- 2 days ago
Foodpanda Malaysia's Managing Director Tan Ming Luk opens up about purpose-driven leadership, supporting riders, and transforming SMEs in a rapidly evolving digital economy.
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00:00Foodpanda plays a major role in Malaysia's gig economy.
00:03How is the company creating meaningful and sustainable opportunities for riders and delivery
00:09partners beyond just income?
00:13And we always try to put ourselves in the shoes of the vendor to understand what are
00:18their pain points.
00:19It could actually just be up and running within a day.
00:22Yeah.
00:23Every day is a gratification, right?
00:24Because when we see orders get delivered, riders earn money, and it's all in real time.
00:28We see these data.
00:37Welcome back to another episode of Life Confessions.
00:40And again, I'm excited to meet another person who's going to be sharing with us their life
00:45and journey through business and maybe some personal stuff as well.
00:49He is the managing director at Foodpanda Malaysia, Tan Ming Luk.
00:53Thanks for joining us, Ming.
00:54Thank you, Terry.
00:55Thank you for having me.
00:56Ming, you are a person who, from the outside looking in, people will just assume it's
01:01just consumed by your work.
01:02Would that be a safe assumption to make?
01:05Yeah.
01:06It is.
01:07It is.
01:08But I try to balance work with some personal activities and spending time in the family
01:12as well.
01:13Right.
01:14Does it work?
01:15Not really.
01:16I think work consumes most of the time right now.
01:17We're going to learn more about you and the journey that you've been on now.
01:20You are leading Foodpanda Malaysia through a fast-changing digital economy.
01:25How would you describe your leadership approach in guiding the organization through shifting
01:30consumer behaviors and even technological change?
01:34So, I think it's driven by two core aspects.
01:39One is impact-driven.
01:41Second, agility.
01:42I think impact-driven, I mean, whatever we do, I think it has to create impact for the
01:48business, for our customers, for our riders, and also for our vendors, right?
01:52Right.
01:53What that means is, you know, for our vendors, we want to make sure that they're able to generate
01:57sizable orders on our platform.
02:00For consumers, I think it's all about choice and affordability, able to find the right vendors
02:05at the right time and ensuring that the price is also affordable.
02:09And then for riders, to make sure that they have, you know, flexible working opportunities,
02:15right?
02:16Right.
02:17It means creating more shifts for them, right?
02:19You know, increasing the zones where they can, you know, deliver further and more.
02:24There's so many moving parts to what you have to do.
02:28What does purpose-driven leadership mean to you, especially in a company that touches
02:33everyday life from millions of consumers to riders, to small businesses?
02:38Yeah.
02:39So, I think it goes back to that first question.
02:40I think purpose-driven means, you know, able to, you know, create impact for, I would say,
02:45I wouldn't call them partners.
02:47I'll just call them stakeholders, right?
02:49For these three stakeholders.
02:50Because Food Panda is an ecosystem of the vendors, the consumers, and also our riders.
02:58And obviously, the last, most important pillar is also employees, right?
03:02So, you know, whatever we do, we want to make sure that employees have the opportunities
03:07to grow their careers and creating something impactful as well.
03:10Right.
03:10In a position that you're in, you often have to, most people would assume, often have to
03:17find that balance between managing the people around you, both in the work that they do,
03:22and also emotionally, like, trying to find a way to balance that.
03:27Is that a struggle as well?
03:28No, I don't think it's a struggle.
03:30I think, so we have, like, employee engagement programs all the time.
03:36We also have, like, recently we have, we do a, you know, twice a year employee surveys, right?
03:42To kind of understand, you know, what their challenges are.
03:47You know, what are we doing well?
03:49What could we do better?
03:51And what we should stop doing, right?
03:53I think, so that's how we try to balance the workload and also their personal development
04:00and personal well-being as well.
04:02Right. Speaking of the development side of Foodpanda and when it comes to the people who
04:09work for you or under you or with you, Foodpanda plays a major role in Malaysia's gig economy.
04:15How is the company creating meaningful and sustainable opportunities
04:19for riders and delivery partners beyond just income?
04:24Yeah, it's a good question. I think, number one, a requirement for the riders or what they
04:31need is, obviously, you know, to have that flexible opportunity to work anytime, right?
04:38Right. Whenever they want.
04:41That's one, the flexibility. I think, secondly, it's about protection.
