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| Students' Testimonials |
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I was attached to Chan Brothers Travel for 20 weeks under my internship program which forms one of my semesters while studying in Singapore Polytechnic. I know Mr Tan as my Counter Sales Manager (CSM) and based on what I know of him during the 20 weeks under his supervision, I would highly recommend any company to hire a highly competent, productive, motivated and knowledgeable employee like him.
Mr Tan, holds the posts of Counter Sales Manager, Training Manager and Customer Service Manager of Asia department. His main job scope will be to make sure operations run smoothly across sales staff of Asia department. He is a highly admired leader, one who will humble himself and help out with even serving the customers' enquiries when customers were waiting in line. So long as he is available, he will also help out employees in various different ways. To me, a manager would have to possess skills or capabilities that a normal staff does not, one that does not come from the power or right given to the manager. Unless a manager proves his or her capability, staff will never yield willingly. He makes sure all queries are answered and all customers who patronizes us leaves happily. I think his main strengths are the ability to keep calm and cool-headed in the face of adversity and his talent to communicate effortlessly with strangers who comes from all walks of life. These strangers, or customers, may be hurling vulgarities at him, or may be repeatedly asking the same questions, but I have never ever seen Mr Tan lose his cool against them. He is more than able to handle difficult customers who we staff have absolutely no way of placating them, not with the power granted to him, but with his own set of interpersonal skills and intelligence.
He was also a great teacher, who is willing to share whatever knowledge he possess. He made sure we learn well under his supervision. Even when we were only interns, he treated us equally among the staff, gave us many opportunities to pick up skills from the daily operations. He would correct us when we were wrong, never fail to explain to us about our mistake. He would always make sure we understand, why things are to be done in the specified way. I believe that it was a highly useful way to make us learn compared to what many of my other previous employments whereby I was just told to do, and not ask any questions.
During my 20 weeks of attachment, I picked up many different sets of skills and knowledge, ranging from interpersonal to proper work ethics. I would say that most of the are actually imparted to me by Mr Tan. He is a leader, a friend and a fellow colleague who will never fail you.
Michael Khoo D W (Aug 09)
Singapore Polytechnic (Dip Tourism & Resort Mgt)
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I am currently a student studying in Singapore Polytechnic, Diploma in Tourism and Resort Management. I have recently just completed my Polytechnic internship in Chan Brothers Travel from the period 30th March 2009 to 16th August 2009. During this 20-week internship period, Mr Tan was my direct supervisor and manager in the company’s Asia Department. Throughout this 20-week period, I have seen the abilities of Mr Tan as a Manager and as an employee and I am impressed by his strengths and abilities to deal with crisis and situations, which would definitely make him a worthy employee to have in the company.
Mr Tan has been working in Chan Brothers Travel for more than 10 years, initially as a freelance tour leader, and he was subsequently offered a managerial position in the Asia department. He has since taken up this responsibility for more than 2 years, assuming the position of Training Manager, Call Centre Manager, E-Commerce Manager, Retail Sales Manager, as well as Customer Service Manager. Holding so many titles, the job scope and workload of Mr Tan is definitely high compared to holding just one designation.
As the Training Manager, Mr Tan has taken the various batches of interns through the one week training session, teaching us the important skills such as telephone etiquette and practical skills like the usage of the Abacus Central Reservation system as well as the in-house system, which are essential skills to be used during the day-to-day operations. He also has very good knowledge about the products that the company is selling, and is always able to provide answers and solutions to questions about the various destinations due to his vast traveling experience.
During my internship, I have seen various occasions whereby Mr Tan had to deal with some difficult customers and certain complaint cases. He was very calm in handling the various situations no matter how unreasonable the customers were. He always managed to calm the customers down with his empathetic tone, to listen to his explanation and finally come to a consensus as to how to solve the problem. Mr Tan’s problem solving and crisis handling skills are skills that I am really impressed with. Besides, he also has good interpersonal relationships with his staff, and even interns like us. Mr Tan has a jovial nature and he never fails to bring joy and laughter to his staff, making the work environment less stressful and more enjoyable. However, Mr Tan draws a distinct line between work and play. When it comes to serious matters, Mr Tan has his strict and serious front which makes all the staff respect him.
The 20-week internship period at Chan Brothers Travel has been an enjoyable time and a great learning experience. I have acquired many important work and communication skills during this internship, most of them being imparted by Mr Tan. The internship would not have been so enjoyable without him, and I would not have been able to pick up so many life skills without his guidance. I thank Mr Tan for his constant guidance throughout my internship and his tolerance to the mistakes that I made in the course of work. Mr Tan has been a great supervisor, manager, friend, as well as teacher to me throughout my internship period and I truly appreciate the knowledge and skills that he has imparted to me.
Rebecca Koh T X (Aug 09)
Singapore Polytechnic (Dip Tourism & Resort Mgt)
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I had my 3 months internship in Chan Brothers Travel from May to July 2009. Mr Tan, as my trainer at that time, provided me and other interns an eye-opening, excellent one-week training, which was well-planned, well-executed, and thanks to Mr Tan’s great effort, I had gained a lot more specific product knowledge together with confidence during the one-week training. And as far as I know, Mr. Tan is one of few managers who are able to provide such a systematic and inspiring training to new guys like me in travel agent industry. I appreciate it very much.
