Contributed by Orchard Hotel’s Director of Human Resources Mr Jon Lim.

Recognising achievements by our team members is always high on the agenda at Orchard Hotel, and we had the privilege to celebrate the retirement of Bell Captain Mr Tay Kim Heng, who had been with the hotel for 37 years.

Mr Tay was honoured for his service at Hua Ting, joined by colleagues and Millennium Hotels and Resorts (MHR), Interim President, Asia, Mr Tan Kian Seng, MHR Vice-President for Human Resources, Asia, Ms Grace Nah, and Orchard Hotel General Manager Mr Jean-Philippe Jacopin.

Mr Tay Kim Heng, otherwise affectionately known as Tay by fellow team members, came onboard as a Bellman in 1982, and has faithfully journeyed with the hotel since. His role does not stop at opening doors for hotel guests and assisting them with their luggage – it also involves building relationships with them and anticipating their needs.

An instance that best exemplifies this was when he helped a secretary in retrieving her bag that was left behind in a taxi she had taken to the hotel. She was attending an event at the hotel which had over 1,500 attendees, and received Mr Tay’s help and shared the positive experience:

“After alighting from the cab and while walking past the hotel lobby, I suddenly realised that my bag which was full of confidential documents was missing. To make matters worse, the event I was attending was starting in less than two hours. Upon seeing my anxiousness, Mr Tay immediately approached me and asked if I needed any assistance. After explaining my situation, he immediately called the taxi company and even managed to track down the driver’s location, with my bag still in the car boot. It was really sheer relief when he assured me that my bag had been found and I’m so thankful for his help and calming reassurances.”

It is experiences like these and heartfelt comments from guests that kept Mr Tay going.