NO STRANGER AMONG MALAYSIAN GOLFING CIRCLES, MAY WONG IS FEELING ALL KINDS OF EXCITED AS SHE DIVES INTO A BRAND NEW CHAPTER AS GENERAL MANAGER OF TROPICANA GOLF & COUNTRY RESORT
By Syama Ramasamy
Though I’ve rubbed shoulders with her on a number of occasions during corporate golf dos, May Wong had always remained sort of a mystery to me – one of the handful of female management figures in the Malaysian golf industry, rose among the thorns, so to speak. She moved with an air of confidence that was always accompanied by an ever-present smile as she effortlessly mingled with peers, her distinct laughter flowing with ease.
And when we met up one afternoon for this interview, I was eager to “unravel the mystery” of May, who in early March took over the reins as Tropicana Golf & Country Resort’s general manager.
Hailing from Georgetown, Penang, May turned out to be an open-book from the get-go, I found out, as we chatted at the club’s The Palm coffeehouse over refreshments, high school recollections and hilarious yarns of college mischief.
“I tell you, we were so nakal. We used to go out to play videogames at the arcades, bowling … then in the early mornings, we would go eat bak kut teh, play mahjong,” laughs May, as she reminisced fondly about her younger days at the coed student house while furthering her studies at Tunku Abdul Rahman College in Setapak, Kuala Lumpur.
“My parents insisted that I study electronic engineering because Penang has so many electronic plants, factories,” reveals May, “but I wasn’t keen in that. I picked materials engineering instead.”
The study of materials at the atomic level, their characteristics and components, wasn’t particularly a popular choice among girls back then, she explained.
“When my mom heard about this, she was, like, ‘Will you be able to find a job with this degree or not?’”
But her mom’s concerns were soon put to rest as May excelled in the field despite her Chinese education background.
“The subjects were all in English, so I had a lot of problems since I’m Chinese-educated,” shares May, one of five siblings. “Everywhere I went I brought along my Oxford dictionary. I had to refer to the dictionary for almost every other word, so it was pretty stressful.”
I couldn’t even begin to fathom the degree of willpower and commitment that would have commanded, not to mention the ability to endure such pressure – the continuous juggle between language deciphering and comprehending each syllabus.
“Soon my other coursemates would come to me to learn what a certain word meant … so much so I became the ‘walking dictionary’ for my class!” she laughs. “It was all quite interesting.”
Upon graduation, May landed her first job as a purchasing assistant with a steel pipe company in Butterworth, much to her parents’ delight who preferred to have May close to home in Penang, away from the “ill influences” of KL city life.
“I had to handle the entire purchasing, including raw materials in relation to the construction of steel pipes, engineering spare parts … screws, nuts, bolts … all the nitty gritty aspects, horse power, and such … I learnt a lot,” shares May, who went on to acquire a certificate in purchasing to bolster her knowledge in the field.
A year later, she moved on to a European consultant company involved in ISO 9000, HACCP and GMP certifications as a corporate services executive, based in KL. “I had always wanted to come back to KL, but my parents were not keen,” she says. “And you know what, my parents refused to speak to me for three days!
“But I had to think about my future. I wanted to broaden my knowledge, and be more exposed to various fields … so finally, I apologised to them, packed my bags, and returned to KL.”
And indeed May was soon exposed to a wider spectrum of fields in her job which was focussed mainly on corporate services, preparing and executing presentations on services offered for factory and quality control managers.
“I had to visit factories, plants,” she recalls. “Oh my god, at the time my hair would be like, wah, huru-hara … so kembang, you know, due to the hot working environments,” she laughs, shaking her head at the memory. “We would go to chilli sauce manufacturing companies and such. I learnt a whole lot during those years.”
May would a few years later join another consulting company, TQC Consultants, based in Penang, where her first assignment was to set up the company’s new office – from scratch.
“I thought I’d make my mom happy as she was always telling me to move back to Penang,” she says, “but then I found out that the new office location was in KL! So I had to scout for a suitable location, recruit the consultants, the staff, the whole works.”
Two-plus years into her stint with TQC, her career would see a substantial shift when the company was engaged as principal consultant to improve occupancy rates of Cinta Sayang Resort in Sungai Petani, clearing the path to a whole new world: hospitality and golf.
So, once again, she packed her bags and off she left for Kedah for the six-month project, which would have her based at the resort throughout the assignment.
“I (along with two other colleagues) had to stay at the hotel, study how it was operated on a daily basis, and strategise ways to draw long-term guests,” recalls May, who helped conceptualise play-and-stay packages, along with membership sales with instalment payment plans, which greatly appealed to the expat community in the area. Her out-of-box solutions and diligence paid dividends, warranting a spot in the client’s good books.
