The art of moving people
As SMRT CEO or tai chi sifu, Ms Saw Phaik Hwa is all about being hands on, Christopher Toh discovers
by Christopher Toh
09:00 AM Sep 18, 2011
THERE are many ways to describe Ms Saw Phaik Hwa, the president and chief executive of SMRT. "Unconventional" would be a good start.
After all, how many CEOs do you know sport a shock of pink hair? Or have a black belt in tae kwon do and are certified to referee competitions? And how many corporate chiefs are tai chi sifus who can throw a man across the room effortlessly? (Being the chickens that we are, we didn't challenge her to prove that last feat.)
Yet, the 57-year-old says she is quite "uninteresting". This is, of course, coming from the same person who likes Chinese opera so much, she will fly to Hong Kong to watch it because "the ones in Singapore are not very good".
Funnily enough, she admits that she doesn't understand the language all that well. "I'm 100-per-cent English educated. I can have a conversation with you in Chinese, but don't ask me anything technical!" she quips. "But I'm a serious enthusiast of Chinese opera. I also collect only Chinese paintings. I listen to Chinese music - I like those with traditional Chinese instrumentation. I can't read or write Chinese, but I can listen to it."
She laughs: "I'm a bit schizo."
Over our two-hour lunch at Brasserie Les Saveurs at The St Regis Singapore, Ms Saw is animated and chatty. Her casual demeanour belies a tough go-getter persona which she honed from a young age. She was in the top class at the prestigious Convent Bukit Nanas in Kuala Lumpur ("the best school in Malaysia") and said she had no choice but to excel.
After the 1969 race riots in Malaysia, she came to Singapore to do her A Levels at Swiss Cottage Secondary School ("It was tough coping with the change ... I didn't do well," she says). She ended up doing biochemistry at the National University of Singapore, where she graduated with honours.
She then decided to get a job at the Metro department store - even though she had no clue about retail. "I was just sure I didn't want to spend the rest of my life in a lab. And when I graduated I needed to pay off my bills." Her lack of retail knowledge wasn't a deterrent. "I found it exciting. It taught me how to manage people, about leadership ... That's the most important skill in a career in management."
She spent three years in Metro before moving to DFS Venture Singapore, where she worked for 19 years, rising to become a regional president for Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. But, in 2002, she was retrenched when DFS consolidated its infrastructure.
When SMRT courted her services that same year, Ms Saw wasn't sure if she wanted to head a transport company. "I knew nothing about trains, and why would a transport operator want a retailer?" she says, laughing.
'I'M NOT A CAVALIER PERSON'
But, as before, she didn't see that as a setback. "If it's something I don't know about, or don't have the skills or knowledge, then I'll see if there's the support that can help me close that gap." She "rode the trains, went to every station and met the staff", she adds. "I don't take a job with a 'see-how' attitude. I'm not a cavalier person."
She is, on the contrary, a passionate person, particularly when it comes to martial arts. "I like it because it's about you and what you can do. It's not about brute strength, but about intelligence, confidence, skill and you must be brave - I enjoy that sentiment."
She joined a tae kwon do club at 16, at a time when women in martial arts were uncommon - "there was only one other lady (in the club)." She did tae kwon do for 20 years, earning a second-dan black belt and her referee certification. "When I was nearing 30, I started to feel the pain. It's a full contact sport and I realised I wasn't recovering so fast."
Then she discovered tai chi. A friend took her to the Wu Jia Tai Ji Quan in Chinatown. "This old teacher had this young man run across and pounce on him, and the old man, without using his hands, managed to ... the guy just rebounded 20 feet off him. And this tai chi master is so skinny. I was like, 'This is impossible.' But I decided to try it out."
She has been doing tai chi for 19 years now, and teaches three times a week. "This is one of the few martial arts where it's not 'commercialised'," she says. "And there's a kinship between all the disciples all around the world - it's quite special."
With her busy schedule, Ms Saw's downtime is precious. "I don't call my staff outside working hours," she emphasises. "Sunday is my chill-out day. I veg out at home. I play with my dogs, watch a movie ... The highlight of the day is probably dinner."
But work is never far away. "We're on-call 24 hours - when a train breaks down, I know; when someone gets hurt, I know. That incident when the maintenance train rolled back early in the morning and disrupted the system for hours? At 4am, I got the call and I immediately took a taxi out to all the different stations that would be affected."
She has also been present at a death on the tracks. "In an emergency, sometimes you don't really need a boss there hanging around doing nothing. But ... I wanted to know what needed to be done, dealing with the family, the police, the SCDF ... I went through the whole process, and I engaged the team to find out how we could do it better."