04:45Third is about safety. Fourth would be financial security, right?
04:50So, in terms of protection, what we do is, like, we provide 24-7 accident coverage.
04:55Okay.
04:56Not just for them, but also for their family members, right?
05:00All family members, like immediate family.
05:02Yeah, immediate family members. Another form of protection is insurance, right, for them.
05:08Then in terms of safety, we have a couple of safety training programs where, for example,
05:14we teach them about defensive, you know, riding skills.
05:19First aid training, CPRs, that's...
05:25Well, that's a lot.
05:26Yeah. So, we also have, like, you know, sometimes we have this
05:30Motobite helmet exchange, right? So, they can bring their old helmets in and then get a new one at,
05:36you know, very cheap price, right?
05:37Okay.
05:38So, then financial security, because, you know, a lot of them don't have...
05:43Their work, it's really not a long-term, you know, sustainable income, right?
05:52So, what they need is ways of income management and also financial planning.
05:59Okay.
06:00So, we work, like, with BSN to provide all these trainings to them on how they manage their wealth and income.
06:10Is this all optional? Are there some things that they must, are required to participate in?
06:15Or is it all just optional?
06:16It's all optional.
06:17Okay.
06:18Yeah.
06:18How many people, how many riders or partners do you find actually participate in it?
06:23Quite a fair bit. I think we have, like, quite a fair bit of them participating in this program.
06:28Right. Yeah.
06:29And based on the feedback that you've been getting, are there things that they ask for that you're still working on?
06:35I think, I think one is, I think we should do more engagement programs, right?
06:42We do them, but I think we can increase the frequency, right? So, like, having more
06:48rider appreciation events, right? Across all the states, right? Because we are presence in all states.
06:56Secondly, it's, you know, continue to, you know, deepen our focus on safety.
07:03Right.
07:03Right. I think we do have these programs, but like you said, not everybody participate.
07:08Right. So, I think we want to get more of them participating in these programs.
07:11Right.
07:12Yeah. I think the number of programs is sufficient. You're just getting more participants.
07:15Right. To get them involved.
07:17Correct.
07:18There is this ongoing public discussion about rider welfare and income stability in gig work.
07:24You've mentioned about some of the ways that you've tried to implement learning modules and
07:29also ways to better manage finances, right? How is, how else is FoodPanda working to humanize the
07:35rider experience and strengthen support systems on the, on the ground? I think maybe one of the things that
07:42people would like to know is, is working as a rider for FoodPanda, is it supposed to be seen
07:48as a part-time job or can it be seen as something that you do full-time?
07:52Um, no. So, we have some group of riders that actually work close to full-time, right?
07:57I say actually more than full-time. Some of them work like, you know, more than 50 hours.
08:01Right. Right. And, and some of them work one hour a week. So, I think the beauty of it is
08:08they are, they have the flexibility to work anytime and for any duration, right? So, I mean,
08:14we don't penalize them, right? Actually, we, what we do is actually incentivize them to work more.
08:19Yeah.
08:20Yeah. So, they can, you know, earn much more money.
08:23Right.
08:24And how do we support them? A couple of ways, right? So, we have, you know, a partner support team,
08:31right? Which they can contact via email, chat, and also via the app, right? Right.
08:38Um, so that they can, you know, voice out any complaints, any grievances, right? And then we
08:44also have a team on the ground, rider engagement team, right? To address any complaints that they
08:50have, to also help with, you know, onboarding riders when they, you know, when they join us,
08:55provide trainings. Right. Um, and on top of that, all the programs that I mentioned, right?
09:01Right. In terms of protection and safety and financial, uh, well-being.
09:05Right. It sounds like you really do care about the experience that the riders have. And when it
09:11comes to, um, being able to contribute, you've also mentioned all the various different ways
09:18that you've done that. But when it comes to the issue of sometimes dealing with the public opinion,
09:23right, we've seen public criticism at times, including conversations about rider pay and
09:28rider strike incidents. How does Foodpanda address difficult or controversial issues transparently,
09:34while still protecting the dignity of the riders and the trust of the, of the public? It seems like a,
09:39a difficult balance to maintain. Um, it is, but I think when there's any incidences or grievances,
09:47the first thing that we do is to listen to them, right? Um, so we'll go to the ground,
09:53right? Have town halls, right? Have like focus groups to kind of understand,
09:59you know, what's the root cause of the grievances, right? And then we work,
10:03when we collect the feedback and try to come up with solutions to address them. Right. Um, obviously
10:09we can't address everything, right? Um, but we try to address the ones that have the most, uh,
10:15impact on them. Right. Based on what you know, do you, how, what is the, um, demographic of the riders
10:22in terms of age? Are most of them within a particular age group? Yeah, I would say like majority
10:27of them, like 20, 35. Right. Between 20 and 35 years. Correct. Correct. Right.
