Inside a function room at the Hilton Kuala Lumpur, aviation magnate and “The Apprentice Asia” host Tan Sri Tony Fernandes is regaling a small group of regional journalists with his collection of success stories—some funny, others heartwarming, and each one wholly inspiring.
With his credentials, we have to admit that the thought of talking to him face to face had been unnerving at first. After all, he has been chosen as Donald Trump’s Asian counterpart in the TV show pegged as “The Ultimate Job Interview.”
It takes us a while to digest that we are actually doing the interviewing, not him; soon, the Malaysian tycoon’s warm, jovial demeanor puts all of us right at ease and, by the time the session ends, it becomes clear why everyone wants to be his “Apprentice.”
Most people know him as the man who had managed to turn a debt-ridden airline company into AirAsia, hailed as “the world’s best low-cost carrier.” Looking at his curriculum vitae, we learn that he once worked for Virgin Records and Warner Music before his dreams of owning an airline company took flight.
In just two years, Fernandes and his partners paid off the airline’s 40-million-ringgit debt and eventually opened up a new avenue for regional budget travel. Currently, his business ventures run the whole gamut—from sports to hotel chains to other modes of transportation.
He even has his own Formula One team, which had actually played a pivotal part in Virgin Group boss Sir Richard Branson’s recent stint as an AirAsia flight attendant for a day. The British tycoon had lost a wager in 2010 when his F1 team finished two places behind Fernandes’. He finally got to honor his bet—shaved legs, pencil skirt and all—during a special Perth-Kuala Lumpur flight, which will help raise donations for the Starlight Children’s Foundation in Australia.
TV boss
Now, Fernandes can add “reality TV host” to his long list of achievements. Initially, he resisted the idea of accepting the producers’ proposal, a courtship that took two years to realize. “I’m glad they persevered, because I enjoyed it,” he says. “I love meeting people; I love seeing young people have a vision.”
How different is he as a TV boss from real life? “I think I was pretty much myself. Maybe there were times that I was probably more of an asshole than I would be in reality because the show required it,” he admits, drawing laughter.
He has nothing but praise for all 12 candidates, who come from professionally and culturally diverse backgrounds. While he and his equally capable advisors—Tune Hotels CEO Mark Lankester and Expedia Asia CEO Kathleen Tan, both of whom he’s closely worked with for years—had no part in the candidate selection process, the final decision was ultimately left to Fernandes.
“The producers influence you, but I have to work with this person. I want to make sure they’re successful, so no one can tell me who to hire,” he says.
“Many people doubt the results, but I can guarantee you, this one’s real, independently made, free and fair. Well, free and fair according to me. You can watch the show and say, ‘Oh, wrong decision, Tony!’ but it’s my decision. That’s my picture there,” he grins, gesturing to the poster behind him.
Entrepreneurial renaissance
Starting self-owned ventures may be daunting for Third World countries like the Philippines, where there are a lot of great young minds with great ideas but don’t have the money or the means to make their dreams come true. Fernandes, however, chooses to see that reality with a glass-half-full perspective.
“If you look at the greatest entrepreneurs, they didn’t have much money to start off in the first place. It’s amazing what you can get with drive,” says Fernandes, who had bought his airline at a mere 1 ringgit, and pooled all his resources to rebuild it from scratch. “They’ve had to work their way up, because they’re the best and they’ve had to strive harder to succeed in life. So, yes, it’s hard.
“But, like this show, that’s what separates the men from the boys—the cream always rises to the top. And as long as there’s an environment to facilitate entrepreneurship, entrepreneurs will find a way.
“Last week, I was walking in a shopping mall in KL, and this girl who was selling takoyaki looked at me and screamed, ‘I was an entrepreneur because of you! I applied for the show but I didn’t get in.’ And she had this file with all my articles and my book. It was great for me that she started this small business… And at that point I thought, ‘I’m glad I did this show,’” he recalls fondly.
“Asia, Southeast Asia especially, is going through a renaissance. I think the entrepreneur is critical for the development of the economies, and you’re going to see a lot more people who want to be entrepreneurs and have the ability to be entrepreneurs. So it’s actually this kind of show which hopefully will motivate many people to go out there and be more entrepreneurial.”
New insight
The candidates are not the only ones who have gained new insight about themselves while doing the show. “It’s hard to fire people. One of the reasons I didn’t want to do this show initially was because I thought I wasn’t hard enough. I would’ve made this show too much like a Disneyland program. But, it certainly made me harder—it’s certainly easier to fire people in AirAsia now!” he says with a chuckle.
“Is that a good or a bad thing?” we ask, bemused. “I think it’s a good thing, because it is one of my character flaws… Anyone who’s working for me would say that I loved to give people chances, and I still do,” he muses. “I think a lot of Western companies give up on people too quickly, but I think it’s also not fair to the organization if you keep a lot of people who can’t perform. I’m famous for moving people from AirAsia to Tune Hotel to another one of my companies because I have faith in people that, given the time, they can come through. But you reach a point where you gotta let ’em go.”
Will he be onboard for season two? “Let’s see. If people like the show, and if we make a difference with young people, then I would definitely do it because if it’s one thing I can be proud of in my life, it’s hopefully to inspire people to say, ‘I can do it.’ It is hard to start a business, but if people see live examples of it happening, then they’ll say, ‘I’m gonna try to be like Tony Fernandes or other people on the show.’”
Best anecdote
He wraps up our interview with what is probably his best anecdote of the day. “When I was 12, I was given a box with my life’s possessions. My best friend called me up six months ago and said ‘Tony, I found your tack box in my garage. Do you want it back?’ and I said yes. It was very emotional for me because I saw there were three stickers on the box that represented my dreams, what I wanted to do with my life.
“There was an airline sticker, because I’d always wanted to own an airline; I love planes. Another one was a Formula One sticker, and now we have a Formula One team. Then there was a West Ham United Football Club sticker; now, we have the Queens Park Rangers. So I thought, ‘I’ve got my dreams—my three dreams.’
“And inside were music cassettes, so it was my life! And I’m very proud to say that all the cassettes inside were original cassettes,” he adds, comically raising his eyebrows.
The show, the hardships and the results are very real, much like the motivational stories from the man we’ve had the absolute privilege of meeting before the rest of the world catches up. After working hard to achieve his dreams, he now has the pleasure of watching young people’s dreams take flight. And he’s got the best seat in the house.
“I think it’s great that you can have dreams and inspire dreams,” he says earnestly. “I want people to hear my story so everyone can say, ‘I can do it, there’s nothing special about Tony Fernandes.’ And that’s what’s great about this show—that it can reach a lot of people.”
So, where do we sign up for season two?
“The Apprentice Asia” airs every Wednesday, 9:05 p.m., and starting June 12, 9 p.m., only on AXN.