SINGAPORE: “I’m not a drunkard, okay,” says Dennis Foo as we look back on his career as Singapore’s “Nightlife King”. He also emphasises that while he is a known proponent of casinos as a tourist attraction, he is “no gambler”. After 35 years of building and leading some of Singapore’s most popular nightspots such as St James Power Station, the country’s largest one-stop nightlife destination, Mr Foo decided to retire in 2014.
Today, the 65-year-old’s face might be wizened, but his eyes tell a different story. While they possess a depth that is reflective of his decades of experience, they frequently come alight with an almost innocent, youthful exuberance as he talks about his ideas for the local nightlife and F&B industry during our interview. But first, he wants to set the record straight. Just because he chose a career in nightlife and frequently hung out in clubs, he is not an alcoholic. “Everybody assumes I drink all the time. I was there to run a business, not get drunk.”
However, he confesses to “really enjoying” his whisky and wine. Since retirement, pairing his meals carefully with alcohol to “bring out the best in the food” has become a frequent pastime. His retirement routine includes an early breakfast at the neighbourhood coffeeshops and short walks to work off the prata, lontong, nasi lemak or the pork porridge he might have.
He catches up with old friends at the Singapore Cricket Club twice a week. “But most of the time I will want to be with my wife whether dining out or staying at home where she sips her wine and I drink my whisky while watching Korean or HK TVB movies.” Mr Foo stepped down as CEO of St James Holdings after a reverse takeover deal with property developer Perennial Real Estate Holdings. Although the company had been seeing healthy profits, he cited a saturation in the nightlife business scene, higher business costs and the costs of keeping a company listed as reasons for the deal.
It saw Perennial’s assets injected into Catalist-listed St James which transformed St James into a real estate developer combining Perennial’s assets in Singapore and China. St James’ entertainment business was divested and taken private under CityBar Holdings. Mr Foo is CityBar’s chairman while his son, Gordon is its managing director.
