ES. Can you share your early career experiences and how your background as a journalist and teacher influenced your later roles in the MICE industry?
Edward Liu. Shortly after completing my School Certificate education in 1966, I was recruited as a second language teacher in a Chinese primary school in Singapore. I had taught English to pupils from Primary Two to Five in the Nau Chiau Girls High School (Primary). At the same time, I was attending the Higher School Certificate (HSC) evening classes as well as practical lessons at the Teachers Training College (TTC) for my teaching certificate. Upon obtaining my HSC in 1969, I decided to switch to journalism and was employed by the Straits Times Press (STP) as a reporter for the mainstream newspaper, The Straits Times (ST); covering crime stories, business events and trade union affairs. Following a first ever labour strike by journalists in the STP in December 1971, I took over the chairmanship of the Singapore National Union of Journalists (SNUJ) ST Chapel and helped to re-establish cordial relationship with the management. For this and other reasons, I was subsequently posted to London as the ST correspondent in 1975.
Barely 25 then, I was granted licence to roam London and occasionally travelled to Edinburgh and Amsterdam to cover stories of interest to the Singapore public. Most important of all, I had the opportunity of visiting the evergreen Ideal Home Exhibition at the Olympia, which left a deep imprint in my mind.
Upon my return to Singapore in 1976, I had spent another year covering business events, union affairs and political activities, before throwing in the towels in mid-1977. For a start, I plunged into publishing with ideas that I picked up from London, like distributing free magazines at London Underground on Monday mornings. But alas, I was ahead of my time, and “Our Girl” publication could not survive on pure advertising alone. The Singapore underground, MRT was not in place until 10 years later. This was a hard knock on my business journey!
Undeterred, I decided to switch immediately to the organisation of consumer shows and trade exhibitions, launching Homemakers (modelled after Ideal Home); Auvi (audio visual), Computa (infotech) and Jeweltime (jewellery and watches) in 1979. They were instant successes. To conclude, these four launches were immediately snapped up by a British organiser, ITF (Industrial & Trade Fairs), which was a joint venture between its parent company, IPC, and the Straits Times Press (STP) in Singapore. I was retained as the Director and General Manager of ITF to direct the combined portfolio of events.
ES. As the ‘father’ of Asian Aerospace, can you share some memories from organizing the first edition and how it paved the way for your future endeavours?
Edward Liu. One of my first tasks in ITF was to launch the inaugural Asian Aerospace event at the old Paya Lebar Airport in 1981. This event was in fact conceptualised by the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB) to promote the aerospace industry in Singapore, and it was awarded to ITF, due to its Headquarter presence in the UK where contacts were already made with the Society of British Aerospace Companies (SBAC).
As the top man in the company, I was overall in charge of organising the Asian Aerospace 81 event, with support from all my colleagues, looking after admin and finance, sales and marketing, operations and public relations and publicity.
Itched in my memory was my first marketing trip to the Farnborough Airshow in the United Kingdom in 1980 to promote our maiden event. Packed with colourful sales brochures and accompanied by two officers from the Economic Development Board, we walked the talk at the exhibition halls for prospects for our AA 1981.
When we visited the NCH (Netherlands Council for Trade Promotion) booth, a manager was asking which part of China we were from? We told them that we were from Singapore, an island state in Southeast Asia. Then, she questioned as to why we were organising an airshow? This was when the EDB officers came forth to explain the raison d’etre on why we were staging the event. Throughout the three days of walking the floors, I remember munching sandwiches for lunch daily. There was simply no time to waste as we had to meet the target number of exhibitors!
On another day during the sales mission, the SBAC very kindly arranged a group meeting with its members, and I remember doing the song and dance, as it were, to the satisfaction of the audience. “It was a tour de force,” said an SBAC director, to applause from his members. Needless to say, the SBAC eventually formed one of the largest pavilions in the Aa81.
I must confess that one of the key success factors in organising such aerospace and defence events must the strong mandate and support from the government ministries and agencies. In our premiere event, the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) played a key role in inviting the ASEAN military top brass to the event, thus satisfying the requests from all international exhibitors. Another major factor was the availability of air space to demonstrate the versatility of aircrafts – both commercial and military. Amongst others, teamwork was the key to ensure a seamless operation for both the exhibitors and thousands of trade visitors from all over the world.
While the premiere event had some 2,000 square metres of net exhibit space, I like to think that the foundations laid were sound and that the Asian Aerospace series became one of the top airshows in the world, overtaking the Farnborough Airshow at one stage.
By the end of 1982, I had left ITF to pursue my vision and dreams in Malaysia, Thailand in 1983, followed by China in 1985. In rapid succession, I had launched home shows and computer exhibitions in the virgin countries. Due to these exploits, The Straits Times had dubbed me as “The Exhibition Man” in 1984.
