? As a rookie, every room I set for arrival [placing a fruit platter and utensils on the dining room, checking every light bulb to make sure they are working, reseting the television channels, making sure every amenity is placed in suite] was checked. Just like military training, I do not get gentle reminders about what I have missed but stern talking tos about my mistakes. I appreciated them.
It came to a point where I started working for passion over the pay check every month.
Having a keen eye for detail is not in-born. It is trained. I was trained the Raffles style and very [very very] proud of the skill set I picked up from there. No wonder I became the super luggage packer I am today, fitting one week's worth of clothes for my family of four on a holiday. I was trained. How to pack a good bag if a resident requested, how to colour-coordinate the wardrobes with their clothes and how to fold a suit without creasing it after a flight.
What do we actually do when a resident stays with us?
We service their rooms every morning and evening together with the housekeeping staff. They clean the room and straighten the linens out, change used bath towels into fresh ones and empty all bins. I, on the other hand, go in to look for details just like a crime scene investigator!
On arrival, we may place a variety of fruits on the fruit bowl but will notice on Day two if our resident have a preference for a certain fruit. If she picked only the strawberries to eat, I will refresh the fruit bowl to her favourite fruit without her asking - strawberries. I take my time around the suite to pick up hints on her likes and dislikes. A novel by her bedside with a page dog-eared will have me rushing to the pantry to get our signature Raffles leather bookmark for that page. If all the beers were gone in the mini-bar, I would reset it by adding more alcoholic drinks. Noticing medications are also a sign that my resident is not feeling well. I would read the prescription on the medication and act accordingly. Danzen means sore throat and peppermint tea would help sooth it out for her. As part of our service standards, we will place in a hot water dispenser with a few packets of peppermint tea and honey [in case she likes her tea sweet] together with a note to wish her well.
All these will be carefully recorded into our system and handed over to the next working partner who will be caring for her needs. These details are important for us to anticipate her return to Raffles. It could be a year or two later but knowing these details will keep a continuity going even if her personal on-call valet would not be the same person, "Welcome back Ms Fernandez! How have you been? We have placed a bowl of strawberries for you in the suite, please enjoy."
Wouldn't she be floored?
We go out of the way to create memorable experiences which include throwing surprises for them if they are celebrating a special occasion. There is no need for them to declare when their birthdays are because when we check them in, we take note of the birth date written on their passport and plan a birthday surprise accordingly.
I learnt so much from being a personal on-call valet that I would never have learnt if I was working for PhillipCapital. Because of the nature of my job, I got to learn about wines when I had a wine connoisseur as a resident and I read the books of any authors I was going to service so as to strike up learned conversations with them. I basically grew up on the job.
The complimentary letters I received from Day one were overwhelming. I gave my all and within the first month of probation, my manager [Lynn Pereira] recognised my efforts by sharing every letter I received with the General Manager. I was not her pet. She did the same for every colleague of mine, sharing commendable compliments that her team has garnered every single week. The Dear May moments were what drove me to do better every single day.
Heart swells when I receive a compliment on top of a compliment! Both General Managers, Mr Javier Rosenberg and Mr Robert Logan, would pen down encouraging words and smiley faces on the letters we received. Small gestures like these make an impact in our lives as well.
Are handwritten letters a time of the past? I treasure these letters and they are the reason I stayed on the job for 18 months before moving into the Sales & Marketing department.
The experiences of serving then CEO of Raffles Holdings, Ms Jennie Chua, Queen Sofia of Spain, Jerry Archer, Maggie Cheung, senators, cardinals and head of states shaped the person I am today. It proved my capability and the trust my superiors had for me to run the entire stay well. I couldn't disappoint their faith in me and went beyond the call of service each time.
Living up to Raffles Hotel Singapore service standards, the personal on-call valet job is a 24-hour one. If my high profile resident stays for a week, I will be his/her sole personal on-call valet for the whole week. There will be no handovers to colleagues to keep security levels at its peak. I will have to be standing at the door before he/she wakes and leave only after they sleep.
Midnight shifts are one-man shows. There will only be one personal on-call valet throughout the night, answering to calls from 103 suites. To be able to run the graveyard shift, this valet will have to "graduate" from the day shifts and showing full capability of handling the whole hotel well on his own.
I cannot decide which is most memorable because every one of them were just as amazing! Though the complimentary letter I'd like to share here is from Chris Wayne who sent me a personal letter to share his gratitude for former President Bill Clinton's stay at the hotel. I found a United States Secret Service badge in my box of Raffles treasures at home. I cannot remember who gave it to me but putting these two together, it must have been Chris.
Without these ground-up experiences, there was no way I was going to be an outstanding sales manager. It gave me a strong foundation and I know better to not oversell the property since I understood clearly the operations part of it. Without it, I couldn't possibly be a better leader when I eventually led the Weddings department as Assistant Director.
After seven years with the company, I am proud to say that the personal on-call valet stint was the most gratifying amongst all the positions I have held. The pay was low but the satisfaction, big.
Today, we will see Raffles Hotel Singapore undergo a careful restoration. It will be fully closed in mid-December 2017 with its grand opening planned for Fall 2018. My heart ached as I watch it close but full, knowing that it will be led in good hands.
So proud of our relationship that I still refer us as We.
Read: Raffles Magazine Issue 5
where I wrote a spread on Family Travels for the magazine in 2016
for Raffles Le Royal, Phnom Penh
of Raffles' sister property in Sydney
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A stay at home mum, blogging to widen her social life.
We want to echo the sound of love through our lives to inspire other mothers alike.
Very cool read. Your pride for your work is inspiring.
ReplyDeleteAwesome! I am thankful to have stumbled upon your article and read it like a kid reading his favourite adventure book while the scenes played out in his head. Thank you for your heart of service.
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ReplyDeleteExcellent read and brought a tear to my eye.
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