By MAJORIE CHIEWmaj@thestar.com.my

H E STARTED out as a waiter,then became a butler andprogressed to guest rela-

tions officer. One thing led to anoth-er and today, Joseph Lim Yew Menghas a career many would envy. Hehandles pearl jewellery for Germancompany Schoeffel Pearls. AsSchoeffel’s Asia Pacific manager, heis based in Sydney, Australia.

In the course of his work, hecounts himself lucky to have metdiplomats and celebrities.

Since Lim had lived with hisparents all his life, the thought ofworking to support himself neveroccurred to him. It was only whenhe arrived in Australia in 2001 thathe felt he didn’t want to burden hisparents with his living expenses asthe university tuition fees werealready so high.

“I was a waiter in a Cambodianrestaurant in the trendy city suburbof Darlinghurst in Sydney. I waslucky to land the job, despite havingno experience,” says Lim in an e-mail interview.

“Apart from balancing trays,opening wine bottles and polishingwine glasses, I also developedpeople skills and interacted withstrangers freely. The ability toengage in conversation proved to bea useful skill even today.”

In mid-2003, Lim moved toCanberra to further his education.

He found work there as a tea

lounge attendant in the five-starHyatt Hotel Canberra that housesvisiting international diplomats.

“I worked my way up to becomea waiter in the hotel’s fine diningrestaurant, supervising the VIPlounge and later, was promoted tobutler.

“I had the opportunity to look

after many world leaders,” hereveals, adding that his “mostremarkable experience” was talkingwith then prime minister Datuk Seri(Tun) Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.“The first time he saw me, he asked,‘You are Malaysian, aren’t you?’ Onemorning, I served him a glass ofcold fruit juice and he coughedthroughout the day. I felt so guilty!”Lim says.

“On his last day, he showed me agolf bag madeout of kangarooskin that was agift from thenAustralian primeminister, JohnHoward. Thatevening, I had toexcuse myself early to make it formy class. He asked me to wait whilehe went up to his room. When hereturned, he gave me two colourfulnotes. That was my tip and I kept itfor three years before using them inLondon,” he says.

After completing his Mastersdegree in Canberra, he moved backto Sydney in 2005. He took up a jobas guest relations officer at the ClubLounge of InterContinental Hotelthere.

“The lounge located at CircularQuay offers a view of the entireSydney harbour and the inner eastsuburbs. It is the most spectacularview in Sydney.”

The hotel also hosted internation-al celebrities the likes of JenniferAniston, Michael Buble, Joan Rivers,Pink, Pussycat Dolls and ScissorSisters. Part of his job was to lookafter them.

“I was there when Nicole Kidmancelebrated her hen’s night withNaomi Watts and I told her howprivileged I felt to have her there.

“David Hasselholf, a truly funnyguy, asked me where I was from. Itold him Malaysia, but I think he

had no idea where the country is.Nevertheless, I told him we were allbig fans of Baywatch and KnightRider. He said he would visitMalaysia one day. I pointed out tohim where Malaysia is on the worldmap!” says Lim.

In 2006, his aunt recommended ajob in a pearl jewellery companybased in Germany.

“It came at the right time becausemy permanent residency (for

Australia) wasgranted then. Iwas having agreat timeworking in thehospitality tradebut felt I neededa serious

career,” he says. He flew fromSydney to Hong Kong for the inter-view and was hired three days later.

He arrived in Stuttgart in Octoberthat year; it was his first trip toEurope.

“Stuttgart is a small city. At theairport, there was only one luggagebelt! I told myself, this is not good,”reminisces Lim. “Whilst drivingback to the office, I noticed thateverything was grey and misty.There were no highrise buildingsand or big billboards. As a city boy, Ipanicked!”

They put him up in a small cityhotel for a week. It was a completeculture shock for him.

As he didn’t know the Germanlanguage when he first arrived, heate Turkish pizza and McDonald’sfor dinner every day for the entireweek. His first task at work hadnothing to do with pearls. He wasput in the logistics department tolearn about the courier service.

“This job cannot be underesti-mated. There is a structured systemand brand standard to adhere to.Even the way we package thepearls, the placement of cards and

addresses are of importance. I didthis for two months,” he adds.

After some German lessons,communication was easier and Limmanaged to find his way around.

“I got to know the city and under-stand the people better. TheGermans are fantastic. They arevery honest and sincere.”

After a month in the company, hewas asked to handle a pearl showwith a jeweller in Indonesia. Withthe little experience that he hadwith pearls, he managed to pull offthe show which was held at differ-ent locations in Jakarta.

“Just before Christmas, Limreturned to Kuala Lumpur to visithis family. During this time, he metup with Poh Kong’s merchandisingdirector Alice Choon.

“We struck up a very good busi-ness relationship and over theyears, a close friendship. We wereboth very enthusiastic and commit-ted to bringing Schoeffel toMalaysia. Our first show in May2007 was a success. By September2007, we opened the first Schoeffelpearl boutique at the Pavilion KualaLumpur,” he says.

Today, Lim lives in Darlinghurst.When he’s not busy at work, heindulges in kite flying, body surfing,fashion, gardening and home decor.

“I live about 15 minutes’ bus rideaway from Bondi beach. As much asmy family hates my skin beingoverly tan, I love it,” says Lim, wholearnt to surf recently.

His job takes him back to KLevery so often. “From there, it’seasier to travel around Asia,” hesays, adding that two of the mostmemorable cities that he visitedrecently are Paris and London.

T16 PEOPLE STARTWO, MOndAy 25 OCTOBER 2010

Jack of all tradesFrom hospitalityto pearls, JosephLim demonstratesthere is no endto learning.

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Fact File

Name: Joseph Lim Yew Mengage: 28HometowN: Kuala LumpureducatioN: Sekolah MenengahMethodist ACS Klang, Selangor;University of Technology, Sydney;University of Canberra, Canberra,AustraliaoccupatioN: Asia Pacific managerat Schoeffel PearlscurreNt base: SydneyYears abroad: 10

Jet-setting life: Joseph Lim on his first visit to Paris in 2006. His work requires him to travel around Asia.

»Apart frombalancing trays,opening winebottles andpolishing wineglasses, I alsodevelopedpeople skills andinteracted withstrangersfreely«JOSEPH LIM YEW MENG ON HISSTINT AS A WAITEr