10:32Is there a way for upward mobility for, for riders within the company, for them to be promoted,
10:41so to say, so to speak? Yeah. Um, no, but actually we did hire some of the riders into our workforce.
10:48Right. Right. Uh, to help out with rider engagement. So they are full-time employees.
10:53Oh, got it. Yeah. But a lot of them also do not want to be employed full-time because they prefer
11:01the flexibility. Right. It's, it's what they want is exactly what they want. Correct. Correct.
11:06Right. Correct. And do you find that most of the riders, uh, come from the city or are they,
11:12are many of them, do they come from more rural areas? Uh, combination of both. Okay. I would say
11:1750, 50. So that's like in KL, a lot of them come from the urban areas. Right. Yeah. And engagement with,
11:24um, between riders and, uh, the businesses and the public, how is that normally, um, resolved?
11:31Um, so what we do is usually is we'll go down to speak to the riders to understand grievances.
11:39So usually the group of riders will come. So we have, so we also have, uh, senior riders who are
11:44advocates. Right. Right. So they will help, you know, get the feedback from the other riders. Yeah.
11:50So that's one way. Secondly, it's like I said, we will have town halls, focus groups,
11:54where we go down to really understand, um, the grievances, right? If authorities are involved,
11:59then there'll be a, you know, three party, uh, collaboration, right? How can we, you know,
12:05address, uh, the grievances of the riders also, um, helping the government to, you know, resolve any, um,
12:14um, issues in terms of policy and regulation. There's an entire team dedicated to doing this
12:20or how does it work? Yes, we have an entire team that focuses on our rider engagement. Right.
12:24Yeah. That sounds like one of the most hardest working teams in the company possibly.
12:29Yeah. It is. It is. It is.
12:31Now, when it comes to the local SMEs and vendors who are participate and are part of your partners,
12:37right? Like local merchants from small hawker stalls to family run shops, which is one of the things I
12:42really appreciate about Foodpanda actually, because I can find that little chicken rice shop
12:47that I like around the corner, right? They've, they've had to go, they've had to go through a
12:51digital platform or become digitized through Foodpanda. What challenges do SMEs face when
12:57transitioning to digital and how do you help them succeed in the long term rather than just,
13:03you know, just sign up and now you're just a part of us? How do you help them?
13:06Yeah. So a couple of phases. I think the first phase is to, when they come on board,
13:11is to, we have an onboarding program where we guide them on how to set up a shop, set up their menu,
13:19right? How to provide, how to take pictures that will attract customers, right? So the really basic
13:27step, how to generate their first order. Right. And then we'll also guide them on, so we also provide
13:33tools, right? And, and to help them to, I think once you get on board, there's thousands of vendors,
13:41right? So I think you want to stand out, right? So once you get the basics right, like your menu,
13:49like a pictures, right? It's how do you stand out in the search, right? Because when like Google,
13:54right? When you search, there's tens of thousands or maybe hundreds of vendors, right? Depending on the
13:59location. So we provide the tools, like for example, they could buy ad credits, right? So
14:06they can get a jump in their search listing, right? So for example, someone searches chicken
14:11rice and that, that person in chicken rice vendor, right? You can bid for those keywords and then get
14:16a boost. Got it. Right. So then also we help drive conversion. So once you get, once you get found,
14:26you want people to check out your item, right? So we, they can participate in deals and promotions,
14:32right? To kind of nudge customers to, you know, order their food. Right. Do you find that since
14:40you have so many vendors that are actually smaller SMEs as well, do they do as well in the digital,
14:49on a digital platform such as yourself? Yeah, yeah, they do. They do. I mean,
14:53you can't compare like for like, like, you know, versus the big brands and KFC, you know, right? So
14:58it's different. But for, for their size, they do sizable amount of orders. Right. And when it comes to
15:07being approved to be on the platform, what are the requirements that a smaller SME would need to be
15:14able to be onboarded? Actually, we're not very stringent. I think all we need is, you know,
15:18the basic KYC requirements like IC address and SSM certificate. Right. That's it. And that's it.
