For more information, please refer to our Privacy Policy. It also operates integrated resorts by subsidiary Laguna Resorts & Hotels. However, as the eldest son, he felt it was his duty to take over the reins of his family business. So, there’s a relief and gratitude that we are thriving and continuing to grow,” he qualified. Another poignant moment in our conversation came when Ho talked about his late father's affliction by a series of debilitating strokes in his later years. Ho Kwon Ping, referred to as "K.P. He was even invited to tea (yes, that tea), and almost found himself being fielded on the People's Action Party's slate of candidates in the 1984 General Election. The experience drove home for them how vulnerable nature was to human activity. Ho Ren Hua; Non-Executive and Non-Independent Director; Mr Ho was appointed Director on 6 May 2020. Ren Yung sees adaptability as one of the company’s core values, and one that is crucial today as guests become more diverse. In 2005, Banyan Tree became a founding member of the United Nations Global Compact Network—billed as the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative—in Singapore. We have to break down the traditional department silos, and put in the processes that enable us to express our brands consistently to ourselves and our customers,” Ren Yung believes. Ho Kwon Ping is the founder of Banyan Tree, a worldwide chain of luxury resorts based in Asia. In the 1980s, along with Ho’s brother, architect Ho Kwon Cjan, the couple bought a piece of land in Phuket, Thailand, at a pretty affordable price. Meanwhile, thank you and Claire for all the kindness you have showered on me, all these years. The company initiates and supports a variety of education and humanitarian initiatives in the places where it operates, such as setting up the accredited Laguna Phuket Kindergarten and establishing the Phuket Tsunami Recovery Fund in the wake of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. He is obsessive about family, for instance, despite all the travelling he has done and the years he has spent alone overseas â or perhaps that itself is the very reason he feels this way now. He worked as a broadcast and financial journalist and was the Economics Editor of the Far Eastern Economic Review. Ho shares that in Li's final years, he would go out every Wednesday night to have dinner, one-on-one, with her. "I ⦠Source: Singapore Management University website. We rushed her to the hospital; three days later, she died. Because he was quite moved by how life can be like if you're comatose, and do you really want to live on?". Chief Executive and Founding Partner. Mr Ho joined the Banyan Tree Group (âBT Groupâ) as Associate Director of Corporate Development in 2010. He is also the founding and current Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Singapore Management University and Chairman of The Singapore Summit. The journalist-turned-hotelier received the Meritorious Service … Ho Kwon Ping's foray into the business world came several years later when he decided to join the family business after his father suffered a stroke. ... Ho’s shift into the business world came several years later when he decided to join the family business after his father suffered a stroke in 1981. He was designated Executive Chairman on 1 March 2004 and was last re-elected on 24 April 2019. She’s been exposed to the workings of the family business since she was a child, and today heads the group’s integral spa and retail units. It’s no longer something that can just be owned by one department. Ho Kwon Ping's foray into the business world came several years later when he decided to join the family business after his father suffered a stroke. And that's what led us to what we started with, in a completely not-morbid way â the remainder of his life. IPS-Nathan Lectures Singapore: The Next Fifty Years - Lecture III: Security and Sustainability by Ho Kwon Ping. Just as the influence of Ho Kwon Ping sparked our approach to this editorial, so too will the experienced leaders of the previous generation embolden the Millennial vision of this one. Claire Chiang (b. Executive Chairman. Named the first Fellow of the SR Nathan Lecture Series at the Institute of Policy Studies in 2014, he published Asking Why, a collection of his writing, last year. Claire Chiang, Banyan Tree’s senior vice president, chairs the company’s China Business Development division and the Banyan Tree Global Foundation. “I came to realise that what Asia lacked was brands,” he explains. Don't worry, we've never seen or heard of one before either) Ho sent him from his years spent studying, living and working overseas. Baring Private Equity Asia. Since 2006, it has been publishing annual sustainability reports to highlight its environmental efforts. Over thirty years ago, back in 1984, Singaporean couple Ho Kwon Ping (65) and Claire Chiang (66) chanced upon a vast expanse of coastal land in Phuket, Thailand, that used to be a tin mine. “Huh? Banyan Tree Holdings is a Singapore-based leisure business group , which owns both listed and private companies engaged in the development, ownership and operation of exclusive luxury hotels, resorts, spa, residential homes and retail galleries based in Asia. “When it opens, guests will have a glimpse of a world that’s truly immersive.”, Indeed, a brave new world awaits, not just in the tropical wilderness of Singapore, but perhaps also in the self-perception of this homegrown brand as it starts a new chapter. “I think giving people an unprecedented access to nature in such a small and highly urban state is probably going to be an experience that’s quite unparalleled in the rest of the world,” says Ho. Certainly, the person Ho is is fascinatingly unique â ex-journalist, jailed and barred from travelling to the U.S. and also incarcerated under Singapore's Internal Security Act, founder of the Banyan Tree resort empire, and founding chairman of the Singapore Management University. Banyan Tree's Ho Kwon Ping On The AirAsia Phenomenon And Rainbow Tourism, first resortâbased marine lab in the Maldives, Millennials Are Our Force Of Change, Says Banyan Tree's Claire Chiang, Why Banyan Tree Jiuzhaigou Is A Must-Visit For Nature Lovers, From Japan to Switzerland: Luxury City Hotels to Book When it's Safe to Travel Again, David Prior Shares 5 Secret Boutique Hotels to Fuel Your Travel Dreams in 2021, Singapore to Allow Entry for Business Travellers From All Countries in January 2021, Tatler Tours: Violet Oon Takes Us Around Katong | The Best Food, Activities and Spots, Meet Asiaâs Most Influential: The Impact List 2020, The Best Christmas Markets to Visit in Singapore for 2020, Where to Celebrate Christmas in Singapore This December 2020. Privacy policy. Woodlands had dinosaurs before it was cool. This prompts another joke, this time from her father: âYouâre becoming the boss, and weâre becoming the retirees. They soon found out that the land was sold cheap for a reason—it had been polluted by tin mining, and that the cobalt colour was caused by acidic chemicals. He also hopes to continue having an interest in the world, but ultimately, apart from the certainty of grandfatherhood â he will be a granddad of three by the end of this year â he admits he "really (doesn't) know". Photo courtesy of Banyan Tree Holdings. 4 October 1951, Singaporeâ) is a social activist, entrepreneur and author. We now encounter guests with different needs and desires, and we need to have the capacity and empathy to understand how to adapt to them and create the experiences they would like to have. Jean Eric Salata. “The target customers for these new brands are best defined by their beliefs and values rather than by standard demographics,” says Ren Yung. And when you assemble products for other people, you never own the marketplace. With collaborations with global hotel group Accor and Chinese real estate developer Vanke, and Qatar Investment Authority providing investment capital, “we are now equipped to ride this wave with strong partnerships”. Has he any plans for this final burst of fire? Mr Yong Pung How, SMU Chancellor 2011–15. A conservation lab in Bintan, to protect biodiversity, followed in 2007. If not for you, I do not think I could have an active working life. Ho Kwon Ping was born in Hong Kong in 1952 although his father, Ho Rih Hwa, a businessman and diplomat, was born in Singapore. âFor various reasons, weâve reduced our burn rate, weâve negotiated bank loans. Our dream was really to write, study, and talk about development issuesâsocial development and economic development. Ho Kwon Ping (b. 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