OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION TO TOURISM
Ms Jennie Chua
President & CEO, Raffles Holdings Limited

When P@SSPORT asked Jennie Chua whether she ever thought she’d win the highest accolade “Outstanding Contribution to Tourism” 21 years after she first worked on the launch of the Tourism Awards, her quick retort, “Of course, I planned it.”

She says it in jest of course (Jennie’s known for her jests) but for those who know Jennie, you could half believe it.

Here’s a woman whose career has soared through the 30 and more years she’s worked in the hospitality and tourism business that, to observers, it couldn’t have been achieved without a fair degree of planning.

Yet to Jennie, winning this award was a question of timing. “If you work long enough and hard enough, you’ll get the award someday. It’s a matter of time and so it was the right time for me,” she says.

Jennie calls herself “an accidental hotelier”. Hospitality was not her first career choice. “I wanted to study in Cornell University but at that time, they only had subjects like engineering, agriculture and psychology. And since I didn’t want to be a farmer, I decided to enroll in their hotel school.”

In 1971, she became the first Singaporean woman to graduate with a Bachelor of Science degree from the Cornell School of Hotel Administration.

“I took a bet on it. Tourism was just taking off in Singapore,” she says.

Since then, she’s notched up achievement after achievement. In 1978, she led the Singapore Convention Bureau at a time when the MICE industry in Asia was still in its infancy.
In 1990, she was appointed General Manager of Raffles Hotel, the first Singaporean and woman appointed to this position. In 1999, she became President and Chief Operating Officer of Raffles International. In 2003, she became President and CEO of Raffles Holdings. She was also, until 2005, Chairman of Raffles International overseeing a portfolio of over 40 hotels and resorts in 35 destinations.

Yet ask her to cite her “most outstanding contribution” and she says, “It’s not what I did, I think. I think the women in the tourism industry have not been largely recognized so maybe I’m the most high profile person.

“This industry can be suitable for certain kinds of women who are able to balance career and private life, who have family support and who work for companies that have certain values so that they are able to make successful careers.”

While she believes the hotel industry has not made conscious significant strides in promoting women to the helm, she also says that the nature of the business can make it hard for women. “Women have to make choices at a certain stage in their lives. And once they get married and have children, it’s hard to work 24x7. They have to take a step back. It’s a fact of life.”

Press her hard enough for what she believes is her most outstanding contribution and she adds, “Proving that the transition from big statutory organization to private sector is very do-able. That traditionally has always been a question mark. I hope I can encourage and give confidence to people that it is do-able.”

For Jennie, there is no big magic formula as to what makes anyone a success in business.

 “If you work hard, have integrity and discipline, don’t take yourself too seriously and get a little help now and then, you will make it.”

It’s also about having a positive attitude. “I am an optimist by nature. I seldom get fazed. When I do, the optimist in me takes over and I look for the solution. Even if it’s not a 100% solution, it’s ok – I say to myself things like, life must go on, it’s nobody’s fault, tomorrow is another day.”

In particular, she says, “Never be afraid to surround yourself with people who are smarter and better than you are – they tend to make you look good.

“The second generation that’s coming through – they are fearless and they are smart. These are people whom if you surround yourself with will make you look good.”

But to get these “young, fearless and smart” generation into the tourism and hospitality business, she believes the industry needs to improve its image. “You hear people saying, I want to be a lawyer, a banker. Very few people say, I want to be a hotelier.”

“It’s changing in recent years as people realise that manufacturing is not the only way forward and the service sector is emerging as one of the economic pillars. We want young people to look seriously at us to build a career with.”

Notwithstanding its challenges, Jennie says she feels good about the future of the industry. “There are things happening today that two or three years ago, we wouldn’t have thought possible – the Integrated Resorts, for example. We’re doing things on a bigger scale. We are paying attention to good service.

“It’s making the industry more exciting and it’s instilling pride in those who work in it.”