DIRTY TOILETS AND OTHER BRICKBATS
Ms Saw says she rides the trains each time she's in the city area instead of driving around - not only just to avoid the traffic, but also to do spot-checks on the trains. "I'm always sending texts to my staff about things, like 'why is that screen not working?'" she says, laughing.
And she says she gets involved in "toilet maintenance". Yes, you read right. "It's a leftover from my department store days. One thing that really pisses off people is the state of the toilet," she says. "In the MRT, it's really a challenge, because you get all kinds of people going in, and when you clean it, five minutes later it's dirty again."
Of course, Ms Saw has had to deal with all sorts of brickbats flung in her direction, particularly perennial issues about overcrowding and fare hikes. But she tackles the issues in her usual logical, efficient manner, saying that while SMRT was "taken by surprise" at the sudden increase in ridership that led to overcrowding, they have been doing what they can, adding over 1,000 train rides per week. "Today, all the trains that we have are out on the tracks and we can't really do more until we get more trains."
As for fares, she emphasises that Singapore has some of the lowest fares in the world. "The fares today are actually lower than when I joined," she adds. "The average fare then was almost S$1 a person. Now it's 87 cents ... I know people are complaining. But I am comforted by the fact that my team is pushing every button that they can to help. Sometimes they may have an off day, (but) I know they go to inordinate efforts to take care of the passengers in a majority of cases. And at the end of the day, people do appreciate that."
Her philosophy is simple: Don't worry about what you can't control, and make an impact with your life. "If you can't make a difference, then what are you here for?" she asks. "I enjoy doing the work. I would not be here if I feel I cannot make a difference. It's more than a business ... And all the staff realise it, right down to the last guy. This wanting to do their best for the country ... That 'privilege to serve' thing might sound kitsch, but it's true."
What Saw Phaik Hwa had at Brasserie Les Saveurs
- Poêlé foie gras: Pan-fried and honey glazed, served with pomegranate, stone fruit, coriander, ginger and crushed hazelnuts
- Agneau Gallois: Welsh saddle of lamb spiced confit shoulder with oriental quinoa, eggplant caviar and lemon confit
- Chariot de Desserts: A dessert trolley with a pastry selection, cakes and assorted candy
As SMRT CEO or tai chi sifu, Ms Saw Phaik Hwa is all about being hands on, Christopher Toh discovers
by Christopher Toh
09:00 AM Sep 18, 2011
THERE are many ways to describe Ms Saw Phaik Hwa, the president and chief executive of SMRT. "Unconventional" would be a good start.
After all, how many CEOs do you know sport a shock of pink hair? Or have a black belt in tae kwon do and are certified to referee competitions? And how many corporate chiefs are tai chi sifus who can throw a man across the room effortlessly? (Being the chickens that we are, we didn't challenge her to prove that last feat.)
Yet, the 57-year-old says she is quite "uninteresting". This is, of course, coming from the same person who likes Chinese opera so much, she will fly to Hong Kong to watch it because "the ones in Singapore are not very good".
Funnily enough, she admits that she doesn't understand the language all that well. "I'm 100-per-cent English educated. I can have a conversation with you in Chinese, but don't ask me anything technical!" she quips. "But I'm a serious enthusiast of Chinese opera. I also collect only Chinese paintings. I listen to Chinese music - I like those with traditional Chinese instrumentation. I can't read or write Chinese, but I can listen to it."
She laughs: "I'm a bit schizo."
Over our two-hour lunch at Brasserie Les Saveurs at The St Regis Singapore, Ms Saw is animated and chatty. Her casual demeanour belies a tough go-getter persona which she honed from a young age. She was in the top class at the prestigious Convent Bukit Nanas in Kuala Lumpur ("the best school in Malaysia") and said she had no choice but to excel.
After the 1969 race riots in Malaysia, she came to Singapore to do her A Levels at Swiss Cottage Secondary School ("It was tough coping with the change ... I didn't do well," she says). She ended up doing biochemistry at the National University of Singapore, where she graduated with honours.
She then decided to get a job at the Metro department store - even though she had no clue about retail. "I was just sure I didn't want to spend the rest of my life in a lab. And when I graduated I needed to pay off my bills." Her lack of retail knowledge wasn't a deterrent. "I found it exciting. It taught me how to manage people, about leadership ... That's the most important skill in a career in management."
She spent three years in Metro before moving to DFS Venture Singapore, where she worked for 19 years, rising to become a regional president for Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. But, in 2002, she was retrenched when DFS consolidated its infrastructure.
