Ep 80 : In Conversation - Felix Loh, CEO, Gardens By The Bay
Summary
Executive Director, David Kelly, interviews Felix Loh, CEO of Gardens By The Bay, a national garden and premier horticultural attraction for local and international visitors, spanning three distinctive waterfront gardens.
Together they discuss how the Gardens have progressed since its inception, its agenda on sustainability and supporting Net Zero & Carbon Neutral programmes, how they have stepped up measures during COVID-19, and what we can look forward to welcoming in the near future.
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"Our forefather Lee Kuan Yew had that foresight at that time, about 50 years ago, to reclaim this piece of land levied by law, and then at the right opportunity to activate it." Felix Loh, CEO, Gardens by the Bay [click to Tweet this quote]
Episode Resources
Connect with Felix Loh on LinkedIn
Find out more about Gardens by the Bay
Grant Associates' design project - Gardens by the Bay
Episode Transcript
David Kelly: Hello, and welcome to our latest edition of in conversation with me, David Kelly. This is the series that provides our members and our wider podcast listeners with access to amazing business leaders to hear more about their insights and experiences. And today we have a treat for you. Today's conversation is with the CEO of Gardens by the Bay here in Singapore, a national garden and premier horticultural attraction for local and international visitors spanning three distinctive waterfront gardens. Bay South, incorporating its award-winning conservatories and iconic supertrees, Bay East, a green space open to the public with stunning views of Singapore, and Bay Central, a garden which will serve as a link between Bay South and East when developed with a three-kilometre waterfront promenade, boasting even more stunning views of this amazing city.
My guest began his career in the National Parks Board, then the Ministry of National Development has more than 20 years of experience in parks management, horticulture and landscape industry development as well as policy development. Prior to joining Gardens by the Bay, he served as the Senior Director of Corporate Development and oversaw the corporate functions of the Ministry of National Development, including finances, states engagement and partnerships, human resource knowledge management, and IT. He's the Deputy Honorary Secretary of the Singapore National Employers Federation and a member of the Council of the tripartite working group on lower-wage workers as well. He's also co-chair of the tripartite cluster for the landscape industry, and tripartite cluster for waste management. Wow, what an amazing introduction. A very warm welcome to Mr Felix Lowe. Felix, thank you so much for joining us today.
Felix Loh: Thank you, David, for all those flattering remarks. I didn't know that I have so many papers, but at heart, I'm a horticulturist by training. So in other words, I'm just a farmer. But it's a pleasure for me to be here. Thank you for inviting me.
David Kelly: Brilliant to have you with us today. So let's get started. You joined Gardens by the Bay just three years after they opened the gates to the public in 2014. This must have been a really hugely exciting time for you. Can you tell our listeners a little bit about those first few years as the gardens were in their infancy?
Felix Loh: I started out as a horticulturist by training, I studied horticulture because I didn't want to do the mainstream subjects like being a doctor or an engineer. Those days as well, everybody, every parent's one of the kids. I wanted to do something with greenery. I remember my dad never spoke to me when I told him I wanted to do horticulture in a very beautiful country called New Zealand. I thoroughly enjoyed my four years there, I came back, I started at the National Parks Board, then lo and behold, something's happened. I have a back injury, which makes it a little bit difficult for me to do an operational role. So my NCO, Dr Tan, who is the founding CEO of Gardens by the Bay, coincidentally decided that maybe I do HR, human resource, something more administrative, and in a way in his mind is treating people is the same as we treat plants, with tender loving care. So I went to HR in Korea, and that brought me to a few other places. And then at the age of maybe about 40ish plus, my boss in the Ministry of National Development, which owns Gardens by the Bay, saw that I have a horticultural degree in my main card. Then he thought that I must know something about plants. At that time Dr Tan was about to retire. So the first few years when I joined him was really one of the best years of my so-far career, I had the opportunity to learn from really a guru. Dr. Tan had this great dream to dormer the whole of Singapore because I think he's, by the way, he spent a bit of time in America before coming back. And of course, you know, one of the things in Singapore is our humidity and the heat. And so if you go to Botanic Gardens, you will notice a small dome they recently just opened and a large one. And so he all along had this dream to build a dome. And he wanted to bring the most beautiful thing we see overseas. So the first few years we actually spent a great deal of time travelling around the world. Looking for interesting plants by all history from Europe. The Jubail palm is you see inside our domes are from South America, in Chile. So I spend quite a fair bit of time, I would want to say enjoy myself on air, but my wife will be upset because I spent a lot of time out of the country! Learning a lot of things from both the time and Dr Tan himself.