15:26And you can start. Correct. Are you allowed to also be like a home-based business? Yeah,
15:31we do have home chefs as well. Right. Yeah. So even if you don't have a physical brick and mortar,
15:36actually actual cafe, and you just want to do deliveries, you can do that as well? Yeah,
15:40yeah. We have quite a number of vendors like this. Right. Yeah. They deliver cookies,
15:45they deliver home-cooked food. Right. Yeah. There was a lot of them during COVID. But right now,
15:51that number has dwindled down a bit. Right. Because I think people went back to their normal
15:57day-to-day jobs. Right. I'm always curious to know when it comes to the vendors and the partners who
16:04sell their food online, how many of them stay on? Like, what is the turnover rate?
16:13Oh, you mean they stay on the platform? Yeah. Actually, if you, you don't have to quit,
16:19right? You're always on the platform. Okay. You just have to turn off your device. Then you're not
16:24active. You're not active. Right. But, and you can turn on anytime. You can just operate for one
16:30hour. You can operate for two hours. Right. Right. Because we, we don't really have restrictions on it.
16:35But obviously we try to incentivize them to, you know, have a longer schedule hours. Like,
16:40okay. I think right now the requirement is just 30 hours a week. All right. Yeah. So do most
16:45people, or is there a percentage or ratio of the number of businesses that are onboarded and then
16:50choose to be inactive? Uh, no, not many. Most of them still continue with us. All right. Yeah.
16:57That's a very good. The trend rates are quite low. Unless the business shut down. All right.
17:01It does, does that happen frequently as well? Uh, yes, but I wouldn't say frequently,
17:07but there, there are, but not, not that frequent. Right. Pricing is one of the things that also crops
17:11up when, whenever we make purchases online, which is like, you'll realize not all businesses do this,
17:17but sometimes when you make a purchase online, the item might be slightly more expensive than it would
17:22be when you actually go to the physical restaurant or shop, right? Who determines whether the pricing
17:28should be higher or lower or stay the same? So we, we don't have strict, um, requirements on it,
17:37but it's, but as, um, guiding principle, we'll tell them not to do markups. Okay. Right. Uh, but we
17:45don't enforce it. Right. Strictly. Right. Uh, because I mean, we tell them, right, if you do a higher markup
17:53and there's thousands of, uh, restaurants there that don't do it right, then your competitiveness
18:00gets impacted. Right. Because there's something, someone else that they could purchase the same item
18:05from. Correct. Correct. Most of them markup a bit because of, uh, container fees. All right.
18:11The packaging. Yeah. Yeah. But not significant. All right. Could you share specific programs,
18:17partnerships, or training initiatives that have helped vendors or writers grow, whether digital
18:22skills, business understanding, or personal development? You've already mentioned about
18:26onboarding and how you help them get started. Yeah. But beyond that? Uh, so we have this online help
18:32that's always there. They can just go into the vendor portal to, uh, get access to a library of, uh,
18:38you know, to how to's, right? Do's and don'ts. Right. We also conduct periodic, uh, training programs,
18:45right? Virtual training programs for vendors, right? Across different topics, right? Like, you know, uh,
18:52how do I optimize my menu? How do I gain more orders, uh, during a specific peak season? What type of
18:58promotion should I run? Um, yeah. So whole host of topics that I run, um, you know, periodically. Right.
19:05And, uh, for riders, I think it's, you know, the programs that I mentioned, right? The financial,
19:10uh, literacy programs, the safety programs that we run for them. I'm curious, where the, where's this
19:16information curated from? Who goes out and looks for what helps a vendor or a rider? Ah. Where does the
19:25information come from? So it's, uh, from the feedback that we get from, uh, vendors, right? Right. And we always
19:31try to put our shoes, uh, put ourselves in the shoes of the vendor to understand, you know, what are their
19:35pain points? Um, and we have like, you know, surveys all the time, right? We also get feedback from, you know,
19:43the partner support, right? Where they come in and drop, you know, what, what help they need. So from that,
19:49from that insights, we create all these trainings. Right. Yeah.
19:53Yeah. Let's say I'm a person who wanted to onboard myself right now. Is there, guide me through that
20:03process. I want to start now. You said all I need is my SSM and then I need to have an IC. Yeah. Right.
