Duty Calls, Travel Retail Answers

by Martin Moodie |
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Martin Moodie

Martin Moodie

Martin Moodie is the Founder & Chairman of The Moodie Report.

Welcome to The Moodie Davitt Report Interim Singapore Bureau.

The view from my 15th floor hotel room at the Marina Bay Sands is the perfect morning antidote to any tiredness that has set in after a hectic few days on the road, culminating in our Duty Calls Charity dinner on Saturday night at Jewel Changi Airport.

With the great Moodie Davitt team in Singapore. Left to right are Sarah Genest, Michael Barrett, Claire Wates, Colleen Morgan, Melody Ng, Hannah Tan-Gillies, Irene Revilla and an aging bandmaster. Dermot Davitt is also with us, but missed out on our team get together due to conference rehearsals.

What an amazing event that turned out to be. The setting was spectacular with the dinner held at Cloud9 Piazza, which overlooks the entire Jewel and its stunning illuminated 40 metre Rain Vortex.

Just as excitingly, we raised over US$265,000 for Friends-International, the wonderful Southeast Asian children’s charity, funds that will make a critical difference to the organisation’s life-changing work.

Now it’s showtime here in Singapore as the TFWA Asia Pacific conference and exhibition kicks off. Some busy days and nights lay ahead before I head out of here on an early bird flight to Beijing on Thursday. I look forward to seeing old friends and making many new ones this week. If you don’t know me, look out for a slightly weary antipodean with a big grin on his face – delighted that our industry made such a difference to the lives of so many children on Saturday night.

Friends-International Founder and Executive Director Sebastien Marot told an enthralled audience of how the charity helps young people across Southeast Asia through a unique social enterprise model, which combines saving lives with building futures; and blends social work and services with opportunities, training and jobs.