And the first few years, I must say, Gardens by the Bay at that time was not that well known. I remember though, I always bring a laptop or iPad with me, and then I show them images and these funny looking trees and they were wondering, is it real? But of course, I always joke that now is a different scene when I go anywhere and I tell them about Gardens by the Bay and they want to show me the best plants to add. This will look good in your Gardens. So I guess we have grown somewhat from the days of our initial founding. But of course, I also want to take this opportunity on air to thank all our listeners or supporters, both local and overseas. Without your support, I think Gardens by the Bay would not be where we are, we grew from about 1-2 million visitorship a year. Every year we welcome 2 more million visitors, so in our eighth year it was 14 million visitors before COVID hit us, and without the support of our foreign friends, we will not be where we are. Of course, we are also very grateful to social media. Because I think all the social media at that start of the Garden in 2012 coincided with the rise of Facebook and our photogenic supertrees may sell around the world so much so that Crazy Rich Asians decided to film the final scene of the wedding at our place. I'll never forget that I was the one actually taking "action" on one of the scenes. Never mind which one, but I was grateful to play a part. And with all this support, we are now where we are. So I just want to register my thanks.
David Kelly: Really amazing, and amazing with the visitor numbers as well as before COVID. I'm a big fan of Lee Kuan Yew. and he had the vision for the Garden City I think in 1967, to transform Singapore into a city with abundant lush greenery and a clean environment in order to make life more pleasant for people living here in Singapore. It must feel really special for you as the Chief Executive of Gardens by the Bay delivering on his vision because it really is delivering against that and his view, isn't it?
Felix Loh: I like the way you say, it is true. I had the great honour before he passed away to show him a few times personally around the Gardens. And indeed it was his vision. The founding of the Gardens was actually started way back in about 2004/5. If I bring everyone back in time, those of us living memories of the SARS episode, something like right now after that this seems to be a longer drawn episode than SARS and at that time the country was getting our recovery. And it was his vision that besides building our neighbour, the first tenant in this Marina Bay Area, and for the listeners out there who may not be in Singapore, we are situated right in downtown Singapore on a piece of reclaimed land. Our forefather Mr Lee Kuan Yew had that foresight at that time, about 50 years ago, to reclaim this piece of land levied by law, and then at the right opportunity to activate it. And so the first tenant was my neighbour, Marina Bay Sands. But of course, he also didn't want visitors in future coming to Singapore thinking that we are all mercantile and all about money, because actually, that's not what his vision is, you know that he started the Garden City vision and we succeeded in a city in a garden, and now a city in Asia as we transform. And so he wanted to build a garden, just like Central Park in New York. And that's how we started. And it was because of his vision and I think generations, and we give thanks for that vision, and that now Singaporeans can come, and you by yourself can come for a run just like Central Park.
David Kelly: It's absolutely wonderful to hear. If we could just turn around the construction and the sustainability elements because I know there's some really major parts there. It would be remiss of me not to mention that in 2006, there was an international competition for the design of the park, attracting more than I think, 70 entries by 170 firms from 24 countries, but it was two British firms. I think Grant Associates and Gustafson Porter were awarded the contracts for the Bay South and the Bay East gardens, which is fantastic. What was it about those proposals which really caught the imagination of the Parks Board at the time? What was it that really inspired you with their designs?
