27
AS
Manyof our readerswouldn’t know thatGalaxy’s
parent company, K. Wah Group, was founded
in 1955 and is a property and construction
conglomerate. How did this company become
involved inMacau’sgaming industry?
FL
Goodquestion,Andrew. In fact, 1955was theyear I
wasborn, so Iwill always rememberwhenwehave
anniversaries, as it is alsomy birthday aswell.We
havealwaysbeenaconstructioncompanyandalsoa
propertydevelopmentcompany,butdon’tforget,we
arealsoahotelier.Wehavebeenmanaginghotelsfor
the last30years.Sowedohavesomeexperience in
thehospitalityindustry.Atthattime,wewerelooking
around, we sawwhatwas happening in LasVegas
andwhatwashappening inotherpartsoftheworld
wheregamingwas amajor industry andwe came
backwithabeliefthatsomedaythegaming industry
inMacauwas going tomergewithhospitality and
becomeasuper-industry.Thatwasourbelief at the
time, sowewent inandwewerevery lucky togeta
license.The rest,as theysay, ishistory.
AS
ManyseetheMacaugamingsceneasabattlebetween
the“old school”as representedbySJMwith itsolder
casinosandGrandLisboaflagship,andthe“newschool”
as representedby the new, westernoperators like
SandsandWynn.GalaxyEntertainment issomewhat
of ahybrid: it’s still oneof thenewoperators in the
industry, enteringafter the liberalisation in2004,but
ithasa longChinesehistoryandaChineseheartand
soul.WheredoyouseeGalaxy’sposition inthisbattle
betweentheoldandthenew?
FL
I have to say thatwe are thebest of bothworlds.
I don’t thinkwehavea legacy likeanoldChinese
company that was in Macau for a long time,
wherea lot of practices are challenging to rectify
immediately, and we are not a purely western
company, whereby youhave to learn the culture
andhowtobuildbusinessandestablishanetwork
inthispartoftheworld.So Iguesswehavethebest
of bothworlds.We startedwith a clean slate and
at thesame timea lotofourexecutives, including
myself,havebeeneducated intheStates.Weknow
howWesterners think,weknowhow todealwith
that. And also at the same time, we have been
doingbusiness in this part of theworld, well, for
almost30years formyself.Andwe
know
howtodo
businesshere,weknowthepeople,weunderstand
the culture, but we also have an open-minded
managementstyle,wherewetakewhat isworking
in thewesternworld and bring it toMacau and
make itwork.
AS
WiththeopeningofGalaxyMacau,StarWorld loses
its statusasGalaxy’sflagshipcasino.Whatdoyou
seeas the futureof StarWorld?
FL
StarWorldwill always be StarWorld andwill be
very successful into the futureaswell. StarWorld
and Galaxy Macau are two very different
properties. StarWorld is on the peninsula in a
great location andwill continue to dowell. But
we feel StarWorld, because of the limitation in
its footprint, will always be a VIP focused hotel,
whereas with Galaxy Macau we have a big
advantage in that we have the biggest piece of
land inCotai and this iswhere I thinkwewill be
makingourmassgamingbusinessmuchstronger.
Webelieve that, eventually,GalaxyMacauwillbe
viewedas themost successful resortdestination
inMacaubecause this isanareawhere,we think,
there’saspace forus toownand this iswhyweare
teaming upwith hotels like Banyan Tree, which
will give people a feeling that for the first time
theyarefinally coming toa resort inMacau.
AS
In terms of table games Venetian is the biggest
casino on the Cotai Strip, and up until now, City
ofDreams (CoD)hasbeen thenewest.Doyousee
those two casinos as themajor competition to
GalaxyMacau?
FL
Well, sort of. In awaywewill be competingwith
each other because we are in the same region,
but I’d also like to think that between the three
ofus,wewillbecomeaverybigpull forpeople to
come toCotai.Therearemore reasons forpeople
to come now because I think we very carefully
positionedGalaxyMacau inCotai.WithVenetian,
we believe they aremore intoMICE (Meetings,
Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions) andwe
believeCoD isfocusingonentertainment.Buthere,
atGalaxyMacau,we like tosay thatwewillbe the
bestdestination resort inMacau,with thebiggest
sky wave pool in town and 350 tons of white
sand beach which is something very different.
So I guess between the three of us, whilewe are
competingwitheachother, I’d like to thinkweare
alsocomplementingeachotherwell.
银河大师
MASTEROFTHEGALAXY
第十期
2011
年
5
月
/6
月
|
ISSUENO.10MAY/JUN2011