20:10And then is there, what's the fee that I pay or how does it work? So you just have to go online.
20:15There's a partner portal, right? There where you self sign up because it's self sign up portal. Okay.
20:21Right. You just have to fill in your details, including address, because we need to know where
20:26your location is. Right. And then once you fill up all this, right, there's someone to contact you,
20:32right, to complete the, to verify your details, complete the process, and then give you onboarding,
20:41right, to how to list on the platform. That's it. That's it. So it's so convenient.
20:45Yeah. I could actually just be up and running within a day. Yeah. Within a day. Yes.
20:52That's so convenient. I didn't realize it was that simple. Yeah. It is. It is. Now,
20:56the meaning of convenience, right, is changing. And consumers today care about speed, value,
21:03healthier choices, sustainability, and experience as well. How is Foodpanda adapting its services to
21:10meet what Malaysians want next, not just what they want now?
21:15So we use AI, we adopt AI in our app, right, to help provide smarter recommendations, right? So that's
21:24how we anticipate, hope to anticipate what consumers want. We also are very close to the F&B industry to
21:34kind of spot what are the emerging trends, and also what the trends are, right? So for example,
21:40if a particular dish is very popular right now, we'll run, you know, more campaigns and promotions.
21:44Oh, right.
21:45Or, you know, a particular dish is up and coming, we're trying to acquire more vendors,
21:51right, to make sure you leverage on the trend.
21:54Right.
21:55Yeah. So it's a combination of AI and also being close to the realm.
22:00Is this information then shared with the current vendors already, so that they could also know,
22:06like, oh, maybe I need to add another item to my menu, and then I'd be able to push this trend
22:13as well.
22:14Yeah, we do that. And sometimes they have, like, limited time offers, right?
22:17Yeah.
22:17They're just a menu.
22:18Right. So, like, during festive seasons, there's special deals that happens.
22:22Correct. Correct. And do you find that the participation is high when it comes to,
22:29I know that there are always these special offers that happen around festive seasons,
22:34right? Is that an opt-in thing for vendors, or do they automatically have to be a part of it?
22:40No, it's opt-in. Yeah, they opt-in, right? We encourage it because, you know, if you, you know,
22:47abide by this, typically we see, you know, higher percentage of sales, right? So that's how
22:52typically our guidance to them.
22:53Right.
22:54Yeah.
22:54Now, Food Panda is known as a tech platform, but it also plays a role in building community,
23:00right? How do you maintain a sense of local connection and responsibility, even as services
23:07scale nationwide?
23:09Yeah. So we have local teams of, like, account managers, right, based in all the states where
23:16we continue to engage with our vendors, right, existing vendors, right? So we also have sales
23:22teams that, you know, go out to meet prospective vendors to get them on board, right, to help them
23:27increase their income. And for riders, we have our rider engagement teams across the states,
23:32right, to make sure that we stay close to the riders.
23:37Right. If you look at the beginnings and this point that you're at right now, this journey
23:45that you've been on, how would you grade or consider your growth?
23:53I think it's been an amazing journey so far. I've been with the company for 15 months right now, close
24:01to 15 months. Yeah. It's amazing because I've got to meet so many, you know, vendors, right, so many
24:07businesses and able to help them, you know, grow their income, right? And also educate them on, you know,
24:16how to digitalize their business, right? So for consumers, you know, every day we touch thousands
24:24of consumer lives, right? You know, providing convenience, saving time so they could, you know,
24:30spend more time in their family, they could use that time to, you know, for their hobbies, right?
24:37And then for our riders, it's, you know, provide them with earning opportunities.
24:42Right. And being in the position you're in, one of the things you have to always consider is
24:47looking forward, right? Having vision for the future. Looking ahead, what is your
24:52long-term vision for Food Panda Malaysia's role in society? Not just in business terms, but in
24:58influencing the future of work, community empowerment, and digital convenience in Malaysia?
25:04Because you're such a recognizable brand already, and I'm sure that you feel pressure to do more.
25:10Yeah, I think we just want to be, in terms of business, we want to be the go-to platform for
25:15food and grocery delivery. Beyond Business is about, you know, empowering the merchants,
25:23right? So they could, you know, come on board our platform, digitalize their business and, you know,
25:28increase the order volumes. Convenience is continuing, I mean, for consumers, it's continuing driving
25:33convenience for them, right? And also affordability. And then for our riders, it's continue providing
25:40flexible working opportunities.
