Reflections: Jennie Chua

By Staff -- HOTELS Magazine, 8/1/2006

Jennie Chua, President & CEO of Raffles Holdings Limited

It has often been said that in a room full of people, one can immediately identify a hotel general manager—except when it is a woman. You see, male hoteliers have an unspoken dress code and style: The doublebreasted suit, the walk with his hands behind his back, the upright posture. For women hoteliers, it is uncharted territory. We are almost like those pioneering women you see in wild west movies—so few of us, so many of them, and we have to make up our own rules as we go along. So how do you dress without standing out like a sore thumb or blending into the background like part of the furniture?

Well, she develops her own style—one unique enough to become her signature yet versatile enough to take her from that morning briefing to that evening cocktail with celebrities and dignitaries. I started off with cheongsams (I have 200 of them) and then moved on to pant suits (100, all silk and still counting). I know, I am living up to the stereotype of being a woman, right? Being obsessed about dress rather than dishes. But here is something else—when reporters interview us, they always talk about how we dress first rather than what we have to say. So I am only giving my customers what they want—which, after all, is the raison d’etre of being a hotelier, male, female or otherwise.

Customers also come with their own customs, which can be a minefield to navigate, especially for women hoteliers. If VIPs are from countries where it is customary for women to walk behind the men, do we lead the way as a GM should, or do we walk beside them or a few steps behind like a good woman should? So what’s a woman to do? Well, again she develops her own style—a style she is comfortable with because it is only when you are comfortable with yourself that you can make others around you comfortable. You see, dress and conduct are things male hoteliers take for granted. Women, being the more considerate, empathetic and sensitive species, have to think about all these details, and more.

Which brings me to why we need more women hoteliers. Life is about balance; a mix of yin and yang; a combination vitta, pitta and kapha. Too much of one thing spells trouble. The hotel industry needs to strike a balance between the masculine and the feminine for it to live up to its full promise of providing our guests with “a home away from home.” When you think of home, what comes to mind? Warm, cuddly, fuzzy, nurturing, embracing. You don’t say, “I love home because it works.” You say, “I love home because it makes me feel at home.”

Don’t get me wrong. Women are not only Earth Mother and Goddess. We can also be disciplinarian, leader, team builder—whatever the role calls for, we can be it. Women have that natural ability to do several things at the same time and yet be able to pay attention to detail. We can see the forest AND the trees. We can spot that rough diamond and yet see that Picasso painting, “Boy With a Pipe.”

It is true that we can be a tad emotional but our business is about people and emotion, not chandeliers and marble. So here’s my wish: Forty years on, I hope no women hotelier will begin her article for this magazine by talking about dressing because, by then, women hoteliers will be so commonplace that she can be spotted right away. But then again, maybe not. I always believe in a little mystery.