By Huang Lijie

My life so far

Seafood restaurateur Ang Kiam Meng is the last person you expect to be concerned about what to wear for a photo shoot.

Yet the 47-year-old general manager of the Jumbo Group of restaurants, clad in a long-sleeved white shirt and dark trousers for an earlier office meeting, turns up for the interview at his semi-detached home off MacPherson Road, asking: What should I wear? Something casual or formal? Maybe both so you have a choice?

He picks out a black Mandarin-collar shirt and a company T-shirt, and changes outfits quickly during the photo shoot.

Those who do not know him better might think he is vain. But his friends will tell you such behaviour is typical of the unassuming man, who is considerate and focused on getting the job done well.

Indeed, he skips lunch after his previous meeting ran late, so that the interview can proceed as scheduled. He quells hunger pangs during the three-hour conversation by nibbling on Nonya kueh.

He is decidedly low-key for someone whose six Jumbo Seafood restaurants in locations such as East Coast Parkway and Dempsey Hill, posted a combined revenue of $51 million last year.

The three-storey home where he lives with his four children, aged between 10 and 20, and wife Jacqueline, 47, assistant general manager of the Jumbo Group, shows his preference for restraint.

The red cotton sofa set spells comfort, not designer furniture. The glass dining table is decorated with sea shells. Family photos grace the walls of the living room.

His parents, Madam Nyeo Sai Joo, 70, and Mr Ang Hon Nam, 72, live next door while two of his younger sisters live opposite. He says: 'We are a close-knit family and living on the same street allows us to take care of one another.'

The down-to-earth air extends to his favourite pastime - basketball. He perks up when talking about his recreational basketball team, the 88ers, which was formed in 1988. The group is made up of friends and it used to meet weekly at community clubs until recently, when the members' heavy work commitments took a toll. Now, it meets once a month.

He also runs and pounds the pavement of his neighbourhood at least once a week, covering about 4km each time. It helps him relax and sort out his thoughts.

Besides Jumbo Seafood, the group also runs hotpot restaurant Jpot at VivoCity, Claypot Fun, a claypot rice restaurant in East Coast Parkway, and Yoshimaru Ramen Bar in Holland Village and East Coast Parkway. It also has shares in two Singapore Seafood Republic restaurants with outlets in Shinagawa and Ginza in Tokyo.

He says: 'I always think of the business from the customer's point of view and what I would like if I were the customer.'

This is why he prices Jumbo Seafood's signature chilli crab and black pepper crab between $36 and $42 per kg, instead of the usual $44 per kg that other restaurants charge. He says: 'Chilli crab and pepper crab are our main draws and we believe in giving customers the best value for their money.'

With this in mind, he launched the Jumbo Rewards card in 2004. Anyone can sign up for the card, which offers members a 10 per cent discount on meals and a 5 per cent rebate that may be used to pay for subsequent meals or redeemed as dining-shopping vouchers. About 17,000 cards have been issued so far.

Even the corporate calendar given to regular customers comes with discount coupons for a special dish every month at each of its restaurants.

Mr Han Jin Juan, 57, managing director of Palm Beach Seafood Restaurants and a shareholder of Claypot Fun, Yoshimaru Ramen Bar and Singapore Seafood Republic, says: 'Kiam Meng is very hands on. Every time he opens a new restaurant, he is always around to help out and serve customers. Not all restaurant owners as successful as him will go to this extent.'

As the president of the Restaurant Association of Singapore, which represents 2,000 restaurants, Mr Ang has done things differently.

He has been nominated to the post for two two-year terms since 2006 and says: 'When I took over, the association was fighting to stay afloat financially. So I made sure its day-to-day operations, such as organising activities for members, are financially self-sustaining. It is now financially stable.'

He developed the association's training centre into the Singapore Culinary Institute in 2007. The institute teaches Asian culinary skills and it is supported by enterprise development agency Spring Singapore and the Singapore Workforce Development Agency.

His willingness to share trade information with its members, even if some are direct business competitors, helped to strengthen the industry too. For example, he tells members about reliable suppliers and contractors he has encountered.

He says: 'I regard other restaurateurs as friends because when the industry is faced with challenges, it is easier for us to come together and solve problems.'

This is why he has had no trouble working with other restaurants such as Palm Beach Seafood and Seafood International on new dining eateries.

He adds: 'We have our own market segments and we complement one another. Palm Beach caters to a corporate crowd, Seafood International is into fine-dining and Jumbo is more for the masses.'

Mr Han of Palm Beach Seafood says: 'He is very helpful and willing to share information that will benefit the industry. As a business partner, he is also very focused and detail-oriented.'