Felix Loh: Yes, I think the brief was given to it and that competition attracted more than 170 firms from 24 countries to participate because I guess at that time as I say it was post-SARS, so everyone was interested in doing a project. And I think Singapore at that time were bold enough to put all that forward as part of the kickstart recovery. We wanted to put something very iconic, so in the brief given to the designers, there were three aspects we were looking for. One was that it has to be iconic, it had to add value because I'm always constantly reminded by my senior people that I'm actually a CEO of a prime piece of real estate, an expensive piece of real estate, and then they could have used it to turn in a mall and so on so forth, but they decided to choose a garden instead. So it has to add value. That's point number one. But more importantly, the second brief that was given that it has to be something endearing to Singaporeans, because, actually now a lot of people say we are a tourist attraction, but actually the original brief given was that it has to be a people's garden. It has to represent the 50 years of Garden City know-how that we are well known for, like our parks and greenery, biodiversity, skyrise greenery, all these elements have to be encapsulated into this garden we're going to build.
And of course, the third one is sustainability. Actually, I'm reminded that Mr Lee, even before the word sustainability came to fashion today, 50 years ago when you read the early writings he was thinking about sustainability, not in that word, but he was constantly thinking of how wildlife could be conserved, and to greenery, and so on and so forth. And so sustainability in every aspect of the word, which I think later we'll talk more about that, but also in financial sustainability, because a lot of the parks elsewhere, they usually subsist on government grants, and so on and so forth. But unfortunately to me, it's my first time that I have a P&L, I've got to make ends meet. And so we wanted to make sure that whatever the designer's footfall will be also sustainable financially. So, Grant Associates has now become a great friend, and we are indebted to the British for coming forth with this wonderful design, the two conservatories and the Supertrees, which has now become very iconic. I heard they are now very popular in China, with every Chinese firm asking them to do this and that to rival Singapore. And I think the jury at that time unanimously felt I think that Bay South represents what I call the active part of the garden, whereas I think Bay East's design is more the passive part for contemplating, to just stay there and look at the skyline. I think Bay South was all along meant to be active. And I think Grant Associates did not disappoint. I think at that time they were looking at, I remember the first submission they were looking at a steady state of about 8 million visitors a year. But today is 14 million. So we are indebted to their iconic designs. And in a downtown setting the use of colour and vibrancy to attract people who may not - and I'm reminded about my background right now with all the pretty flowers - people who may not be interested in plants, or sustainability, but hoping that when they come here, they get wowed by all this and then start their green journey with us. And I think if you ask me, that purpose in a way has been achieved, looking back at the nine-year journey we have had so far.
David Kelly: I can agree with you, it still takes my breath away going into the cloud forest and walking through a cloud and then at the end of the journey understanding the environmental impacts that the world has on itself and that the people have on it. Just turning to the conservatory complex, that's the Flower Dome and the Cloud Forest. They are intended to be energy efficient and showcase sustainable building technologies. I'm really interested in this and I think our listeners will be as well, can you explain a little more about the amazing tech and the systems in place to help minimize their environmental footprint?
Felix Loh: I guess in Singapore we don't have natural resources. I mean, we don't have an oil supply here constantly. Energy has always been a key consideration in any development, not just for Gardens by the Bay, but even for the city, our building construction quality constantly promotes energy-efficient buildings, and using solar panels on top of rooftops, so there has been a prevailing policy trust of the Singapore government. So when we built Gardens by the Bay, that was then 15 years ago, we wanted to make sure that being a garden being green doesn't necessarily mean green unless you put some thought into it. And so I think we got it because as well as with Andrew Grant of Grant Associates, we spent many hours going through these aspects. So take, for example, the two conservatories, we wanted to make sure that because I guess we had, at that time, arrogance and confidence that one day, it will be a showcase for many people. We wanted to make sure that we don't waste an opportunity to innovate, educate and inform people. So we took a bold step, and it's the only facility in Singapore that we do not take electricity off the grid. In fact, we have biomass underneath our conservatories. Singapore is a garden city, so our trees, island-wide, grow quite fast and every evening you will see lorry loads of cut branches. So we have to trim our branches islandwide. And they'll bring it all down to our biomass, which is underneath our conservatories, to burn it and generate electricity, and to use this to show the circular economy and how that carbon cycle can be completed in a loop. And we bring many kids to it and explain to them the importance of that. That is one aspect of it.
