Blog post -
Liew Mun Leong lands his key points in airport surcharge interview
No one likes to be told they have to pay more for a product or service.
But sometimes announcing this in advance and explaining the rationale in clear, unambiguous terms is better than beating around the bush apologetically.
And so it was with Liew Mun Leong's online video interview for ChannelNews Asia about the fees that will be charged from July 1 to fund the construction of Changi Airport Terminal 5, currently underway.
As Chairman of Changi Airport Group since 2009, Liew has not enjoyed the limelight as much as when he was Founding President & CEO of SGX-listed CapitaLand Group.
But he continues to be the straight shooter we know and love, which is why I have nominated him for the Hong Bao Media Savvy Awards 2018 in the Best Online Video category.
Read on below for my reasons.
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We are now in the home stretch of the award nominations, and there is limited time for you to nominate yourself or another local business leader.
Nominations close Monday, April 30, at 5pm, with the winner announced in May. It is free to enter the Hong Bao Media Savvy Awards 2018, and there is no obligation to buy tickets to the awards event.
We launched the Hong Bao Media Savvy Awards to recognise local business leaders for their communications skills, and to showcase authentic and credible home-grown communicators. Here are our previous nominees:
Desmond Kuek: Will you resign?
Are you a demanding boss, Lee Lik Hsin?
Star Alliance CEO: Local business leader is a star media performer
Budget 2018: Iswaran balances selling it, and explaining it
Kurt Wee: you don't need to be big to be media savvy
Candice Ong: the whys and hows of strong new media interviews
Elim Chew displays a high Sensitivity Quotient in her TEDxNTU presentation
How to win at interviews, even if English isn't your first language
Ho Kwon Ping: no-nonsense media presence builds credibility
David Koh: Cybersecurity chief gives locked-down on-camera presentation
Cecily Ng: The right recipe for coffee with the boss
Razer CEO makes TV interviews look like child's play
These are shining examples for other local business leaders to follow, and to build a culture of excellence in communication, to maximise the potential of Asian companies in the Asian Century.
Click on this link to enter yourself or another Senior Business Leader.
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Here are five reasons why I have nominated Liew for the Hong Bao Media Savvy Awards 2018.
- Candid, authentic, real – Liew didn't mince words about the public having to take the bitter pill of paying for access to the airport (details in this Straits Times article).
- Rhetorical questions – These are a useful tool in winning your audience over, for example in answer to Bharati Jagdish's questions about whether low cost carriers are complaining about the extra charges, which are factored into ticket prices, or the prospect of outside investors owning a stake in the airport.
- Eye contact – Liew's eye contact with the reporter was exemplary.
- Confident – If you don't speak the Queen's English, or you speak with an accent, you should not shy away from speaking on camera. On the contrary, Liew's audible Singaporean roots connect well with his audience.
- Vivid descriptions – In discussing airport services such as baggage arriving on the luggage belts within 11-12 minutes of the arrival of the aircraft not only allow viewers to picture the otherwise esoteric discussion of airport surcharges in their mind, they demonstrate that Liew is in touch with what actually happens on the ground. If you appear in the media, do more of this!
Overall, Liew demonstrates an exemplary media presence which allows every local business leader's media strategy to take flight.
