Nicknamed the “Historian” by his friends, Leslie is a walking encyclopedia of the Raffles Hotel .

Since he joined Raffles in 1972, Leslie has been painstakingly collecting and organising old press releases and photos of the hotel, keeping tab of its role in Singapore’s history. Today, Leslie remains the key person whom his colleagues count on for information whenever queries arise about the hotel’s roots.

Leslie is a firm believer in training and skills upgrading. He has attended many courses, seminars and workshops, and these run the gamut from crisis management to computer workshops, conversational Japanese, leadership training, creative problem solving, public speaking skills and employee relations,. Leslie is convinced that these skills will prepare him for greater responsibilities in his career and enable him to contribute more to the hotel.

Leslie consciously applies the knowledge of the skills he has learnt to his daily work and interaction with hotel guests. He has also become an effective trainer and has designed a unique training programme for Raffles staff. This initiative has contributed in no small part to the evolution of a highly personalised service across the hotel’s various departments.

Leslie’s learning journey was not without obstacles. He was daunted when he first came face-to-face with technology after the hotel was restored. He had to do computer data entry and was at a loss. Undeterred, Leslie returned to school. It was difficult but he persevered through the frustrations of learning a new skill and getting used to the new system. Despite the initial hiccups, Leslie persevered and is today as tech-savvy as anyone half his age or even younger.

One of Leslie’s favourite quotes from T S Eliot sums up the essence of his learning philosophy – “We shall never cease from striving. At the end of all our striving will be to arrive where we began and to know the place for the first time”.