But of course, in the design of the conservatories, there are other tweaks, for example, the glass that you see is actually a coated piece of glass, which reflects off infrared, which will generate heat, and only the actual light that is useful for plants gets transmitted through. But that's not visible to the eye. Then, the cooling. A lot of people say that air conditioners really use a lot of energy. But actually not, in the entire conservatory, cooling is only used in the first one and a half meters for pedestrian comfort. In fact, the plants sometimes get a bit confused because the lower level is actually cool. But at the highest level actually, there's a normal temperature. So we use energy judiciously to ensure that we don't overuse it. And of course, next, the Supertrees, essentially, which we'll talk about later, mimic living trees, and explain the process of photosynthesis. Because we think the children are our future clientele and they want to own the home. So I think we have more than just being an attraction in itself. We are also an Education Center. And hopefully, we do our part as a responsible citizen of the international community.
David Kelly: That's wonderful. And the 5o film at the end of the Cloud Forest is really quite inspirational. It's brilliant that you're providing that educational platform as well. It's also quite amusing that the plants are confused at different levels because of the temperatures. You mentioned the Supertrees. They are a really special part of the Gardens and for many reasons. Not only are they very pretty, but also they perform a multitude of functions, don't they, including working as environmental engines for the gardens? Can you tell us a little bit more about some of those technologies that mimic the ecological function of real trees? Because I think there's this really nice story in there around what they actually do.
Felix Loh: The Supertrees are a special part of the Gardens, like what you say, for many reasons. When the idea was first mooted, it was I wouldn't say controversial is the word but it was actually quite debated by various people. Some say it was a bit gimmicky because Singapore is well known as a Garden City and was moving towards nature. And so in the wide view, you have the official construct of a tree, but we were quite conscious of the fact that if you come to our Supertree Grove, you'll know that we have a lot of palms, some of these are natives, some of them are from South America, and they will eventually grow to maybe almost a height of the Supertrees. But we were very conscious that it will take another 20-30 years for them to reach that high. And you know, Singapore is quite flat. So I think the designers were very conscious to have something vertical, that people can associate with and then also use as an educational tool. And so the Supertrees itself make a real tree in the sense that you would think about it. The trees function is that they have leaves that photosynthesize, converting energy to food. And we have that in the form of a solar panel, right on top of 7 of the 18 Supertrees we have, and in fact, the energy generated from the solar panels is enough to power the lights at night or for the Supertrees that are available.
And then there's also this thing about living green scheme. And so we actually use the Supertrees. And if I remember in 2006 and 2007 I first started there is actually a kickstart campaign in Singapore on vertical and skyrise greenery. And of course, today when you come to Singapore, you will see many of the buildings, I mean the same living green scheme and growing plants on rooftops and on balconies. And I would like to think that the Supertrees in a way share that thinking that people see that - oh, actually, it's possible to grow something higher. A lot of people are amazed that our bougainvillaeas were grown from the ground. And of course, we are aided by the fact that we are in the tropics, you can grow 25 meters up and reach for the sky. And then of course, finally, we actually also use a superfood to collect rainwater that comes down, as well as the exhaust from the biomass. Of course, our gases are treated before they go out. So in a way, it mimics the reverse of photosynthesis, giving all the air, so all these are depicted in the educational time posting when you come to visit the Supertrees. And of course, you know, the Supertrees at night, they become a magical fantasy land. There's a light and music show and, and so on and so forth. And we usually before COVID have about 5,000 people gather every night at that place. And so as I said, again, that's the education opportunity to educate 5,000 people on the function of trees and the importance of them.
David Kelly: It's really very interesting to hear that. The UK is holding or hosting the Conference of the Parties, or COP26, later this year. And last year, the Minister for Trade and Industry here in Singapore, Mr Chan Chun Sing, commented on Singapore becoming the Bright Green Spark at the Singapore International Energy Week. It's a really important time and we as a Chamber are really behind the sustainability agenda. We've got a Road to Net Zero programme, we ourselves are carbon neutral as an organization, it feels like Gardens by the Bay is the perfect vehicle to help influence, shape, educate not just the younger generations you mentioned, but also adults as well that really enjoy the space, to get them thinking about the impact of the rest of the world, is that fair to say? And do you have any additional plans to support the COP26 agenda later this year?
