Singapore, 5 December 2019 – 300 members from the hospitality sector across 88 hotels gathered at Ramada by Wyndham Singapore at Zhongshan Park today to honour fellow service staff at the 25th edition of the National Kindness Awards- Service Gold 2019. Jointly organised by the Singapore Kindness Movement (SKM) and the Singapore Hotel Association (SHA), this year marks the silver jubilee of the awards as well as the 7th year since the ‘Gracious Guest’ category was inaugurated. The Awards honour service professionals who make extraordinary effort to provide exceptional service to their guests, as well as hotel guests who treat service staff with exceptional graciousness and respect.
A record of 146 Service Gold Awardees and 3 Gracious Guests were presented with awards by the Guest of Honour, Mr Melvin Yong Yik Chye, MP Tanjong Pagar GRC. Recipients were selected by a panel consisting of representatives from the local hotel industry and SKM, based on nominations from fellow colleagues, supervisors and guests. The Gracious Guest award winners were nominated by hotel staff and serves as a reminder that kindness and graciousness go both ways. This reinforces the message that appreciation of kindness plays an important part in encouraging and motivating service.
Among this year’s award recipients is Majaline Faye Abion Tolentino, Club Floor Manager at PARKROYAL on Beach Road. Majaline always demonstrates kindness to everyone and goes the extra mile for her guests. For instance, when a hotel guest just had an upper back surgery and needed assistance with her dressing for 14 days, Majaline stepped up and helped her with her dressing daily, including on her personal day off. Her sincerity and care have deeply impacted the guest’s experience in a positive way.
Another award recipient is Burhan Bin Mohd Salleh, Bell Desk Coordinator at Orchard Rendezvous Hotel by Far East Hospitality. Burhan is a genuine and caring staff who is always there to assist guests at the hotel. On one occasion, Burhan assisted an elderly couple, who in turn, wrote about their experience with Burhan on TripAdvisor. He went above and beyond his job scope to personally guide them to the nearest ATM at 3am instead of providing them with directions as they were tourists who were unfamiliar with the area. Because of this, the guests felt safe and would recommend the hotel to others. Extending such acts of kindness towards one’s guests is praiseworthy and serves as a leading example to everyone in the hospitality industry and beyond.
Hotel guests recognised under the Gracious Guest category included Ivy Ng who stayed with Mandarin Orchard for more than a month. Ivy is a very thoughtful guest, and it shows through her actions. During her stay, she committed the names of all service staff to memory and greets them daily without fail. Ivy gives honest and constructive feedback, along with tips to the staff from a guest’s perspective. To motivate the staff, she also took the time to write compliments for each member of the staff in detail of her experience with their service. Sincere and meaningful acts like this encourages the staff to continue providing stellar service to guests.
To pass on the act of kindness, the awardees were each given a bouquet of Gerbera daisies, which is a symbol of appreciation that has become synonymous with the notion of kindness in Singapore. The awardees are to pass on the flowers to show acts of kindness to those around them.
Dr. William Wan, General Secretary of the Singapore Kindness Movement, said, “In the last 25 years, the Service Gold Award consistently recognises high standards of professionalism in our tourism industry. Kindness is an important driver in service excellence. It requires us to go beyond dutiful service to gracious service.”
He added, “such warm acts of kindness leave a memorable impression of our country to all who experience it. It gives me great joy to witness the progress we have made towards being a hospitable society. We will continue to do their best to create a greater Singapore that embraces everyone with kindness and graciousness.”
Ms Margaret Heng, Executive Director of Singapore Hotel Association commented, “Our service staff play an important role in making Singapore a destination of choice, but the responsibility is not theirs alone. It is the responsibility of the entire nation and we hope that the stories of our winners today will continue to inspire the rest of us to be kinder to one another.”