Having joined IFT in 2005, Mr. Edwyn Tam is a face familiar to most students at the Institute that have taken vocational courses in the realm of food and drink. He is currently the Tourism and Hotel School Coordinator for Food and Beverage Programmes.
Mr. Tam has had a passion for Western food all his life. “I like Western culture and I always like to learn more about it,” he says. “For instance, when I start learning about a cheese, I’m curious to learn its history, how it is made, what its features are and what wines it goes with.”
A spirit of inquiry is important for people working in the food and beverage business, Mr. Tam says. “If you don’t have an inquisitive mind, your job is just a job,” he says. Curiosity, he argues, spurs your interest in your work and opens up the way forward for you.
He came to IFT from what was then the Mandarin Oriental Macau, now called the Grand Lapa hotel. At the hotel, beginning on bottom rung, he climbed up the career ladder to become manager of all the places to eat and drink in the property.
“As a manager, you have to deal with the administrative and business sides of things, but at the same time you have to train your staff,” Mr. Tam says. “To help them get additional knowledge, you also need an inquisitive mind, or else you won’t have anything new to teach them.”
Another course
Mr. Tam has a similar approach to giving lectures about the food and beverage business to students taking vocational courses at IFT. “Food and beverage is a form of culture, and there are many related fun facts and much history that can attract students. They have to learn that this industry is not only about making food,” he says.
In training Macao students for work in the food and beverage business, it is hard to convince them that a career in the industry is worthwhile, he says. “Students that have seen the working environment in the industry, most of them think it is tough, and with long working hours.”
Mr. Tam says the food and beverage business in Macao has grown exponentially in the past 10 years. People highly qualified to work in the fine dining segment of the business have been groomed to meet demand for their services, he says. But the rapid growth has in some cases limited opportunities for workers on the bottom rungs to learn the business in-house.
“As hotels are now bigger and have many divisions, some staff are restricted to basic tasks such as buffet or casino catering. Their learning opportunities are fewer,” Mr. Tam says. In those circumstances, is up to the workers to take the initiative in acquiring new knowledge that complements their working experience, he says.
