Dato’ Rosemarie Wee, the area director of communications for Shangri-La Hotel Kuala Lumpur, shares her 31 years journey developing charity programmes for the hotel.
It was never her intention to make a career in the hotel industry but when a friend urged Dato’ Rosemarie Wee to apply for a job at the soon-to-be-opened Shangri-La Hotel Kuala Lumpur in 1984, she went for it.
“I was interviewed by the hotel’s first general manager, Mr Dario Regazzoni. He asked me one question: If you are hired to work for Shangri-La KL, what can you do for the hotel? And I told him that I will make it the number one hotel in the city and the world."
(Dato' Rosemarie Wee at the Malaysian Suite of Shangri-La KL)
She was hired there and then as a public relations manager and the rest, as they say, is history. She has been with the hotel for 31 years now, from the pre-opening period, making her the face of Shangri-La and the driving force behind the hotel’s many success.
The area director of communications is steadfast in remaining in this line of work, although many offers have come along including the ones that will eventually elevate her to the general manager position.
“It’s not that I don’t want to be promoted, I strongly believe my forte lies in PR and the work suits me because of my outgoing and creative personality,” she says.
Besides developing the hotel’s PR department from scratch, Dato’ Rosemarie’s most illustrious achievement to-date is putting into place and nurturing the hotel’s corporate social responsibility programmes.
“I started it because no matter where we conduct our business, we must give back to the community we are in. When I started developing charity programmes in 1985, such activities were not very common.”
(Shangri-La Hotel, Kuala Lumpur Christmas Charity Tree 2014 event)
Dato’ Rosemarie set up a charity well for hotel guests to drop their loose change and she also started organising for her staff to visit old folks home, orphanages and hospitals.
During one visit to the ward for terminally ill children just before Christmas, she realised that while she can leave the hospital and go home to her family; the children couldn’t. That was the turning point, something stirred in heart and she began dedicating much of her time and effort to helping terminally ill children.
The one project that is closest to her heart is Embrace the Gift of Life; a fundraising effort she started in 1985 which has its pulse set on helping children in need of urgent heart surgeries, prosthetic limbs and wheelchairs. More than RM3 million has been raised to-date to help over 200 critically-ill children.
“I’m lucky to have the support of the many people who donate generously, no matter how many times it’s required. I’ve also built a good rapport with hospitals who give us a discount and allow us to admit the children for surgeries even before the funds are raised,” she notes thankfully.
(Dato' Rosemarie Wee at the A Charity Evening With Alta Roma: The Ultimate in Fashion event)
Shangri-La Hotel KL and Malaysia Tatler have a solid relationship, and there have been many charity events the two have collaborated on for many years.
“I only have the generosity of my friends, hotel guests, and readers of Malaysia Tatler to thank. They always go all out to extend a helping hand because they know the help that is needed and how transparent we are in our dealings.
Dato’ Rosemarie was also instrumental in setting up a fund – Put a Smile Back on the Little Face – to help children with cleft lip and palate in 1999 when she was the President of the Rotary Club of Pudu. The fund went on to win an award from Rotary International and was retired three years later after bigger organisations starting taking up this cause.
“It gives me great satisfaction to see the children before and after surgeries and treatments, how they’ve blossomed into beautiful teens. Some of the children make it, some don’t. These experiences only encourages me to do more,” she concludes pensively.
(Photos: Zung and Shangri-La Kuala Lumpur)
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