When SMRT courted her services that same year, Ms Saw wasn't sure if she wanted to head a transport company. "I knew nothing about trains, and why would a transport operator want a retailer?" she says, laughing.
'I'M NOT A CAVALIER PERSON'
But, as before, she didn't see that as a setback. "If it's something I don't know about, or don't have the skills or knowledge, then I'll see if there's the support that can help me close that gap." She "rode the trains, went to every station and met the staff", she adds. "I don't take a job with a 'see-how' attitude. I'm not a cavalier person."
She is, on the contrary, a passionate person, particularly when it comes to martial arts. "I like it because it's about you and what you can do. It's not about brute strength, but about intelligence, confidence, skill and you must be brave - I enjoy that sentiment."
She joined a tae kwon do club at 16, at a time when women in martial arts were uncommon - "there was only one other lady (in the club)." She did tae kwon do for 20 years, earning a second-dan black belt and her referee certification. "When I was nearing 30, I started to feel the pain. It's a full contact sport and I realised I wasn't recovering so fast."
Then she discovered tai chi. A friend took her to the Wu Jia Tai Ji Quan in Chinatown. "This old teacher had this young man run across and pounce on him, and the old man, without using his hands, managed to ... the guy just rebounded 20 feet off him. And this tai chi master is so skinny. I was like, 'This is impossible.' But I decided to try it out."
She has been doing tai chi for 19 years now, and teaches three times a week. "This is one of the few martial arts where it's not 'commercialised'," she says. "And there's a kinship between all the disciples all around the world - it's quite special."
With her busy schedule, Ms Saw's downtime is precious. "I don't call my staff outside working hours," she emphasises. "Sunday is my chill-out day. I veg out at home. I play with my dogs, watch a movie ... The highlight of the day is probably dinner."
But work is never far away. "We're on-call 24 hours - when a train breaks down, I know; when someone gets hurt, I know. That incident when the maintenance train rolled back early in the morning and disrupted the system for hours? At 4am, I got the call and I immediately took a taxi out to all the different stations that would be affected."
She has also been present at a death on the tracks. "In an emergency, sometimes you don't really need a boss there hanging around doing nothing. But ... I wanted to know what needed to be done, dealing with the family, the police, the SCDF ... I went through the whole process, and I engaged the team to find out how we could do it better."
DIRTY TOILETS AND OTHER BRICKBATS
Ms Saw says she rides the trains each time she's in the city area instead of driving around - not only just to avoid the traffic, but also to do spot-checks on the trains. "I'm always sending texts to my staff about things, like 'why is that screen not working?'" she says, laughing.
And she says she gets involved in "toilet maintenance". Yes, you read right. "It's a leftover from my department store days. One thing that really pisses off people is the state of the toilet," she says. "In the MRT, it's really a challenge, because you get all kinds of people going in, and when you clean it, five minutes later it's dirty again."
Of course, Ms Saw has had to deal with all sorts of brickbats flung in her direction, particularly perennial issues about overcrowding and fare hikes. But she tackles the issues in her usual logical, efficient manner, saying that while SMRT was "taken by surprise" at the sudden increase in ridership that led to overcrowding, they have been doing what they can, adding over 1,000 train rides per week. "Today, all the trains that we have are out on the tracks and we can't really do more until we get more trains."
As for fares, she emphasises that Singapore has some of the lowest fares in the world. "The fares today are actually lower than when I joined," she adds. "The average fare then was almost S$1 a person. Now it's 87 cents ... I know people are complaining. But I am comforted by the fact that my team is pushing every button that they can to help. Sometimes they may have an off day, (but) I know they go to inordinate efforts to take care of the passengers in a majority of cases. And at the end of the day, people do appreciate that."
Her philosophy is simple: Don't worry about what you can't control, and make an impact with your life. "If you can't make a difference, then what are you here for?" she asks. "I enjoy doing the work. I would not be here if I feel I cannot make a difference. It's more than a business ... And all the staff realise it, right down to the last guy. This wanting to do their best for the country ... That 'privilege to serve' thing might sound kitsch, but it's true."
What Saw Phaik Hwa had at Brasserie Les Saveurs
- Poêlé foie gras: Pan-fried and honey glazed, served with pomegranate, stone fruit, coriander, ginger and crushed hazelnuts
- Agneau Gallois: Welsh saddle of lamb spiced confit shoulder with oriental quinoa, eggplant caviar and lemon confit
- Chariot de Desserts: A dessert trolley with a pastry selection, cakes and assorted candy
