Naked Ape, Naked Boss , livre ebook

Marshall Cavendish International - Kirpal Singh

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98 pages

English

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Bernard Harrison is credited for having shaped Singapore's most attractive and iconic leisure destinations - the Singapore Zoo and the Night Safari. For nearly 30 years he was intimately involved and engaged with the transformation and creative developments of these nature parks. This book explores Harrison's journey and focuses on the critical phases which served as moments of reckoning. How easy was it for this passionate and determined man who couldn't and wouldn't take "no" for an answer to do what he really and truly wanted? What shaped his personality? What problems did he encounter in wanting to create a zoo and a night safari that Singapore could be, and is, proud of? In both the personal and the professional fields, his positioning of certain beliefs and value-systems are put in context and readers will be made aware of the intimate drivers of his passions.

Sujets

Sciences et techniques

Singapore

Singapour

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Publié par	Marshall Cavendish International
Date de parution	25 mars 2014
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9789814561792
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	1 Mo

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0600€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

2014 Kirpal Singh and Marshall Cavendish International (Asia) Private Limited
Photographs courtesy of Bernard Harrison
Design by Bernard Go Kwang Meng
Published by Marshall Cavendish Editions An imprint of Marshall Cavendish International 1 New Industrial Road, Singapore 536196
All rights reserved
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. Requests for permission should be addressed to the Publisher, Marshall Cavendish International (Asia) Private Limited, 1 New Industrial Road, Singapore 536196. Tel: (65) 6213 9300, Fax: (65) 6285 4871. E-mail: genrefsales@sg.marshallcavendish.com . Website: www.marshallcavendish.com/genref
The Publisher makes no representation or warranties with respect to the contents of this book, and specifically disclaims any implied warranties or merchantability or fitness for any particular purpose, and shall in no event be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damage, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.
Other Marshall Cavendish Offices Marshall Cavendish Corporation. 99 White Plains Road, Tarrytown NY 10591-9001, USA Marshall Cavendish International (Thailand) Co Ltd. 253 Asoke, 12th Flr, Sukhumvit 21 Road, Klongtoey Nua, Wattana, Bangkok 10110, Thailand Marshall Cavendish (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, Times Subang, Lot 46, Subang Hi-Tech Industrial Park, Batu Tiga, 40000 Shah Alam, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia
Marshall Cavendish is a trademark of Times Publishing Limited
National Library Board, Singapore Cataloguing-in-Publication Data Singh, Kirpal, 1949-Naked ape, naked boss : Bernard Harrison : the man behind the Singapore Zoo and the world s first Night Safari / Kirpal Singh. - Singapore : Marshall Cavendish International Asia, 2014. pages cm eISBN : 978 981 4561 79 2
1. Harrison, Bernard Ming-Deh, 1951- 2. Singapore Zoological Gardens. 3. Night Safari (Firm). 4. Zoo directors - Singapore - Biography. 5. Chief executive officers - Singapore - Biography. I. Title.
QL31.S34 590.735957092 -- dc23 OCN 869901092
Printed in Singapore by Markono Print Media Pte Ltd
NAKED CAME I INTO THE WORLD AND NAKED SHALL I RETURN
for
Clarinda, Sarah, Areta, Misha, Christopher
- blessed anchors of my life -

my good saint Jwee and his adoring wife Ai Wah

and all who, like Bernard H, believe in the essential goodness of human beings, and helped make this book possible
Introduction
01 The early years
02 Early loves, likes, more loves
03 Zoo life. Night Safari and more
04 Bernard and Ah Meng
05 Odds and ends
06 The father figure
07 Last words
Conclusion
Coda: The wisdom of Ah Meng transmitted
About the author
THE SUBJECT OF THIS BOOK - Bernard Harrison - is a man of huge, HUGE proportions.
Physically he is not all that big. But we are going beyond the physical even though many will know our subject as being a very physical person(ality).
Bernard is a wonderful friend, husband, lover, boss, father, brother, colleague, creative there s no need just now to go through the entire catalogue of categories where wonderful people find their apt description. What is needed is some real insight into this fascinating human being who has touched the lives of hundreds, nay thousands, perhaps even millions if we take into account all who have visited Singapore s twin tourist attractions in Mandai - the award winning Singapore Zoo and the equally famed Night Safari. For this is the man who made all this possible. I mean Bernard is the man who shaped and fashioned these leisure destinations. No one, not even those who may not be friends as such, will want to take issue with this. Indeed, in most circles, Bernard is known as the Zoo guy!