As the manager in Chan Brothers, with all my respects, he is professional with amazing knowledge about the industry, effective and efficient with every task he is handling, beside this, a manager who is able to motivate staffs and form a strong group dynamic among all the staffs connect them all together and work as a group.
As a friend, he has gifted with a great sense of humor, he is the most humourous man I have ever met! Anytime you need help, he is there for you. Although my internship is just 3 months, he gives me courage and greater confidence to finally start making bold changes in my life!
Arthur Peng Yang (Jul 09)
Temasek Polytechnic (TAS)
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Mr Tan is the Manger of Asia Department in Chan Brothers Travel Pte Ltd as well as trainer for new staffs and internship students. I have known Mr Tan for 2 years since I was an intern under the Student Internship Programme (SIP) in Chan Brothers. At all times I have found him to be dependable, reliable, hard-working, conscientious, honest, peace-loving, friendly and courteous. Furthermore, I realized that he is someone who can multi-task in his various roles. He also has a natural teaching skill and the ability as a trainer. He always shares with us from his own experiences and believes that in conventional teaching and training the needs of the 'organisation' therefore he provide us related industry updates, learning content, design, and assessment. He also has certain prescribed skills and knowledge for experiential teaching method which interestingly also carries many benefits for us in term of external purposes. He would like to share his real experiences that we could not find on the text book. He trained us to be a good sale person as well as work effectively and efficiently. I am grateful to him been a good trainer as well as a good manager.
Aung San Kyaw (Feb 09)
Temasek Polytechnic DHTB 5 (TAS) |
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Mr Tan was my manager and trainer when I worked as a freelance at Chan Brothers Travel Pte Ltd, during September 2007 to December 2007. At that time, I was still an undergraduate of Temasek Polytechnic, doing the Diploma in Hospitality and Tourism Management course. During this period of time, I have learnt a lot more about the travel industry under his training and this has also groomed me to become a more matured person. Mr Tan is a professional, approachable and patient manager. He taught me from the basics of using the reservation system to handling difficult customers. I have observed how he deals with customer complaints, which I thought it is something I should learn from him. To be polite, precise, and always listen to what the customer feels before making any decisions. In addition, he is very experienced in his field of work and is especially knowledgeable about the countries in Asia. He was also always willing to give me a helping hand when I need help as well as clarifying my doubts whenever I have one. Hence, I felt very comfortable to approach him, not only for work purposes, but also for advices in life. With Mr Tan’s positive personal qualities and attitude towards work, I believe there is no doubt that he will excel and succeed in all his future endeavors.
Jade Liang (Dec 07)
Temasek Polytechnic DHT |
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I had my 3 months internship in Chan Brothers Travel from October to December 2007. Mr Tan, was my trainer at that time. I remember during the first day of training, My first impression of him is quite a strict man. As time goes by, I realised that Mr Tan were not only strict but humorous, showering me with care. When there were times I make some mistake at work, Mr Tan is the first person to help me to solve the problem and from that, i learnt many valuable lessons from him. From that day on, the way he helped me gave me full of drive, confidence and courage! The three months of internship, has been an enjoyable and a great learning experience for me, mainly because of my trainer. I have acquired many important communication skills, and learned about proper customer care. Most of these skills were imparted by Mr Tan. The internship would not have been enjoyable without him, and I would not have been able to pick up so many life skills without his guidance.
I would really love to thank Mr Tan for his constant guidance throughout my internship and his tolerance to the mistakes that I made in the course of work. Mr Tan has been a great supervisor, manager, friend, teacher as well as a family to me throughout my whole internship period and I truly appreciate the knowledge and skills that he has imparted to me.
Dion Sng (Dec 07)
ITE College West Clementi (Higher Nitec in Business Admin) |
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I was attached to Chan Brothers Travel for my industrial attachment for 11 weeks, under Mr Tan’s direct supervision. From this short period of time, I find that he is highly admired for his capabilities in his work, and interpersonal relationship with his staff is unquestionable. I have to say that Mr Tan has greatly enlightened me with his wisdom through his training, and he has been in the tourism industry for about a decade and he has good product knowledge about what he is selling, and fortunately he is the one who taught me the essential skills and knowledge that will come to use in my daily work in a travel agency, IT tools like Abacus Reservation System & WINRATS System, providing details about our package destinations and attractions and constructive knowledge that will enable me to execute the assigned task given by my superiors. His direct communication skill has resulted in a clear understanding in his explanation and he has enriched me with his wisdom. Within these 11 weeks, I was assigned to understudy in various departments, as call agent, back-of-house duties to handle airline tickets and hotel vouchers & counter sales consultant. Whether it is about ticketing, operation, retail sales and details about our package destination, Mr Tan has never failed to provide an accurate answer to me whenever I am in doubt. During my internship, I was also very impressed with Mr Tan’s abilities. He is responsible for many roles in the department and he has demonstrated his skill in planning and time-management. When I was working as the sales counter, he was highly respected by our staff. He demonstrates the ability to stay calm in handling complaint cases and he is quick in problem solving and coming up with alternative solutions for the customers. I have to say that Mr Tan is wise and highly skilled leader who is essential to our department. I would like to express my gratitude to Mr Tan for his enormous effort and his guidance along the way. I have to say that he is a excellent leader that is wise, inspiring, productive, hard-working & reliable. I wish him all the best in his future endeavours and would highly recommend any employer to hire him.
Ong Jun Jie (Dec 07)
ITE College West (Nitec in Service Skill (Tourism) |
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