Dealing with trash might put many people off, but not Melissa Tan, CEO of local waste management company Wah & Hua. Although the industry is perceived as “smelly and dirty” and fundamentally “unglamorous”, Melissa says overcoming that stigma is crucial in uncovering how the business of waste is a meaningful and evergreen trade. After all, with consumption levels at an all-time high these days, waste never truly goes away.
As the Chinese saying goes, “in every trade, a master can appear with the right amount of hard work and passion”. This is something that Melissa believes in wholeheartedly as she builds and magnifies the work of her father, Steven Tan, who founded the company in 1978.
The older Tan, carrying this entrepreneurial streak, tried out various jobs before deciding he wanted to be his own boss. With that, he spent $5,000 to buy a used truck and made the rounds at industrial buildings and factories as a karung guni (rag-and-bone man), picking up anything from cardboard to tin cans — essentially anything that could be resold for a profit.
More than 40 years on, Wah & Hua is now one of the longest-operating waste management companies in Singapore. From just one used truck, it now operates a fleet of over 300 vehicles. Instead of just collecting waste, the company is also involved in adjacent sectors including recycling and even power generation when its waste energy plant is ready early next year.
According to Melissa, the creation of such a unique cyclical, sustainable ecosystem in the waste management space comes from the continued need for innovation in the waste management space and “keeping up with the times” and new trends.
When she joined the business 20 years ago, the key emphasis was on waste collection. “Over the last few years, however, recycling is now the talk of the town and working towards a circular economy for the long-term is something that is very much in the cards for us, and what the wider industry believes in,” says Melissa in an interview with The Edge Singapore.
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This has further accentuated the company’s selling point as a “one-stop shop” for waste management, collecting from industrial and commercial premises to households and recycling any material collected as long as they are not contaminated.
Melissa’s efforts and leadership shown in this field have since been recognised, having been named this year’s EY Entrepreneur Of The Year in Environmental Solutions.
Stepping out of father’s shadow
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Wah & Hua’s success, however, has not come without overcoming numerous hurdles. In particular, Melissa had to spend time building up a strong knowledge base of the industry, while managing the leadership transition from her father, which she says was a long and daunting process. “My father is very hard-working and resourceful as a worker and leader, and is very hands-on in his work,” says Melissa. “Having built the business from the ground up, he can be a salesman, driver, worker, and, of course, a leader of the company.”
On the other hand, she neither drove a truck nor possess some of the technical skills he has. “So, I needed time to think about and grow into my unique role as a leader in the company and how I might best utilise the company’s strength to expand its potential in the market.”
When she finished her accountancy studies as a 22-year-old, Melissa was not sure what she wanted to do and she had no intention of joining the family business. “It was only when my father suggested that I try it out first since he also needed help with the business at the time,” she recalls.
Melissa started from scratch, working in business development and sales initially but was soon exposed to many other parts of the business, which included route planning and sorting process management. Along the way, she gained more experience, gained more exposure and earned her chops to be the leader of the company.
It helped that she found meaning and a wider purpose in what the company was doing. “Over time, working in this industry showed me that there is a lot of room and potential to grow the business, not only because it is an essential service in Singapore, but in the world,” she explains. “That means that if I continue to pursue work in this line, I can survive not just in Singapore but on a global scale since every country needs waste collection to some degree.”
This gave Melissa greater interest and courage to step up into more senior roles in Wah & Hua, though she shares that exerting her own style of leadership was also a challenge in the beginning.
“For a long while, I still relied on my father for the direction of the company, regularly discussed company projects with him,” Melissa shares. “I did also feel like I was in my father’s shadow, and was more of a part leader and part executor of my father’s decisions at the company.”
“Initially, even the title of ‘big boss’ took me some time to accept from my employees, simply because my father had always assumed that title,” she adds.
The turning point came in 2018 when she assumed proper leadership and started making more independent decisions for the business, becoming wholly accountable to all stakeholders including the employees.
Melissa believes she has different objectives compared to her father, whose focus was ensuring the company’s survival and earning money for the family. “When I took over, my role as a leader is more about sustaining his legacy, which involves more thinking processes and innovation to expand efforts in the space.”
Being there for the people
Under Melissa’s leadership, a big part of Wah & Hua’s company culture is to be on the ground, regardless of rank or status. This stems from her early years when Melissa quite literally got “her hands dirty” when she helped her colleagues sort and process the waste. “To this day, before the outbreak of Covid-19, I would still join workers occasionally to help them once in a while,” she says. “It is important for me to let them know that I am actually with them and that I will stand by them in the work they do for the company and vice versa. That’s how we build strong bonds and positive working relationships at the company.”
When the pandemic hit, operations at the company faced some initial difficulties because of its heavy reliance on foreign workers who were confined to their dormitories to curb the spread of the virus. “It was very scary at the time but like I said, I stand by my people, and we were all committed to riding through that period together,” she says. “Considering how many of our foreign workers are alone here in a different country, we needed to make sure they were as well taken care of as possible.”
“Only then can we give them more confidence and assurance so they will be willing to do the work for us,” she adds.
Working in this industry showed me that there is a lot of room and potential to grow the business … That means if I continue to pursue work in this line, I can survive not just in Singapore but on a global scale since every country needs waste collection. — Melissa Tan
Better technologies, better efficiency
In a bid to further grow the business, Melissa is also knowledgeable enough to tap the range of grants, subsidies and funding support from several government agencies such as Enterprise Singapore and the National Environment Agency (NEA).
One of the more significant developments happened in March last year. Blue Planet, described as one of the leading regional waste management players in this region, acquired Wah & Hua for an undisclosed amount. Blue Planet, with backing from India’s NEEV, Malaysia’s OSK, Japan’s Nomura, and Sysma Holdings, has been rapidly expanding with a series of acquisitions of waste and renewable companies across the region.
With Blue Planet on board, Wah & Hua is looking to expand outside Singapore. Specifically, the company is looking to partner with companies in Germany and Spain in waste energy transformation and vehicle technological development, to develop more time and energy-efficient waste collection processes. “Investing in technology is not about replacing jobs, it’s always about helping existing jobs become better and more improved,” she maintains.
With a possible initial public offering (IPO) on the horizon, the company will be marking the next big chapter in its history, and personally too for Melissa. Her advice to young or aspiring entrepreneurs who want to do the same in their work? Have a good business plan and be committed to making it a reality.
“It is crucial to have grit, persistence and passion, and the resilience to go through with your plan,” Melissa says. “Because you’re bound to face failure and rejection in the process, and you must remember to persevere through these moments.”
She recalls advice from a trusted mentor who told her to never regret critical decisions made in her running of the business, regardless of the outcome. “It’s easy to look back and see how one could have done better or what one should not have done, especially in moments of crisis or failure,” says Melissa.
“However, it’s more important to stay focused and not to look back,” she adds.
Photos: Albert Chua/The Edge Singapore