25:43You've seen patterns, I'm sure, in the purchasing habits of the people who utilize your services.
25:51What seems popular? What can you tell us about something that we wouldn't realize if we were not
25:57looking, like, what becomes a trend? What, what, how do you see these things that become popular?
26:04What determines it? I guess an example, like, are we surprised that maybe grapes went up during
26:10January or something like that? Yeah. So we have trends, right? So we look at it, what, what spikes,
26:15right? Yeah. These seasonality trends. Yeah.
26:18So it does happen, you know, when, you know, when K-drama is popular, a lot of Korean food spikes up.
26:25Like, during, like, football season, it's more pizzas. Oh, really? Yeah.
26:30Pizzas are very popular. Even Malaysians. Yes.
26:32That surprises me a little bit. Yeah. Right? It's not the nasi lemak, it's pizza.
26:36Yeah, pizza. Malaysians are a little disappointed in you.
26:39Yeah. Yeah, so we see all those trends, right? I think fried chicken is always evergreen.
26:44Ah. Yeah. Yes. Because it cuts across culture.
26:47Yes, the cholesterol medication would reveal that as well. Yeah, yeah.
26:53Like that, yeah. Right. So, yourself, you've been in the company now for 15 months, you say, right?
27:00Yeah, correct. That would, it would be safe to say that you're relatively fresh in the company.
27:06Yeah, still. Every day is day one for us. What's been a surprise to you, being a part of Food Panda?
27:11I think the surprise is, I didn't know how big the food delivery market was until I joined Food Panda, right?
27:22It's very sizable. Yeah.
27:25What industry were you in before joining Food Panda?
27:27So, hospitality and also in hospitality tech and also in a fintech.
27:35Okay. So, would you say it was a big swing to take on this new position?
27:43Yeah, it is. It is. It is. A different industry, but I still learn a lot.
27:46Do you feel like work is all-consuming and something that you appreciate on a personal level?
27:51Yes, I do appreciate it because as long as the work creates impact, right? Which I believe we do, right, as a company. So, yeah, I really enjoy the work.
28:05Right. What's the gratification that you get out of what you do?
28:08I think when we, so every day is a gratification, right? Because when we see orders get delivered, writers and money, and it's all in real time, we see these data.
28:16Yeah. And when it comes to that now seemingly age-old question, even though it's not age-old, but it feels like this is a question that seems to have to be asked of every person who is adopting a lifestyle that involves a lot of work. How do you find that work-life balance?
28:35I think work-life balance differs across people. I think for me, it's, I always try to, you know, make sure that I have time in the evening to, you know, spend time with my family, right? So I try to block some time, right? And then after that, I may continue working.
28:56But for me, I don't see it as a burden. I see it as something that I enjoy doing.
29:08Because you've just given us an interesting insight into your daily life, which is you work, work, work, work, you go back home, and then you make sure you have some family time, and then you continue working.
29:18Yeah, usually I try to block like one hour at the night, right, to kind of digest, reflect on what happened for the day and also to plan for the upcoming days.
29:31Right. So there's work, there's family. Is there much time for just you? Is that something that's important to you?
29:38Yeah. So on weekends, I try to go hiking, trail running on Saturdays. So I block like one half hours.
29:45Right. And touch grass, so to speak. Yeah. Yeah, we hear that a lot too. Yeah. And you're a relatively young person, I would say, to be in the position that you're in as well. Do you find that to be a challenge sometimes?
29:58No, I don't think I'm that young, but.
30:02Relatively.
30:02No, I don't think it's a challenge. As long as you are able to get the respect of your team and the vendors and the consumers and, you know, create impact, I think age is just a number, right? As long as you create impact.
30:20On that same note, saying that age is just a number, because due to the nature, considering the nature of the industry that you're in, there are a lot of young people in the workforce that's involved in Food Panda.
30:34And this young workforce has some less than desirable assumptions that are made of them.
30:48What are your thoughts on the young workforce these days?
30:51I think the young workforce are, I think they're more educated right now. They're more, I think they care more a lot about, you know, personal well-being, work-life balance, right?