So elated and impressed the folks at Cinta Sayang were that they refused to part ways with the ‘four-leafed clover’ that was May, enticing her with a job instead. “And that’s how I got into the golf industry!”
Months down the road, another job offer came rolling in (after being “spotted” promoting Cinta Sayang’s play-and-stay packages during a roadshow at The Mines); this time Bukit Unggul Country Club came knocking.
In April 2001, May returned to her favourite stomping ground, this time as sales and marketing manager for Bukit Unggul, a place she would call ‘home’ for the next 20 years.
“Things were a lot different back then; there was no social media, not even smartphones. So there was a lot of cold calling involved, aggressive promos and roadshows to reach out to golfers,” recalls May of the challenges faced at the time in order to up the club’s sales revenue.
Her resourcefulness and gritty drive for success once again proved invaluable as the club began to rake in steady profit.
By now May knew the business – every facet of the club – like the back of her hand, and along with her acute business sense, coupled with an innate ability to connect with people of all levels, naturally inspired the decision to hand her the reins of Bukit Unggul as acting club manager in 2009. Along with it came a whole new gamut of challenges for May, on top of overseeing the sales and marketing aspects of the club.
Leaving the comfort zone, her “home” of 20 years, in pursuit of greener pastures, wasn’t an easy call to make, as one could imagine.
“It was really hard … 20 years is a long time. My staff were in tears, I felt so touched. Most of them have been working there since I joined, so they were like my family,” says May fondly, who was the club’s general manager when she decided it was time for the ‘next chapter’.
“I was quite sad. But I also had to think about my life, my career path. I had accomplished a lot there … I was comfortable. But I want more, I want new challenges.”
As the general manager of Tropicana, May’s sights are set on one main goal – to bridge the gap between members and the management so that members’ feedback – good or bad – are always heard, and acted upon. Follow-through is crucial, she asserts.
“Here at Tropicana, they have all the resources you’d need, all the manpower at their finger tips. Everything is in place,” she notes. “The flow of operation is essentially the same; however, expectations are different, naturally, as well as the work culture.”
Her objective ultimately is to make Tropicana the top-of-mind golf club and resort in the state and beyond, shares May – her sleeves all rolled up, ready to tackle the challenges head on.
“My main focus here is to make sure the members are kept happy, and that would in turn get them to invite their friends, more guests coming to the club … patronising our many F&B outlets. At the same time, we must not ignore course condition; we must make sure our course continues to be pristine so golfers can experience truly memorable golf outings every single time.”
Touching on club facilities, Tropicana is bent on customer satisfaction, says May. “We want to provide the best facilities for our members and guests. Hopefully our efforts will pay off with even more patronage,” she adds, disclosing that more enhancement projects are in the pipeline, focussed on the sports wing.
Having only recently joined the club, fostering a close working relationship with the management and staff is right up there on her list of priorities.
“The team here is extremely cooperative, there are no communication barriers. Everything is good, and I’m very happy,” shares May. “I look forward to learning more about the culture here since I’ve only been here a month.”
Corporate goals and new work culture aside, I wondered if it was all work and no play for the bubbly, chatty May, who readily admits that socialising with her peers outside of working hours is one of the best ways to keep abreast with industry scoop, “what’s happening outside of your own bubble”.
“It’s always fun to catch up with old friends, former colleagues,” says May. “The friendships you make along the way … I think that’s one of the best perks of the job.”
She also lets me in on her favourite methods of de-stressing after a long day, some of which include hiking, ping shuai gong, and briskwalking with husband Alex, who oversees the online sales of the family business, a chain of watch shops in hometown Penang.
“I usually go to the Bukit Jalil park for my brisk walks … I can totally relax, take in the greenery, while my husband acts as my bodyguard,” she jokes.
And it turns out I wasn’t the only one desperately craving that overseas holiday with Malaysian borders having been closed for leisure travel since March last year. “I miss travelling so much! In my opinion, we must go on at least one overseas trip every year … doesn’t matter near or far. We must walk to the plane!” she quips, speaking directly to my travel-deprived soul.
As the engrossing chinwag continued that evening amidst plotting an all-girl golf rendezvous – despite me painfully admitting to be the “proud owner” of the sorriest excuse for a golf swing on the planet – it was easy to see why May had been cherry-picked to lead Tropicana.
“Don’t worry-lah. We’ll have a good laugh, it’ll be fun!” May assures me, her warm, infectious laugh resonating through her eyes.
Yup, it was a no-brainer indeed.