I first met Bernard some thirty-six years ago, in 1978. I had newly returned from Australia after completing my PhD and was teaching at the then University of Singapore s Department of English. No, this is not strictly true: I had met Bernard earlier when I was still myself a student at the University of Singapore and his father was a Professor of Zoology. But my memory of our earlier meetings (I remember two, Bernard remembers only one) is vague and non-specific - we were both then fairly young and had more important matters at hand than cultivating new friendships.
But by 1978 the contexts had changed. Bernard was now quite senior at the Singapore Zoo and I was about to begin a good career in academia. This new first meeting in 1978 was significant as it brought together individuals who were not known to conform; it was at the behest of the late Dr Gopal Baratham - neurosurgeon, writer, maverick - another man of many parts on whom a book is more than due!
I cannot now recall the specific venue of this meeting - we were in some coffee-shop a little distance away from the former premises of the Tan Tock Seng Hospital where Gopal worked - but I remember, vividly, that in addition to Gopal, Bernard and myself, there were also Ilsa Sharp (journalist and writer now living in Perth), Gani (Ganesan, then the man of Singapore soccer) and a few others whose names I forget. I remember it was a wild and exciting evening that night, for it was way past 2 a.m. by the time I reached home buzzing with new ideas and the happiness of having made some very good new friends!
Why was I so struck by Bernard Harrison at that memorable meeting? Frankly, it was his irreverence! In fact all those named above had struck me as irreverent - my old friend Gopal had obviously decided to bring more irreverents together to have a good time and to foster a spirit of bonhomie so that we could interact and engage each other freely, unsuspiciously. Why this last word?

The author with Bernard, in a photo taken in Singapore, January 2014
Because as it even now rears its ugly head every so often, in those days almost every professional in the country was wary of letting their hair down unless they were with old and trusted friends. But Gopal had a way of doing things which meant that those of us who came under his spell - I think this is the right word to use for Gopal s very special charm - found the company we were in easy-going, with no hang-ups and a free, happy-go-lucky camaraderie that allowed us to crack jokes, share narratives and work out what we thought were the best strategies in the world to change Singapore and revolutionize the entire planet! Yes. We had big dreams, and being cheeky and yet also knowing that we were in positions where we were closely watched, we thought if we got together a good team we might, just might, revamp an efficient but cold system.
From the very start Bernard was direct; he didn t mince his words when he told us what he thought made a good zoo and how he (yes, HE) was going to make the Singapore Zoo a good zoo. And how he was working on some other ideas later we all knew he then had already started to conceptualize the now world-famous Night Safari.
After that meeting, we would find ourselves turning up at various parties and celebrations with common friends. Slowly but surely an internal bond developed between Bernard and I; both of us being quite loquacious but somewhat shy and retiring, we felt we touched each other in a deep, resonant kind of way. We almost never met alone though in those early years. At every meeting there were others present and so while our own friendship grew it did not then, unlike in more recent years, take on tones of intimacy which only deep friendships lead to.
Sometimes our meetings were quite official. I remember fondly the times when Bernard would invite outsiders to the zoo to discuss how it could be made more inviting. At my suggestion poetry readings were held on zoo grounds! Though these didn t last, they did create quite an impression. (Would any other Singaporean zoo chief have had the audacity to invite a poet to discuss zoo matters?!) We talked about ways to entice more Singaporeans to the zoo, including the issuance of family passes and then getting businesses involved through corporate passes. Later came the idea of adoptions where individuals and businesses alike could adopt an animal or an animal enclosure.
So many exciting new plans, strategies, dreams - all held together by the one and only Bernard Harrison. If a zoo employee were to be asked what was happening, the reply was almost always, Ask Tarzan. Why you may ask? Well that s because their boss commanded humans and animals alike, and like Tarzan wore long(ish) hair. More than this, like Tarzan, Bernard was known to fly . He would be with you this minute, and the next he would be talking serious money with a new project team. It was a heady time for the man who was frantically working to put the Singapore Zoo fully on the world map.
The years were flying by furious and fast. Singapore was transforming itself into a great modern metropolis. With it people were getting more hungry and the grand opening of the Night Safari in May 1994 set one of the highest benchmarks for the tourist industry. The irrepressible and highly creative Bernard and his team had managed to accomplish a real feat: the Night Safari was a world-first and everywhere there was jubilation and cheer. With its opening, at least a million new visitors were added to the zoo s roll annually and its young director was now firmly respected for his capacity to make grand designs a reality.
But respect also comes at a price. Much more began to be expected of Bernard and as new plans emerged and their implementations were discussed and debated, differences of views and vision easily began to disrupt the easy flow of one day into the next.

At a rented villa in Bali, 2008, with an automatic weapon !
Though now at the zoo s helm, Bernard knew he had a distinct and unique working style which many top civil servants l