31:09So I don't think it's wrong. We just have to respect them and create avenues for them to, you know, flourish, right? And I mean, we can't fight the trend. I think this is where, you know, the workforce is hitting. I think we just have to adapt, right? And find ways to get the best out of them.
31:30Right. Now we've come to the rapid fire question part of this conversation. So the first thing that comes to mind is what you share with us. And it could change tomorrow. But for today, this is what you're thinking. All right, here we go. Your go-to comfort food after a long day?
31:51Nasi lemak.
31:51Ah, but ayam goreng or daging?
31:55Oh, the traditional one.
31:58Yes.
31:58Right. With a telur goreng or telur rebus?
32:03Both. Why not?
32:04Both?
32:05Yeah. Wow.
32:06Overachievement. Well done. Okay. One business or tech innovation you admire right now?
32:11I think it would be AI. That's because I think it helps improve decision-making, automate tasks, right? And I think it could also help solve complex problems like disease diagnosis and climate change.
32:27Oh, this is a can of worms question. Even though it's supposed to be rapid fire, I feel I have to have a follow-up on this one. Because it does all the things that you just said. Is it replacing people?
32:37If you look at technology over the years, right? It will replace some work, but I think it will eventually create more work as well, right? Because it opens up new possibilities which requires new work.
32:54Like, you know, you look at the people who thought like, you know, machinery will replace humans.
33:00Yeah.
33:00No, I think it just created more work, right?
33:03Right.
33:04So, using that as an example, we are hoping that is the future that we see. We can't be certain, but that's the hope.
33:10That's the hope.
33:11Right. But if we start seeing more people losing jobs and gaining jobs, it will be a reflection, a true-to-life reflection of what's actually happening.
33:19And in the event of that happening, in your opinion, do you think that companies, especially larger companies, have a responsibility to put people first?
33:31Because I understand there's a balance between employees and the board of directors and making earnings.
33:39I think we need to find that balance. I don't know what a balance is, but I think, because we also have a duty to the stakeholders or shareholders, right?
33:51But also we have a duty to the communities where we serve, right?
33:56Right.
33:57Yeah, I don't have an answer to that, but I think we need to find that balance.
34:00That's an honest answer, yeah. Keep walking that very difficult and narrow tightrope.
34:07Yeah, it is.
34:08Yeah, okay. Back to rapid-fire questions.
34:12A leadership lesson that has stayed with you over the years?
34:17I think it would be treat others like how you want to be treated.
34:20Because I think that it's a simple guide, but I think it kind of fosters empathy, right?
34:27And also helps you overcome the inclination of selfishness.
34:34Is that kind of lacking when you look around you sometimes?
34:38I think people do it in different ways, right?
34:40It's like putting yourself in the shoes of your customers.
34:43That's one way of looking at it, right?
34:45I don't think we're lacking in it.
34:49It's just sometimes we just, it doesn't surface at the right time.
34:54And we need to remind ourselves that it's an important part of not just running a business,
34:58but being a person, right?
34:59One word your team would use to describe you, which is interesting because two members of your team are actually in this room,
35:06sitting on the side right now.
35:09I think probably empathy, empathetic and detail-oriented.
35:14Oh, right.
35:15A Malaysian dish you think deserves international fame?
35:20And you can't say nasi lemak.
35:21Oh, I can't?
35:22Because you already said nasi lemak just now.
35:24I've got to take that off the list.
35:26Nasi kanda?
35:28I'm from Penang, so that should have been the first choice anyway.
35:34Alright.
35:34A quote or principle you try to live by?
35:41Quote or principle?
35:43I think we have to do more active listening.
35:45I think active listening is important in our everyday lives, not just for work, but also for your, like I said, everyday life, right?
35:55Describe what active listening means to you, because I can just imagine someone else listening and hearing active listening and going,
36:01yeah, I do that, I listen.
36:02But what does active listening actually mean?
36:04So I think it's, you know, really listening to others, right?
36:10And then not just listening, but also really paying attention to what that person has said and also showing respect, right?
36:22Because I think active listening is beneficial because it helps, you know, build a stronger trust with someone.
36:30Because if you show that you really care about that person, I think that will help build that trust.
36:35It also helps with problem solving because you really listen and understand what the issues are, you come up with better solutions.
36:43Right.
36:43Instead of listening and for the purpose of replying.
36:47So many people listen with the intention of just getting ready to jump in with their own opinion.
36:53But to actually digest information before you decide to spew words back at someone.