Buoyed by this rich experience, I had gone on to stage several editions of the Defence Asia in Thailand since 1987; the Thai Airshow in 1993; and the Defence Asia series in Singapore and in The Philippines in subsequent years.
ES. In your role as Managing Director of Conference & Exhibition Management Services (CEMS), how have you seen the landscape of exhibitions and conventions evolve over the past four decades?
Edward Liu. From my own perspective, organisers in Singapore had begun staging trade exhibitions in the late 70s, when foreign missions realised the economic potential and opportunities in Southeast Asia. I got into the business by accident in 1977, preceded by Interfama, helmed by Mr Thomas Khoo, the Father of the Exhibition Industry in Singapore and the Singapore Exhibition Services (SES), owned by the Montgomery Group from the United Kingdom. As exhibitions were greenfield projects then, more and more start-up companies emerged in the scene and started to organise various consumer shows and trade exhibitions in Singapore.
As stated earlier, I had launched four exhibitions on our own in 1979, which were eventually acquired by ITF the following year. The exhibition industry gathered momentum in the 1980s and some of the foreign owned organisers such as Reed Exhibitions and the Montgomery Group subsidiaries and my company began expanding into Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand. In Singapore, the Singapore Exhibition Services (SES) was dominant as it had the first-mover advantage. In the following decade, Messe Düsseldorf Asia was established in 1995 in Singapore, replicating several of its home-grown events. This was followed by several others including Clarion Events from the UK in 2009.
In a snapshot, the exhibition industry took roots in the 1980s with the emergence of organising companies across Asia from India to Singapore and across China to Japan and beyond. When China came on to the scene in the 2000s, it brought about the “Asianisation of the Exhibition Industry” amidst heighten growth and intense competition. It was evident to me that most of the European organisers would dominate the industry and market in Asia, with their more established background and resources.
ES. How has your role as Honorary President of the Asian Federation of Exhibition & Convention Associations (AFECA) allowed you to impact the MICE industry on a regional level?
Edward Liu. When I assumed the Presidency of AFECA in 2007, we had some 30 association and corporate members since its establishment on 25 Jan 2005. By the time that I stepped down in mid-year 2015, we had some 133 association and corporate members from some 13 countries. As the Honorary President, I have continued to represent AFECA in various events and forums, when invited to do so. Indeed, I was invited by the Taiwan government to take part in the Asian MICE Forum 2024 in early May 2024, while the President, Dato Vincent Lim fell ill at the last moment and was unable to make the trip. Come October, I have also been invited to speak at the Japan MICE Expo 2024.
Unfortunately, I was unable to make it to your EEA 2024 earlier this year. Having spent some 47 years in the exhibition industry, firstly as the founding President of SACEOS, then Board Member of IAEE from 2001, followed by the Presidency of AFECA from 2007 to 2015; I continue to be recognised for the contributions that I had made to these organisations and more, for which I am thankful. The high point of my MICE career was when I was inducted into the Hall of Leaders by the Convention Industry Council in Las Vegas, US in 2018.
ES. What strategies did you use to manage CEMS’s extensive portfolio of exhibitions across Asia, and how did you prioritize which events to focus on?
Edward Liu. At our prime, we were able to organise exhibitions and conferences across 14 countries, namely Singapore, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, China, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and South Africa. To manage those events, we had offices in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and China and maintained almost 30 staff in the Singapore Headquarters alone. I had to prioritise on the events where we had our own staff and offices, and they invariably performed better than those that we organised with our strategic partners. A common challenge would be the common vision and the quality of performances.
ES. What role does sustainability play in your event planning, and how do you ensure that your exhibitions align with environmental responsibility?
Edward Liu. When I took up the Presidency of SACEOS again around 2007, I had advocated the practices of sustainability, which was then in vogue in the United States and Europe. However, our tentative efforts were weak and uncoordinated. However, more sustainable practices were mounted on the global scene in recent years, more so in the meetings sectors. More and more attention is now being focused on the exhibition sector. For sure, global associations and the media should have a key role to play in these sustainable efforts.
ES. How do you foresee the exhibition industry evolving in the next 5-10 years, especially in the context of digital transformation and sustainability?
Edward Liu. In the next 5-10 years, the exhibition landscape is likely to experience dramatic changes in form and effects due to the rapid digital transformation and sustainability being hastened by the adoption of AI applications globally. The generative AI tools could easily facilitate image creation and editing; data augmentation, music and audio generation, video game designing and content creation and designing, amongst others. On a positive note, these AI tools could help hasten the introduction of new products and offerings and improve on the efficiency and productivity of our exhibitions and events. To be candid, I am investigating how these AI tools could be effectively and seamlessly integrated into our MICE industry, going forward. The sustainability of the MICE industry has also gathered pace in recent years, accentuated by the effects of Climate Change. The industry is likely to see more of these sustainable practices in the convention rather than in the exhibition sector, due in part to the efficacy in the meetings industry.
