With the popularization of red wine culture, the number of red wine lovers in Hong Kong is ever-increasing. However, only very few can accomplish the achievement as “master sommelier”. Sam Chong Ping-sum is one among them. He is now in his thirties and has become the Assistant Director of Food and Beverage and Chief Sommelier at New World Millennium Hong Kong Hotel. Surprisingly, the pair of skillful hands of this sommelier was once used for installing electrical wires and screw-driving.
In fact, many people can succeed because they are willing to try different ways that others will not do so. Sam comments on his Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination (HKCEE) result as “a complete failure”. With his background of study in secondary technical school, he took up a Basic Certificate for Technician Trainees at VTC after HKCEE. As he loved drinking, Sam started to work as a part-time bartender in a hotel after class. Why did he so determine to change his career? An idea flashed through his mind all of a sudden one day. He remembered, “One day, while I was hammering nails during class as usual, I suddenly felt that technical jobs might not be the life and future I wanted.” Sam then thought seriously about his real goal and interest in life. Afterwards, he made the decision to terminate his study before graduation, and to become a full-time bartender.
The first hotel sommelier
Wine is a bottomless pit of knowledge. At the beginning, Sam did not have much basic knowledge about it and had made many careless mistakes. The most unforgettable one to him was serving a wrong bottle of wine for customer. He added, “I was an inexperienced newbie. I thought very simply that the older the year of the wine, the more expensive it would be. So when a customer asked me for a bottle of red wine from a specific winery in 1994, I mistakenly opened one in 1996 and believed that it was not a big deal since it is cheaper than the one in 1994. However, I was not aware that for that winery, the wine in 1996 were of higher quality. So I was blamed by the manager and had to pay more than a thousand dollars as compensation.”
This experience induced Sam to think about getting the professional recognition for his career. He explained, “Chefs can take culinary courses to improve their skillset. How about bartenders? Then I found out that there is a profession called sommelier.” For this reason, Sam decided to go back to study at the Hospitality Industry Training and Development Centre (HITDC) under VTC, to attain the qualification as a sommelier. At that time, there were no openings for sommelier at most of the 5-star hotels. So Sam left the hotel industry and started to work in private clubhouse. Unexpectedly, his ex-employer wanted him back and created a new post for him. Sam then became the Bar Manager and the first Assistant Sommelier of the hotel.
As a sommelier, Sam wanted to apply his professional knowledge to upgrade the service of the hotel. So he suggested to organise the first wine dinner. However, of course, it was not easy. There was pressure for him to launch new ideas, given that he was only a young newcomer who aged around 24-25. He remembered, “I did most of the preparation work by myself, which included purchasing new wine glasses, contacting sponsors, arranging the menu, etc. Even for the production of promotional flyers, I would rather ask one of my friends who was good at design to do me a favour, instead of requesting the marketing department to do so. I took the flyer and introduced it to customers one by one about the event. Fortunately, he was blessed for his creativity and the wine dinner was extraordinarily successful. About 60 guests attended the event finally and gathered in a venue which could accommodate only about 50 people. Besides, a long waiting list has not yet been counted.
Be courageous to pursue your goal in different ways
Sam shared, “My belief is I will do what others won’t and will find the way to improve from failure. I want to be courageous and attain some achievements for the company.” Currently, Sam is responsible for assisting in the management of nearly 100 full-time employees of the Food and Beverage Department of the hotel. This courageous sommelier is not only responsible for arranging red wines and white wines, all drinks served for the six restaurants (including Chinese, French and Japanese ones) under the hotel group were decided and confirmed by him. In addition to the busy work schedule, Sam pays close attention to global winery information and the new development trend of wine. He had once held a large-scale festive event about the Japanese wine “sake” and “wine & dine” workshops in the hotel, as well as introduced the process of brewing of Chinese Shaoxing wine. He proposed to follow local wine merchants and tried to use red wine glass to taste Shaoxing wine. Matching with crab banquet, it created brand new experiences to guests, and attracted new customers to the hotel.
In addition, Sam had participated in the sommelier competitions for seven consecutive years and won the Champion in “The Best Sommelier of Greater China Competition” in 2010. He said that taking part in competitions was not only for winning awards, but also for enhancing his knowledge in the industry. “For many customers, wine is the common language for business and networking. Therefore, a sommelier’s knowledge should always keep pace with the times.”
Sam started his career as a screw-driving apprentice and became a professional sommelier. He does not have the feeling that he is talented. He believes that his success accounts mainly on personal attitude. “I am not very outgoing, and I don’t like socializing. Also, my English is poor. Every time when I introduce wine in English, I am still nervous. I know that my foundation of English is not good, and now I have to study harder. But my English has improved a lot through my work with wine.”
Sam said that in recent years, many students who had taken hospitality courses would prefer choosing administrative management or human resources roles. They were reluctant to frontline customer service. He hopes that young people can take the courage and walk in different paths from others. He said, “If you are willing to start your work as a waiter, you may have promotion opportunity within two or three years, and the future is also as bright as others. You may find chances in somewhere others do not want to try.”
