How did you get started in this business?
Well, back in the 70s, the F&B industry paid very well. You could earn much more by working as a waiter in a hotel restaurant than you could by being an office clerk. I started out as a bellhop in the Mandarin Hotel and eventually became a waiter in La Brasserie, a French restaurant in the Marco Polo Hotel. During my stay in the Marco Polo Hotel, I was also sent to Switzerland for an F&B management course. That was how I got exposed to F&B business.

How did you learn to cook?
I learnt how to cook from a chef in France. I still travel to France every year to visit vineyards and to learn new cooking techniques. The French are always reinventing their cuisine; if I don't keep up with them, my menus will soon be outdated!

What business were your parents in?
My mother was in the agricultural business before the government cleared our land to make way for HDB flats. My grandmother was an excellent cook; I loved her cooking so much that I was inspired to return the favor by cooking for her! I remember cooking the same dishes for my grandmother 3 nights in a row, just so that I could get it right!

Does your wife work?
Yes, she does. I'm usually here at Jeremy's Restaurant & Wine Bar, and my wife takes care of our other restaurant, Vis-à-vis. Customers can always rest assured knowing that either myself or my wife will be present to ensure that their dining experience is a memorable one. My wife was a former accountant and fashion consultant, but she decided to join me in the F&B business when I opened my first restaurant.

Why did you choose this location?
My philosophy has always been to provide good food and good service at value for money prices. Many people are under the impression that the success of a business depends on location, location and location. I do not subscribe to that belief as I feel that Singaporeans will go out of their way to get good food. I selected this location (Bras Basah Road, Carlton Hotel Annex) because the manager of the Carlton Hotel, who was a regular customer of Vis-à-vis, approached me and asked if I would like to set up a restaurant at the hotel's newly constructed annex. He offered to lease the space to me at a very reasonable rate, and that's how I ended up here.

Did you have to get a license to do business here?
Yes, of course. I had to acquire a liquor license, a restaurant license, a license from the Ministry of Environment…even a music license!

How easy was it to get this license?
Oh, it was fairly easy. Getting the required licenses doesn't really present a problem.

How long do you think you will stay here?
As long as I can, or until I retire, I suppose.

How is Jeremy's Restaurant & Wine Bar different from Vis-à-vis (1st restaurant)?
Well, Jeremy's Restaurant & Wine Bar serves modern French cuisine, as opposed to classical or provincial French cuisine that you can find at Vis-à-vis. Modern French cuisine is lighter and involves less cream and butter. Singaporeans are getting more health-conscious these days, so we try to cater to their tastes.

What have you learned about the business from Vis-à-vis that you have applied in your second restaurant?
Never underestimate the importance of your staff. I always tell my staff that it's not me who pays their salary; it's the customer. Operating a restaurant is a team business, and I believe that you have to treat your staff well to cultivate loyalty. I always try to lead by example; if the chef needs help in the kitchen, I'll be there to help him. If not, I'll be in the restaurant, serving the customers with the rest of my staff. At the end of the day, we usually get together for informal feedback sessions to address any problems we may have faced (slow service, customer complaints, etc).

Since you are trained as a French chef, what made you set up Sup Sip (Thai restaurant)?
When I was running Vis-à-vis, there was a fairly high demand for catering services. I eventually decided to set up another restaurant to cope with these demands, and that was how I branched out to Thai cuisine.

Tell me about your clientele.
We have quite a wide range of customers, although I would say that most of them are from the middle-income group. The reason I say this is because middle-income families who own fully paid HDB homes or condominiums are able and willing to spend money on good food on a fairly regular basis. High-income families usually have maids to cook for them; they are more inclined to dining at home, and very rarely eat out. Of course, we also cater to the executive crowd - professionals who entertain clients in our restaurants.

How do you spend your spare time? Any hobbies?
I work 7 days a week, so I have very little time to exercise! I try to spend time at home with my two kids, and I make it a point to complete a 5 km run at the stadium every week. During my national service days, I played water polo for SAFRA and worked as a part-time swimming instructor.

Do you have a mission or motto?
I have always believed in providing my customers with the highest standards when it comes to food, wine and service.

Do you have any partners?
I set up my first restaurant as a joint venture with a French partner. We did fairly well in the beginning, but the relationship soured and we eventually decided to part ways. After that, I set up Vis-à-vis with my wife.

Tell me some stories that would give me an idea of the hardships involved in starting a business from scratch. What are some of the things you have had to overcome to succeed?
Setting up a restaurant isn't very hard in itself; the problem lies with finding good service staff in Singapore. Most Singaporeans are very fussy over jobs; they want high pay and short working hours, and they complain a lot. It is much easier to find dependable workers in Malaysia, but the government has a policy such that a restaurant can only hire foreign workers after the first three months of operation.

Tell me about some of the best times in your business.
1996 was a good year for business due to the economic boom. Singaporeans had high spending power, and business was very good then.

What about the worst times?
The first few years are always the difficult years. You have to build a customer base and establish a reputation for your restaurant. After about 2 years, when you have repaid your bank loans and have many regular customers, it becomes much easier to run the business.

Ever felt like giving up before, how many times, when does it happen and why?
Business can be tough in the first couple of years, but I have always had a never-say-die attitude.

