FOCUS
Grooming the Fourth
By Farhan Shah
He is the grandson
of a wealthy Chinese
merchant, heads one
of the largest and
oldest wine and spirit
companies in Singapore,
and handles tens of
millions of dollars
every day. Yet, nothing
gives him more joy and
comfort than bathing his
infant daughter.
Generation
Clinton Ang meticulously positions
the large portrait of his daughter
Cora on the wall before turning to
me and asks: “What do you think?”
There is a large grin on his face
and when I give him the thumbs up
to indicate my approval, he climbs
down from the makeshift ladder and
joins me to admire his handiwork.
“She’s something, isn’t she?” Clinton
says, his voice clearly enveloped in
admiration and love.
We are standing in the middle of Privé
Grill, the venue of Cora’s first birthday
party, and the entire restaurant is
a hubbub of activity. Servers are
breaking out the cases of wine and
decanting their contents; the events
manager is making her final checks
on the seating arrangements; the
AV technicians are laying out the
cables. In the middle of all of this
is Clinton, overseeing and leading
the preparations. It is a position the
40-year-old has grown accustomed
to and thrives in. After all, Clinton
is the Managing Director of Hock
Tong Bee, one of the oldest and
largest independent wine and spirit
companies in Singapore.
Clinton represents the third
generation of the Ang family, tasked
not only with guiding the family-owned
business into the fourth generation
but to manage the family’s significant
investments, which is estimated
at more than S$100 million. And
although the businessman seems
quite at home in his undeniably
stressful position, Clinton admits
that was not the case when he was
appointed by his father to be the
next in line to the Hock Tong Bee
throne. “In my head, I was thinking
‘Why would you do that?’ Typically,
the eldest son would take over the
family business and the youngest
gets to enjoy!” Clinton says with a
laugh. “When my father asked me to
take over, I actually asked him, ‘Is
it because I drink so much that you
would rather I drink our own stock
than our competitors?’”
Instead of coasting into the business
on his father’s coattails, Clinton
started from the bottom, joining the
team in 1997 as a sales and marketing
executive before slowly rising through
the ranks. So, when the reins were
thrust into his hands in 2003 after
his father’s unexpected passing,
Clinton was ready. There was a lot to
be done but before he could begin,
Clinton knew that he had to win over
the hearts and minds of his fellow
colleagues, some of whom had been
with the company for many decades.
“I actually grew up with a lot of the
older employees. I was always helping
out in the company during my school
holidays, so they knew who I was.
When I took over the business, they
saw me as a symbol of hope and
continuity,” he says.
The second task on his checklist was
to accelerate the automation process
and future-proof the company. With
any major restructuring exercise,
redundancy is inevitable. However,
Clinton made a bold promise to his
employees. “My commitment, which
still stands now, was that if you cannot
do your current job anymore, we
will transfer you to a new position.
We have a Chinese saying that when
translated into English goes like this:
‘Even if you do not contribute in terms
of quality, you have contributed in
terms of the quantity of your time.’
Even during the tough times, we had
no retrenchments.”
12
Family & Life • Mar 2014
Eleven years into his tenure at
the helm of the company, Clinton
has steadily guided Hock Tong Bee
through many ups and downs, from
the move to its current premises
in 2006 – a seven-storey building
complete with wine warehouses
and storage facilities – to the global
financial crisis in 2008.
However, Clinton acknowledges that
for all his savvy business acumen and
leadership qualities, raising a family
is still a large mystery to him. “In
the company, I am the answers to all
questions. When it comes to Cora, I
am the answers to no questions!” he
exclaims, chortling loudly. “When it
comes to Cora, it is a whole different
ball game.”
To Clinton, his business successes,
his numerous charitable efforts,
his contributions and commitment
to grooming a new generation of
entrepreneurs, all of these pale
in comparison to the simple act of
bathing Cora. He discloses how he
initially handed over these seemingly
mundane duty to his household help
but decided to try it as part of his
efforts to do everything at least once.
Now, Clinton insists on bathing her
every day. “You might think that it is
just a process; I used to think that
too. But, it is so much more than that.
Cora knows that I am showering her
and she will give me this wonderful
smile. Let me tell you, the feeling is
incredible. The level of closeness you
achieve with this unassuming chore is
very different.”
For the most part of his day, Clinton is
knee-deep in the business, going for
meals with his clients or entertaining
them during a round of golf. However,
each day without fail, he will return
home in time to run Cora’s bath. This
fastidious attention to his work-life
balance is quite the juggling act but
Clinton strongly believes in spending
quality time together as a family.
He comments: “Nowadays, parents
are so busy with their work and
careers. A lot of them tend to buy
affection; they will purchase toys and
such to compensate for the time they
do not spend with their children. But,
you don’t actually need quantity of
time. What is more important is the
quality of time that you spend with
your children.”