Felix Loh: Yes, I think you are aware that it's a well-known fact that more than 50% of our population stay in cities. So city living is a big thing going up to 70%. So I think we are currently now working on a plan. I think what is unique about Gardens by the Bay is that this is right in the urban city. This is not some tropical rainforest, in the tropical urban environment, we still can make it work. So we have a once in a lifetime opportunity. I think that I earlier shared the vision is to be like Central Park. And so there will be skyscrapers always coming all around us. So in fact, currently we are internally discussing when some of these developers come in, we want to work with them, and to see how we work together on various aspects of energy, biodiversity or waste management, and water recycling.
The gardens has two lakes. And there is a water stream that runs through it. In fact, it's a water recycling system - water gets pumped in, gets treated through using plants, filtered and then pumped back into our Marina Bay reservoir. So it actually plays a huge part in the ecosystem. And then, of course, if you come here in the morning, we get a lot of bird enthusiasts coming to take pictures of birds. And you know, Singapore is part of the transmigratory pathway from Siberia all the way to Australia and birds fly down. And in fact, we have recorded more than 20-30 species of this coming as a stopover. I guess they're not influenced by COVID. But they come here and stop over here. And the selling point is that within five minutes of downtown, one can come into the city and enjoy the original Eden. So we are quite excited and we want to play that role of original Eden and show to the world that gardens and cities can coexist in a way, and so now you know the Singapore plan to be a city of nature. So we are also looking at biodiversity, we are looking at, for example, mangroves. So we are involved in some of these studies with institutions. And hopefully, we can bring the commercial operators around us on board.
David Kelly: Really good. Obviously, it'd be silly not to mention that the national flower of Singapore is the orchid and there are lots of orchids across the complexes. How do you operationally curate the next show, like the cherry blossoms?
Felix Loh: I think, first of all, I'm grateful to my team of horticulturalists, they are amazing people. As you know, this is a tropical place. And so I actually think, it's probably the world's only reverse greenhouse. Meaning most of the houses that you see overseas, even in Kew Gardens are warm houses. Ours is a cold house. So a lot of the plants we are dealing with are temperate plants, plants that I think our local horticulture is also learning. Of course, I had that slight advantage because I'm educated in New Zealand and to know some of these things. The Cherry Blossom was actually three years of hard work by my research team. We were experimenting with different temperature controls to make it grow the first time around we did it, it wasn't bloomed and some of the flowers aborted because it was not cold enough. We've got to get the temperature set right. We also experiment with day length, I think in your country you will be very familiar, in the summertime, it's a long day. Whereas in Singapore it's a constant twelve-hour day. So these are some of the issues that our small research team, unfortunately, I don't have the luxury of a big research team because as I said, it's a company. So they spend a lot of time thinking about what's the next big thing. After cherry blossoms, we are trying to grow the roses that I see that you guys have, David Austin roses. So we have a small team of people constantly looking now at the Four Seasons autumn colour. I think that one maybe is for the next CEO, I probably cannot achieve it with current technology because it's quite a complex process, unlike flowering as a single process, autumn colours are multiple processes of photosynthesis and degradation. But we are always looking for things like that, you may think we are crazy, partly because we are not blessed with all seasons like your country. So in Singapore, we've got to use our small little brain and try to make it work for our guests. Of course, traditionally, that has been our strength. So we do our show every August National Day. But also, we discover that when people come to Singapore they expect to see orchids and you are aware we have the National Orchid Garden at Botanical Gardens. So we are telling them why don't you go to Botanical Gardens, so we expand our gate collection. And our differentiating part with the Botanical Gardens is I guess, they have tropical orchards, and they also have some temperate but for us, because we have the cold as well as the hot, that's the outside. We do a lot of research work on breeding works on trying to breed the warm tropical orchids with the cold orchids. And so that the hybrid that we come up with hopefully can transverse the entire space of either running them in a tropical environment or in the climate. So these are some of the niche area value adds that I think a unique place like Gardens by the Bay can play.