36:59Correct.
37:00Right.
37:01But this is a question we ask all of our guests.
37:04So consider the fact, let's say, if you had the opportunity to make one change as Prime Minister of Malaysia for a day, what would it be and why?
37:15I don't think I ever get to being a PM, but what I can say is, Food Panda as a whole is committed to working with the government of the day to strengthen the gig economy and empower more merchants.
37:30Right.
37:30So what you would do is then make it easier to empower the gig economy.
37:35Yeah, correct.
37:36And our merchants as well.
37:38Let's say it happened.
37:39Let's say you're Prime Minister, you can make this happen.
37:41And what would that first step be towards improving the gig economy?
37:46I think it's to, I think we need to provide more support system to encourage gig workers.
37:52Right.
37:53A lot of people still see this as, you know, non-favorable work.
37:57Right.
37:59Yeah.
37:59So I think we need to treat it as a more, you know, more, how is this?
38:05Yeah, treat them more like a proper group of workers.
38:12Because many people see gig work as transitional work.
38:16It's something that you do temporarily before getting a, so to speak, real job.
38:22Right.
38:23And of course, you don't feel that way.
38:25No, actually, the number one reason why our riders work for us is because for additional income.
38:34Right.
38:34Yeah, a lot of them have their own, most of them have other jobs.
38:39So they use this as a way to, you know, to gain additional income.
38:44That's the number one.
38:45Second is flexibility.
38:47Some of them used to have, you know, proper jobs before, full-time jobs.
38:52But they transition to the gig work is because they wanted that flexibility.
38:57Right.
38:57Based on the feedback that you've gotten from riders, do you find that they are sometimes
39:03disrespected by maybe customers or just the general public sometimes?
39:09Is that a situation that arises?
39:12I think it used to be at the start.
39:13But right now, I think we've seen, you know, people are more respectful to them because you've
39:21seen, like, the hardship they've gone through, right?
39:22It's not easy delivering an order.
39:24Right.
39:25It's tough.
39:25I deliver orders before, right?
39:28And it's not easy, especially...
39:29You did it yourself.
39:30Yeah, yeah, yeah.
39:30Right.
39:31As part of the onboarding.
39:32Right.
39:33Yeah.
39:34Yeah.
39:34And we've seen that...
39:35So we have a function where you can tip riders.
39:38So we've seen that amount increase substantially.
39:40Right.
39:41Over the years.
39:42Right.
39:42So it's a sign that, you know, people do, you know, respect.
39:46Right.
39:47That's so important because it is real work, Nomad.
39:49Any work and everyone deserves respect.
39:52Correct.
39:52And it's always a little strange when you find anyone finding in themselves to disrespect
39:57someone for any reason.
39:59Yeah.
39:59Least of all for a legitimate way of making money and earning a living.
40:04Correct.
40:04Right.
40:05We appreciate you for joining us here today.
40:06And before we let you go, this is one last question I think we'll insert a little earlier,
40:10actually.
40:10Okay.
40:11Which is, what do you think differentiates Foodpanda from your competitors?
40:17Like you rightfully pointed out earlier, I think we have a lot of smaller vendors.
40:21Right.
40:22Your neighborhood stores, your local heroes.
40:25I think that's our strength.
40:28And that's because we just, you know, we don't discriminate and we want to empower all
40:32merchants, right?
40:33Small and big.
40:34I think that's our greatest strength.
40:35I think we...
40:38Rider Network.
40:39I think we have one of the largest rider network.
40:42And I think we're...
40:44We deliver more zones than, you know, our competitors.
40:48Right.
40:48More zones, meaning you'd have a wider...
40:51Wider coverage.
40:52Right.
40:52So, some places...
40:54Rating, yeah.
40:54...that don't...
40:55That are not catered to by your competitors, you are there.
40:59Correct.
41:00Right.
41:00Right.
41:01Thank you so much, Ming, for joining us.
41:03We appreciate you for joining us here today.
41:05And we look forward...
41:06I look forward to ordering that next nasi kanda.
41:10I hope so.
41:11And not nasi lemak.
41:12No, thank you very much for having me.
41:16Right.
41:16With us today, Tan Mingluk, Managing Director of Food Panda Malaysia on Live Confessions.
41:21We'll see you on the next episode.
41:24Nice.
41:25We'll see you on the next episode.
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