Did you have the capital to start the business or did you borrow it from someone to get started?
When I set up Vis-à-vis, I sold my house to get the capital and moved in with my mother. It can be quite hard to get a loan from the bank since you have nothing to show them.

Who would you say are your competitors?
Other restaurants of course! How you manage your restaurant is important, and I guess what differentiates us from our competitors is that we have good rapport with most of our regular customers. We are more than willing to tailor to their requests - if they want something that is not on the menu, all they have to do is let know in advance and we can prepare it for them. Most of my customers call me when they want to make a reservation; our service is very personalized.

Have you ever thought of banding together with one of them to start a joint venture?
Well my first restaurant was a joint venture, and sometimes it can be difficult to work together. It is important for both parties to share the same philosophy. I have a long-term business mindset, and I believe that every day should be a learning experience.

Did you start as a businessman as a child selling things to your friends and family?
Actually, I wanted to become a doctor when I was young! I remember dissecting a frog when I was in Secondary 2, and my teacher told me that I would make a good surgeon when I grew up.

When did you decide that you would strike out on your own instead of working for someone else?
There are just too many politics in the hotel industry. When you work in a hotel, you're just there to do your job. I wanted to work my way up to become the general manager of the Marco Polo Hotel one day, but in those days (70s), the hotel managers were all Europeans. So I decided to leave the hotel and set up my own restaurant.

When you started what did your wife or family think?
Initially, my wife thought that setting up a business was going to be hard on me, but she was ultimately very supportive.

Are there any points in your business life that you experienced something so significant e.g. war, racial riot, economic crisis, new competition, shift in market behavior and trends that affect or influence your life and business that make you change the way you do business and thinking?
One incident that had a considerable impact on our business was the mad-cow epidemic. The government imposed very stringent regulations on imported foodstuff, and this made it difficult for us to get many of our ingredients. The economic crisis in 1998 also had an adverse effect on our industry.

>Do you have children in business?
I have two children - my son is 3 years old, and my daughter is 2.

What are your own values in doing business and what do you like to pass down to your children?
They are very young at this point, and I don't really want to force anything on them. As parents, I think we should encourage them to follow their hearts. It doesn't matter what business or job they end up in, as long as they are happy.

Do you think any of them will follow you as business owners?
Well, it's too early to tell.

What would happen if you got sick, who would run your business?
Most members of my staff have been with me for many years now, and they are more than capable of running the place for me in my absence. I think that I have taught them much over the years. Most of them were formerly from hotels and started out with a very stiff and impersonal manner.

What qualities that you have do you think differentiates you from someone who works for others?
I was never fully satisfied with working in a hotel. I wanted to learn more and to acquire new knowledge. Ambition was another factor in deciding to set up my own business.

What qualities does it take to succeed?
Professionalism is very important in business. You must also be able to adapt to the changing environment, while maintaining a high level of service. It is also important to be honest with yourself.

How old were you when you first realized you wanted to be in business on your own?
I was 30 years old when I decided to set up my own business.

Did your family and friends encourage you?
Yes.

When was the moment you realized that the business would work and support you?
After the first 2 years. By then, we had a large customer base and the bank loan had been paid. It was a quite a relief to be loan-free.

Tell me about your first few customers and first few years of business.
Well, the first few months here at Jeremy's Restaurant & Wine Bar were pretty chaotic. We had high customer expectations to live up to, and being understaffed, we were unable to deliver high service standards. Again, I would have to attribute this to the fact that is hard to find good staff in Singapore. The government does not allow us to employ foreign waiters during the first 3 months of operation, but these 3 months are the most important. If we fail to make a good first impression, customers may not visit our restaurant again.

What would you advise young people to do today in starting a business?
I think they need to know that it takes patience and tolerance to succeed in business. You need to be able to accept setbacks, and you have to be prepared to put in many hours of hard work. Treat your customers well and they will keep coming back. Be receptive to negative feedback, and most importantly, never give up.

Do you have a role model or mentor?
I learnt a lot from my chef in France. He told me never lie to a customer, and always give them food prepared from the best ingredients. He also made me realize that word of mouth advertisements travel very fast. If your restaurant is good, your customers will tell their friends about it; similarly, if customers are displeased with your restaurant, they will let their friends know. That is why we always take very good care of tai-tais (affluent housewives who are inclined to gossip)!

Do you have any retirement plans?
Not right now. To me, it's not the money that's important. All the money in the world is useless if you're not healthy. I'm still very passionate about my F&B business, and that's what keeps me going.

Where do you see yourself 20 years from now?
Well I would like to teach cooking one day. I can also see myself as a consultant for F&B outlets.

Any plans for expansion in the near or distant future?
Not at the moment. There are too many restaurants in Singapore, and I think that the market here is a bit saturated. I may consider setting up restaurants in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) or Surabaya (Indonesia). But for now, I'm taking it one step at the time.

If you are chosen as one of the 38 winners will you attend the prize presentation ceremony?
Sure.

Will you be comfortable with the press and TV asking you many of the same questions if you are a winner?
I've done several TV interviews on food and wine before, so I'm quite comfortable with that.

Do you have any objection to this interview being posted on the Internet (which will be put up by NTUC Income by next year) or published in the newspaper prior to being chosen?
I have no objections.

Who do you admire in business?
I don't admire any one person, but I have learnt a lot from many different people.

Student Interviewer's Personal Comment