David Kelly: Amazing. So you're creating new variants of plants as well. That's really exciting.
Felix Loh: Oh, yeah, we try. So far, we've had a few hits and misses. But we hope that we've sustained a few and we hopefully can have a make of a Singapore orchid that can be grown in a temperate place like yours.
David Kelly: I think it's absolutely amazing to try and reverse engineer and try and do it in a different way. I think it's absolutely brilliant, fantastic R&D.
It would be difficult for me not to mention COVID. And everybody's a bit sick of it. But you know, it will have had an impact in terms of your visitor numbers. I guess just a couple of questions into this. I'm really interested as you as the Chief Exec, how did you navigate it as an organization, but also how have you adapted your offering? And have you looked at different ways to incorporate digital into a solution for people? How do you get people connected with Gardens by the Bay?
Felix Loh: I guess I've answered this question before. So I won't say it's a well-rehearsed answer. But I'm a horticulturist by training, so I didn't go to MBA school. I also know nothing about change management, in fact, I'm sure the organizations now are going through change management every day. Because COVID throws out new variants every day and every day is a new scenario. Now it's a visitor lockdown and then we have to pivot to the domestic audience. And then when lockdown ends and borders open, we have to see how we coexist with a foreign crowd. So every day has been change management. But I guess as a horticulturist I think we have some advantage. We like plants and in a way, plants give us hope. So it's always about selling hope, the pretty flowers that you see give people a cheer, a smile on their face and give them hope. So I have a great team who are equally hopeful like me. But I must say that it has not been easy when the crisis first struck us, because the reality is that half of our visitorship of 14 million just before COVID struck came from foreign visitors. And of course, they sustain our business. In fact, I always say that I'm grateful to our foreign fans because they essentially are our payload, they sustain the plants that we put and every one of us when the lockdown came over in Singapore and turned the circuit breaker in April last year, we were forced to close so the outdoor gardens were open, but then the indoor conservatories, which is the gated part, have to close for about I think three months, and then suddenly revenue comes to zero. All my 7 million foreign guests evaporated.
And so we had to very quickly try to do what other local attractions do, cater to a local audience clientele. I will not say it is a big change for us. Because as I say, you remember my starting line was that we started as a people's garden, our main audience is Singaporeans, we want to bring the scenes that we see overseas for Singaporeans. So Singaporeans already associate with us. So we were grateful during this time. In fact, my loyalty programme, my Friends of the Gardens, supported us, they continue to renew their membership. They know that we were in hard times, they know that they can't come but eventually, they can. So we are grateful for that. We also hosted a few of our so-called free public programmes like our festivals. Every Chinese New Year we have a Chinese New Year show outdoors free, then mid-autumn, we have our lanterns, Christmas, we have our Christmas lights, we continued at this, it was not easy, because, with safe management and capacity control, it was quite hard. We have to work with the organizers as well as authorities to try to make sure it's a safe experience, and everyone that comes to Gardens by the Bay can go safely. Because the number of COVID cases actually is a function of how many people go to a place, right. And so suddenly, having so many people at my place is also in a way, a concern. So our visitor attraction operations team, they were in overdrive, in fact, because some of the functions were shut down. For example, in our retail stores, because there are no more tourists, I had to shut them down. And then there was also this issue of trying to redeploy them. I guess being horticulturalists, we believe in patience. We believe that there are seasons in life.
So one of the very early decisions we make is that we don't want to retrench anyone because that was also one of the options many attractions had to face. But we were grateful the government gave us some grants. But then, of course, I think a lot of our staff were doing the admin, the retail, suddenly they are redundant, but we had them go in the fields. And actually, I was very amazed at their resilience. They rolled up their sleeves. And I remember, the first day everybody was perspiring because they're not used to working in the fields. But then today, they are still there, and they are now enjoying it. So I've got a new group of converts that love gardening, and they are telling their friends. So I think in all this, the rallying spirit of the Gardens is amazing.