Yet, Mr Ang is an accidental restaurateur. Born the eldest of five children to a housewife mother and taxi driver father, he spent his early years living in an attap house in Aljunied.

The family's fortunes improved after his father started running a garment manufacturing business and they moved into a semi-detached home off MacPherson Road when he was seven.

In school, he was always among the top of his class. He studied at Maha Bodhi School, Maris Stella High School and the then Hwa Chong Junior College. He was also active in sports and represented his schools in basketball and track and field.

Mr Mark Kuah, 47, owner of an insurance agency who has known him since secondary school, says: 'Even though he was a top student, he would help those who were weak in their schoolwork. He never behaved like a rich man's son. He was humble and friendly to everyone.'

Mr Ang graduated with a bachelor's degree in computer science from the University of Texas in Austin in the United States in 1985 and worked as a software engineer with Singapore Technologies.

In 1987, his father and nine friends bought over a failed restaurant at the East Coast Seafood Centre and gave it the catchy name Jumbo.

He says: 'My father and his friends used to entertain a lot for business, so they thought opening their own seafood restaurant was a good idea. But it was a big mistake because they knew nothing about running a restaurant.'

The manager hired to run it did not do a good job and the business faltered briefly. His father and uncle, who were major shareholders, took over the operations and rolled out changes that made sense to them if they were restaurant customers.

Menus, uncommon at most seafood restaurants then, were introduced so that their pricing was transparent. They also treated all diners equally, regardless of the size of the dining group or the amount the party spent.

This combination of good service and good food - their chilli crab is simmered to extract the full flavour of the crab - made Jumbo Seafood popular.

In 1993, his father felt it was time to expand the restaurant and asked him to join the business as he was the eldest son.

He says: 'I was half-hearted about leaving my software engineering job because I knew nothing about running a restaurant. But I was a bit bored with corporate life and my father needed me.'

His first big task was to open Jumbo's second outlet, but it failed. Lured by good rental, he took over the space of a failed restaurant at the then East Coast Recreation Centre, now called Marine Cove.

But he was not careful with the tenancy agreement, which allowed the landlord to increase the rent 5.6 times when the tenancy was up for renewal after two years.

So the restaurant, despite doing good business, wound up in 1995 without recovering its investment of $1.6 million.

He says: 'It was a very stressful time and I used to jog around my neighbourhood at 1am to try to de-stress. But I am not the sort to quit so I persevered.'

Over the next 12 years, he grew Jumbo Seafood to six outlets. He says: 'We will expand only when we have the manpower and financial ability to grow. We also avoid rushing into prime locations unless the rental price is right.'

He adds: 'The Singapore market for seafood restaurants is limited so we have gone overseas and also opened different dining concepts.'

In 2008, it opened Singapore Seafood Republic in Shinagawa, Tokyo with Palm Beach Seafood, Seafood International and Kriston Food and Beverage after they were approached by Japan's Maruha Restaurant Systems to launch a seafood restaurant that features each partner's signature style of crabs.

The restaurant, which sells about 3,000kg of crabs every month, spawned a second outlet in Ginza, Tokyo last year.

Jumbo also added three new concepts to its group of restaurants last year.

Claypot Fun, a collaboration with other restaurateurs, came about because they love eating claypot rice and saw the potential for this type of cuisine. The restaurant, which cost $80,000 to set up, broke even in six months.

Similarly, its hotpot restaurant, Jpot, was opened to satisfy consumer demand for steamboat. It is on track to recover its $800,000 set-up costs in three years.

Yoshimaru Ramen Bar, started in Japan by Maruha Restaurant Systems, was brought in because of Singaporean's appetite for ramen.

This year, Jumbo will launch a casual seafood restaurant at Resorts World Sentosa in partnership with Tung Lok restaurant, Palm Beach Seafood, Seafood International and Singapore Seafood Republic.

Helping him grow the business are his sister, Mrs Christina Kong, 41, head of corporate affairs and human resources, and brother, Mr Ang Kiam Lian, 37, head of strategic business planning.

The advantage of working with family, he says, is that they are committed to the business, although he acknowledges they have to be careful to maintain a strictly professional relationship at work.

He adds: 'Sometimes, because they are family, I take them for granted. I have overlooked my wife's feelings and been quite harsh with her during discussions in the past. But I have since mellowed.'

Mrs Ang says: 'He has become more understanding and we have learnt how to come to a compromise on issues.'

He says: 'When I first started in this business, I kept wondering if I made the right choice. I struggled a lot and I had so little confidence in myself then, I did not dare to tell people I was a restaurateur.

'But I stuck with it and I have no regrets now, 17 years later.'

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