KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 24 ― While some may think of Hilton Hotels & Resorts as a place where leisure, comfort and world-class hospitality come together, its Malaysia regional general manager Jamie Mead said they are more than that.
Besides being driven on providing the best form of hospitality, he said they are keen on making a positive impact worldwide.
In Malaysia, one way Mead and his team are doing so is by raising awareness on HIV/AIDS nationwide.
And by working alongside Malaysian AIDS Foundation (MAF) for more than six years, the 42-year-old said it has left their brand with a sense of accomplishment and a battle they would not put a stop at.
“Our approach at Hilton is to have long-term collaboration with our partners and to leave a meaningful impact behind.
“We started working together with MAF since an event in Kuching in 2011 and it has grown from something with a small amount of support at the start to something comprehensive.
“The number of HIV/AIDS related events hosted here and how we’ve supporting people like Jeff Lau Jun Tean by providing him accommodation on his various efforts to promote awareness.
“This collaboration is only going to grow, and our aim is to show Hilton’s essential values on how we work with communities and improve lives of the people related to our organisation,” Mead said.
Spreading awareness throughout rural areas or states in Malaysia has always been a constant battle for MAF as Mead explained.
But he said Hilton has helped through its various hotels nationwide such as Johor Baru, Melaka and Sarawak.
“We can make a positive impact and on a global front, we tackle issues based on what is relevant around the community.
“We don’t want to do small activities but rather focus on something that yields tangible results.
“We want this to last for a long time and we will help spread the awareness through these three states and are in talks with Sabah and few other areas to pretty much cover every main area of Malaysia.”
He added that with Hilton’s presence in Malaysia almost reaching 50 years, this whole journey has been meaningful to them.
Besides aiding MAF on a national level, Mead stressed the importance of ending stigma within any organisation.
“Stigma comes in many shapes and forms. It could be in the form of HIV/AIDS, differently abled people or minorities.
“It is important to have a working environment with zero stigma and we want to provide a culture of such which represents our company’s values.
“We welcome all forms of guests — different gender, religions, beliefs and the list can go on.
“We are able to provide hospitality to everyone, and I want all my staff to be able to work with everyone.”
MAF and Mead has instilled different formats of programmes throughout the past two years with its hotel staff.
“The thing I like about my Malaysian staff is that they are constantly interested in obtaining information and they love to learn.
“From the beginning there was no resistance and all the team members got fully behind this whole idea.
“Whenever we needed support from the team they were there, they wanted to know more about HIV and AIDS.
“I remember us having a large buka puasa event for HIV-infected youths and it was such a memorable event as it left the staff with so much more eagerness and passion to know more about the condition.”
Earlier this month, Hilton Kuala Lumpur was awarded the “Best Luxury Hotel in Malaysia” by the Haute Grandeur Global Hotel Awards and received “Best Lifestyle Hotel in Malaysia”, “Best City Hotel in Malaysia”, “Best Restaurant Hotel in Malaysia” and for its Spa and Gym Facility “Best Health & Wellness Spa in Malaysia” and “Best Spa Destination in Malaysia”.
For next month however, all focus will be on the Tun Dr Siti Hasmah Award Gala Dinner — previously known as the Red Ribbon Gala — which will be held at the KL Hilton on December 16.
Mead described the event as something which will go down in the history books.
“This gala dinner will bring significant high-profile names to the hotel and I’m sure all my staff are very proud to have the prime minister and the first lady, VVIPs, and other guests as well.
“We’re really excited to have an event like this as it is something not so common.
“We want to make it a memorable event and we want the attendees to have a fantastic experience and support the foundation even after the event.
“We want to make it the best one ever,” the Australian said.
Malay Mail is the media partner for the event.
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