Summary
Mr Ma started Indochine and his restaurants have been abstaining from serving shark's fin, blue fin tuna, yellow fin tuna, sturgeon and caviar for 11 years and still counting. He believes that serving shark’s fin in restaurant is outright silly as he thinks that “shark’s fin taste like nothing”. To encourage people to stop eating sharks, he even bought in a shark to Indochine, the now closed branch at Wisma Atria, to 'showcase the shark to the public in all its beauty'.
Indochine at Waterfront has won the Asia Responsible Entrepreneurship Awards' Green Leadership Award. Mr Ma did his part for saving the earth with methods such as using the hot air generated by air-conditioners to heat the water in group’s establishments. Also, he chose flooring that is made of artificial wood and recycled plastic. Although flooring are more expensive, he thinks that it is worth it as they can last longer and he do not need to close shop for maintenance to do re-varnishing and stuffs like that. Furthermore, another example of Mr Ma’s recycling take is his use of chi-chi furnishings, which are 200-300 years old.
Mr Ma believes that the products which support the concept of “clean energy” are now more expensive is because of the fact that the turnover of these companises is not enough for them to lower the price. However, if more people can support these businesses, they can make enough money to lower the prices, and thus change the way we live and benefit everyone, both businesses and consumers.
My opinions
I strongly agree with Mr Ma’s way of operating a business, such as choosing flooring that is made of artificial wood and recycled plastic although it is more expensive, it is more beneficial in the long-run as there is no need for re-varnishing.
Most entrepreneurs start their businesses solely with the aim of gaining profits. Not many people think about how their ways of operating businesses can save the world and conserve energy, or they simply did not support the idea of using products or equipments that are more energy-saving as the costs of the equipments are usually much higher.
As the impact of Global Warming is getting more serious, businesses should think of more ways to encourage the saving of energy, or find alternatives for their equipments, products, or ingredients. One example of this is that The Body Shop uses recycled plastics for their bottles production, in some parts of the world they also introduced “Refilling” for their shower gel bottles, and this would reduce the number of bottles being used.
Also, people who produce the machines, products or equipments that are more energy-saving and green for the environment can help to create more awareness about the benefits of using such products, especially for the earth in the long-run. When more people are educated about this, the chances of them buying or using such green products is higher.
Individuals can also do their part to save the earth, such as by switching off electrical appliances when not in use, take public transport instead of private vehicles and a lot more other ways.
In conclusion, if everyone do their part, no matter how small it is, it would all add up to a significant gesture in helping to save the earth eventually.
From this Article:
 The Business Times | |
By Lynn Kan STRAGGLY-HAIRED, Australian-accented Michael Ma from resort and nightspots group Indochine looks every bit the tree-hugging greenie he professes to be. The green streak began in him long before bringing your own shopping bags to the supermarket and being vegetarian became cool. And ever since Mr Ma started Indochine 11 years ago, his restaurants have abstained from serving shark's fin, blue fin tuna, yellow fin tuna, sturgeon and caviar. 'Some of these fish were not yet on the endangered list when we started. Now, almost all of them are,' he tells BT. 'Caviar has recovered somewhat, but we're still not going to serve these types of food until the natural stocks bounce back.' The passionate collector of fish has a soft spot for sharks. That may explain why he reviles those restaurants that serve them to gourmands in shark's fin soup. At a dinner held during Indochine's annual Green Festival, he said the dish was the 'stupidest' thing a restaurant could serve because 'shark's fin tastes like nothing, and all you're eating is double-boiled chicken soup, corn starch and crab or whatever meat's in there'. He even brought in a shark to the now-closed Indochine branch at Wisma Atria to 'showcase the shark to the public in all its beauty'. This move, however, was not appreciated by everyone and he received a letter from the Divers' Association boycotting the shark-as-exhibit idea. 'I think they misunderstood my message. I'm a diver myself, and all I wanted to do was to show they're not like (the creatures in the movie) Jaws. They're really not dangerous creatures, and they don't deserve people eating them.' Then he throws in a whammy only a diehard conservationist can: 'Did you know that 90 per cent of the shark population has been eliminated?' Every year for the past four years, Mr Ma has held a Green Festival that raises awareness and funds for a conservation society. This year, he aided International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), throwing two gala dinners at his Forbidden City restaurant in Clarke Quay and Waterfront restaurant at Empress Place in November. Another similar dinner this month will again be laced with the anti-shark's fin message. Making money isn't at odds with being mindful about the environment, says Mr Ma, whose Indochine Waterfront took the Asia Responsible Entrepreneurship Awards' Green Leadership Award. 'How to solve it is by bearing in mind sustainability, doing business in a responsible way,' he says. One way that Indochine does this is to emulate nature. 'In nature, everything's a cycle. There is no wastage. It's Man who creates waste.' Peer into Indochine's piping and there are heat-exchange cooling systems where the hot air generated by the air-conditioning is used to heat the water in the group's establishments. Mr Ma also opts for flooring that's made of artificial wood and recycled plastic. The latter doesn't require varnish, which Mr Ma says helps reduce the toxic chemicals being used in his hangouts. 'I paid more for these things, but because they're well-designed, they last longer. I don't need to close shop for maintenance work, lose business days to do re-varnishing and the like.' Indochine is known for its chi-chi furnishings, which are 200 to 300 years old, another instance of Mr Ma's stylish take on recycling. Indeed, nothing is too dear to be spared from being recycled in the Indochine group. After the company vacated its Wisma Atria outlet, Mr Ma ordered the shopfront tempered glass window to be re-used as a tabletop. It now covers the precious alabaster marble that is the long table front and centre of Indochine Waterfront restaurant at Empress Place. 'We needed a cover for the marble, which is easily scratched. We made it more fun and usable because people can relax using the table,' he says. At the Green Festival gala dinner held there, guests danced on the tabletop. The recycling zeal is not confined to Singapore. At the group's resort in Phuket, Thailand, Mr Ma also composts the carbon-based food products from the restaurant and sends the protein-based ones to pig farms as pig feed. While not everyone is conscious about everything that can be reused, reduced and recycled, ideally, says Mr Ma, they should be. 'The aim of businesses and consumers should be to think about the material they use,' he says. He believes that if consumers are more aware and support alternative energy companies more fervently, eventually the economics of it will come full circle and reward the pockets of the man in the street. 'Right now, these guys (the clean energy companies) don't have the economic numbers to support their business. It's not feasible at the moment because their turnover isn't there yet,' he says. But once there are economies of scale - and that will only come when people and companies really look at and change the way they live and consume - alternative energy companies will be able to lower their prices, benefiting all consumers, he says. |
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