I also want to talk about the systems, besides the people, we also have to come up with new systems trying to facilitate entry. In the past, we never have to have a time-issued entry system. Now people have to book a time slot. I don't think we are unique, I think the Gardens and anywhere else now with a gated space, we'll have to stagger the entry times. And we also don't want people to be exchanging pieces of paper. So now everything has to be contactless, everything has to be on the handphone. So digital technology is big. And so we suddenly overnight have to ramp up our IT team and get them to come up with a new digital app or software to facilitate the new normal. Then of course processes-wise, when during the circuit breaker period we couldn't get physical visitors, like everyone else we pivoted to virtual. And that helps us also win the new audience, people who may be more armchair and they don't want to travel, and they Google and find our programmes interesting. And then you continue online workshops on gardening with us. So these are some of the various things that I think that 200 colleagues of mine have rallied together, like everyone else, and, tried to emerge together as a team.
David Kelly: It's a really nice metaphor, though, around the resilience of plants and adapting their environment and what you've done with your team to help keep them all enthusiastic and learn. I think that's absolutely amazing. I think that's really, really great leadership, Felix, it's amazing to hear that. So without dwelling too much on what's going on, I think we're all looking into the future. What can we expect, coming from the gardens? And what are you most looking forward to, is there any insights in terms of what's coming up?
Felix Loh: I guess all of us in the attraction space are all looking for the borders to open. And then we can travel again, of course, all of us. And then of course, people can come in again. But I guess we have to manage our expectations, because with the vaccines now being progressive, hopefully, it will come sooner rather than later. But we still think that this will be still some time away. And we probably will not enter the post-COVID world the same way as we left it. I think some things will change. For example, I talked about the use of digital technology, I think people would expect because of the volume, we probably cannot use a volume base with lots of crowds and people coming in. So you will have to use technology to span out the crowd. And then people can make online bookings and they must use safe distancing. And there's a health passport that you are in a group of people. So some of these things I think as a country among attractions, I think this is some of the things we have to look at.
The other thing is that I guess because we will still probably have about a year or so where travel will be restricted, the Gardens by the Bay is very conscious that as people can travel, it is our job to try to bring things in for people to see. So this is why we insisted on doing the Sakura show, the cherry blossom, even though it's actually the first time and it's reported in the press that in fact, there are a lot of hiccups. Now if you try to do border supply of goods, in fact, our one shipment of cherry blossoms got stuck in Rotterdam. We couldn't get them in but that's a blessing in disguise then it has an extended period. That's why the cherry blossom this year is six weeks instead of the usual three weeks. But there will be some issues but we make hard decisions that we want to continue doing some of these things. And so in the next month, you will be seeing a brand new exhibition. We bring in Orient Express, of course, which will run all the way extended to September, then I think it just came out in the press you'll be seeing the Dale Chihuly glass sculptures. I think Kew Gardens have hosted exhibitions with him before and the American gardens. He is synonymous with garden pieces. And so you would be seeing them I think come end of April. They were hanging a few pieces in our Cloud Forest for us, just like what they do in the greenhouses in UK. So I think that will be quite exciting because I think people can't travel to America, so this is this one thing.
We are also going to do a few pop-up exhibitions. We are now in talks with several players including Walt Disney and National Geographic to try to bring some of these exhibitions in so that the locals will be able to experience some of these shows. Just before COVID struck we were nearing about 90% on full capacity of our Domes. So in fact we have several drawn up plans to activate new avatar kind of gated attractions. But unfortunately, COVID will set us back. But we are now looking to see how we can find the right timing to reactivate some of these things. All the focus we are talking about so far is around the Bright Green Spark, and you are right in saying that Gardens by the Bay in Mr. Lee Kuan Yew's original vision was actually three gardens. Bay South is actually the first, across the bay is Bay East and that is where the Founders Memorial Garden will be housed, and currently, we are going to commence construction. It will be ready in 2027, this is a Memorial Garden just like Lady Diana in Hyde Park, as well as the Lincoln Memorial and Washington is about Singapore story. So we will also be engaging our local audience to see how to co-create this new green space. So these are some of the exciting projects. I am very optimistic that eventually, we can travel, and then people will come in and see by themselves a Singapore story.
