FIRST away from their human counterparts, Jeno and Jena support them by doing repetitive tasks and leaving their colleagues to focus on specialised interactions with guests. “Technology will help us revisit and realign our job scopes: the ordinary tasks to autonomous robots, automated machines, and artificial intelligence will allow human colleagues to work on more complex tasks and interact face-to-face with guests,” Sekercioglu said.
ultra rich’s wealth transfer habits
When Singapore’s high net worth individuals, or HNWIs, were asked whether they have a full wealth transfer plan in place, only around a fifth answered in the affirmative, notably lower than the Asia-wide average of around a third. In fact, Singapore’s HNWIs are the least prepared when it comes to having comprehensive wealth transfer plans amongst all Asian countries surveyed, according to RBC Wealth Management’s new Asia Pacific Wealth Transfer Report. This rings alarm bells for wealth management experts who warn that simply having a will in place may no longer be adequate preparation for HNWIs. Tho Gea Hong, head of wealth management Southeast Asia at RBC Wealth Management, explained that with HNW families spreading their wings to take advantage of opportunities around the world, their wealth may be spread across multiple jurisdictions or they may have inheritors living in different countries. This tends to complicate the transfer of wealth since transferring crossborder assets is not as straightforward as onshore assets. “Many are delaying putting in place a proper plan as it is not as straightforward and they do not have precedent knowledge on how to structure it. Some also avoid it as they do not want to think about their eventual demise.”said Hong. The report also noted that a higher percentage of HNW Singaporeans—60% compared to 36% in Asia—also have no conditions attached to the transfer of wealth. Hong said Singapore’s relatively high percentage mirrors more closely to the West, where 74% of families do not have any conditions attached to the transfer of wealth. Singapore respondents also do not make the next generation aware of their wishes and plans for transferring their wealth. Hong said this could leave Singaporean heirs “somewhat adrift” when the time comes to transfer wealth, so early discussions often prove beneficial. 8
SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | MARCH 2018
Jeno is equipped with advanced sensors that allow him to navigate the hotel corridors without stumbling
Robots at your service in Singapore hotels
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hen guests met Jeno and Jena, the newest staff at two Hotel Jen properties in Singapore, they found the service to be efficient and surprisingly pleasant—a compliment that would have made the employees blush, if only they were not one-metre-tall autonomous robots. “The robot is friendly and a nice surprise when guests are being received at the door,” said Cetin Sekercioglu, executive vice president of Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts, which manages the Hotel Jen brand. “It appeals to our guests as the robots’ characters are created such that they’re not only a team member but also friendly, helpful, and hardworking.” Jeno and Jena can ride the lift, bring meals any time of the day, and make room calls to alert guests when they arrive with their deliveries. Advanced sensors also mean they do not stumble en route to their destinations. It was a welcome bonus that the robots also promised to boost worker productivity and shave costs in the long run. Sekercioglu argued that instead of taking work
Jeno and Jena can ride the lift, bring meals any time of the day, and make room calls to alert guests when they arrive with their deliveries.
Bots at your service Aside from Jeno and Jena, other Singapore hotels have also rolled out their robotic staff last year. M Social Singapore offers robot butler service and its AUSCA restaurant has a robot chef that cooks perfect eggs. Meanwhile, Park Avenue Rochester Hotel has a robot bellhop and housekeeper duo. Yotel Singapore and Sofitel Singapore City Centre were also reported to be fielding interactive robots with delivery and butler functions in the near future. Singapore hotels are fielding robots not only for their task precision but also for the novelty factor to attract the millions of additional inbound tourists set to visit the city-state over the next decade. In 2017, Singapore was the fourth most visited city in the world with 16.6 million visitors, and is expected to overtake London as the third-most visited city in the world by 2025, according to Euromonitor International’s Top 100 City Destinations Rankings. When asked about the future of robotics in the hotel industry, Sekercioglu said it can only get better from this point, especially as robots expand their functionality in the coming years.
Jena can interact with guests and make room deliveries