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Wed, Jun 24, 2009
my paper
Hire a personal butler from $100 an hour

BY KOH HUI THENG

NEED someone to sit in for you at a meeting?

Or an assistant to pick up the kids from school and walk the family dog?

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Mr Casey Chong, 43, will do all that - for the right price.

Retrenched last December, the former senior manager with a multinational firm now considers himself a butler of sorts.

Since he lost his job, he had sent more than 200 job applications, but had been rejected or received no response. So, he decided to go into business for himself last month.

He said: 'Companies and headhunters thought I would not fit (other job profiles) as my qualifications and seniority (level) were too high.'

The electrical-engineering graduate and MBA holder said he used to command $200,000 a year.

He roped in financial adviser Steven Sit, 42, for the new venture.

Their personal-butler and chauffeur service helps Singaporeans and tourists to run errands, like attending auctions, delivering documents and even entertaining the pet pooch. The price tag? From $100 an hour.

Industry websites like The Butler Bureau estimated that top-notch butlers earn about US$250,000 (S$364,700) a year.

While his rates are 'more exclusive', Mr Chong is confident that customers would sign on because 'people always like to be pampered'.

So far, he has had one client, an Indonesian tourist, but he declined to reveal how much he was paid.

Butler credentials aside, Mr Chong said having the right attitude and 'international experience' were crucial.

To benchmark the venture against the best in the business, he plans to send himself and future employees for training at the International Guild of Professional Butlers in the Netherlands. While he was eager to talk about his services, he declined a photo shoot as 'it may affect my wife's employment'.

Corporate high-fliers gave mixed reactions when asked if they would dial for a butler.

Mr Dan Neary, eBay's South-east Asia vice-president, said he would do so if he needed help with travel arrangements and home improvement, areas that a maid would not be as proficient in.

But the CEO of a public-listed food company was adamant that he would not, saying: 'I won't take it up because I can get things done at a cheaper rate.'


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