David Kelly: I can't wait. Thank you for the insights into what's coming as well, that is really, really exciting. Just the last couple of questions, really. you're inspiring, a really massive part of the community here. Who's been your biggest inspiration throughout your career? Who do you turn to you for advice, someone that you've thought, yeah, they're really inspiring, and they keep me positive?
Felix Loh: I think, first and foremost, I'm grateful to my mentor Dr Tan for bringing me and having faith. I am not an icon like him. I'm in a way more an administrator, but I think he had a little bit of confidence in me and for handing over the reins. To me, he has been a huge inspiration not just to me, but to a generation of horticulturalists in Singapore. I mean, the Garden City and now city nature, Singapore would not be where it is without him. So I benefited hugely from his wise counsel. Over the last seven years that I'm here and a bigger part of my career even before that, his insight on how he sees things have been great. But of course, after having been in Gardens by the Bay about seven years, if you ask me who is my greatest inspiration it is actually our visitors. They are the ones that inspire me every day, to want to put the best foot forward. I still remember when we succeeded in doing the first cherry blossom show, I mean, who would expect cherry blossom in tropical Singapore? And I see young people pushing their elderly grandfather and grandmother inside the domes, and then in front of it is cherry blossom. I guess some of these old folks even if we can give them an air ticket and fly them to Japan or some of your places they may or may not see because it's a seasonal thing. And they can see right here in Singapore and they had tears flowing out of their eyes. I think that's a great inspiration to me and my team that we are in the right direction and doing something right. And something that we want to continue doing and wanting to make sure that they challenge us each time round to do better for the next show.
David Kelly: That's absolutely brilliant. Just one final question that we ask all of our guests - if we could offer you the British Chamber of Commerce time machine, and with all of your experiences from growing up as a farmer to taking over the HR function to becoming Chief Executive, all of the knowledge and experience that you've gained, if you could go back to a younger self, and give yourself some advice of something that you know now, what would the advice be? And at what age would you go back and tell it to yourself?
Felix Loh: I think for me as someone working with plants, I think it has to be the environment. I think if I can go back in time, I will tell fellow Singaporeans to take good care of their environment. Because increasingly, I just remember Mr Lee Kuan Yew once said, in Singapore, we have the central nature reserve right at the Mandai tree reservoir area. And recently, in the last few years, we built a bridge over it, a pure ecological bridge from the central nature reserve to the patch of greenery in the Bukit Batok area. And Mr Lee wrote that if he had a chance to go back maybe at that time, we will not run an expressway right through, and we'll preserve it. But I think I understand Mr Lee, in the early days Singapore didn't have a choice because it's our livelihood. So for the quickest way to Malaysia, we put a track and that is only years later that he said that it's a relief to him that we can now see a bridge over it so that wildlife can cross on both sides. And this goes back to my earlier point that even before the word environment come, even in his mind creating Singapore in what in his mind was good, he had environment on his mind. So for me, if I can go back in time, I would want to be able to tell the young people to take care of the environment well, and actually because I don't have the luxury of going to a British Chamber time machine. So my guess is that time is now so please come visit Gardens by the Bay and that we don't have a time machine here but we have a lot of environmental education stories to share and that hopefully, we can convert a few people and that call to action and people will take care of the environment.
David Kelly: Amazing Felix we started this conversation talking about Lee Kuan Yew's vision as a garden city and you ended it by saying give us the Time Machine theoretically to go and tell everybody else when you were younger, to look after the environment, and I think that's a really, really lovely message. It's been brilliant to hear about your career story, your switch to HR from being a farmer to running Gardens by the Bay, the educational influences that you have the technology in the gardens, the challenges of adapting over the last 18 months, your customer centricity as well as it's come through. And you know, if there's anything that we can do as the British Chamber of Commerce to help, I'd encourage all of our listeners to go down because it really is absolutely fabulous. Thank you so much for your time today. It really has been a pleasure speaking to you.
Felix Loh: Thank you. The pleasure is mine David, thank you very much.