SINGAPORE — Women are supposed to be better multi-taskers. But Mr Steven Goh is no slouch.

While shoppers bask in the Christmas spirit in Singapore’s top shopping district, the 54-year-old Executive Director of the Orchard Road Business Association (ORBA) is critiquing the decor and already planning next year’s Christmas light-up. (Some stretches of trees could have been better decorated and the two main arches in front of ION Orchard made more majestic, he says).

At the same time, arrangements for Orchard Road’s annual fashion extravaganza have kicked into “high gear” — though his attention is also divided between the day-to-day running of events, such as the Orchard Road’s Best Dressed Building Contest, and responding to problems businesses may have.

Promoter, marketer and mediator are just some of the hats the affable Mr Goh wears. He is also crisis manager, advocate and curator.

For instance, during its busiest time of the year, news that Orchard Road had become a dengue hot spot headlined newspapers. With the safety of shoppers and visitors as his top priority, Mr Goh checked the situation on the ground (it is no longer a hot spot) and ensured precautions were taken.

As we chat at a Wheelock Centre cafe, he exudes a down-to-earth quality that contrasts with the district’s glitz, glamour and flash. He talks about the many roles the ORBA has had to play to represent the voices of 120 businesses — from speaking to taxi companies about the perennial lack of cabs in the area, to working with state agencies over issues such as Electronic Road Pricing rates.

It means being “on standby all the time”, says Mr Goh, who leads a five-member team, for journalists who call him “left, right, centre, day and night” on every kind of issue. “Sometimes they call me eight times on Sunday, saying, ‘Please, Steven, I need to see you in Orchard Road. Can you come?’

“But I try lah — I cannot accede to every request, but I try,” he says good-naturedly.

FROM MECHANICAL ENGINEER TO BRAND-BUILDER

A self-confessed “impulsive” shopper with an “appreciation” for fine brands — he lets on, for instance, that the Hermes outlet at Liat Towers is one of the best stores where you can locate hard-to-find bags — Mr Goh seems a perfect fit to represent the interests of Orchard Road. But he had not intended to pursue a career in retail.

A mechanical engineering graduate from Singapore Polytechnic, Mr Goh spent the first part of his career in “buildings, construction related to the infrastructure of mechanical, electrical systems”. He quips: “When I talk to colleagues here, I draw charts.”

His foray into retail began in 1992 when he worked for a property developer. He was seconded to help turn around the fortunes of the flagging Burger King chain and later tasked to “find the best F&B brand in the world to bring” to Singapore.

Displaying early on his knack for knowing what people want, Mr Goh decided — correctly — that Starbucks would do well here. “In 1996, the first store (opened) in Orchard Road and that was the beginning of my contact with all the retail building owners (and) shopping centres,” he says.

In 2000, Mr Goh left the company to set up his retail consultancy and was later asked to join the ORBA.“They said, ‘Since you know a lot of people, why don’t you help us?’”

He started out doing so on a part-time basis before becoming the association’s Executive Director in 2010 — the same year Orchard Road was hit by massive flooding.

OF FLOODS AND NUISANCE FLOCKS

“I had seldom engaged the media (before then) but I learnt,” he says of his first “heavy engagement” with journalists over the floods. “It took guts. I went down to Lucky Plaza to meet (the) media and said, ‘I’m really dumbfounded. I don’t know what to say!’”

He also met senior PUB officials and, two days after the floods, chaired a closed-door crisis meeting at Trader’s Hotel with businesses and the water agency. He counts the ORBA’s management of the floods as a successful example of its advocacy role — the Government subsequently invested in anti-flood measures — but there remained other problems that vexed him.

Some years ago, the incessant bird droppings and noise from large flocks of crows and mynahs angered stakeholders and threatened the image of Orchard Road. “We tried to find a solution. We even went to the extent of approaching the Jurong Bird Park to borrow its hawk to scare the crows away,” he laughs.

The plan did not work out — the park could lend the ORBA only one hawk, which would be of little threat to about 2,000 birds. “So it still remains a sore point for us because we can’t chase the birds away,” he says wryly.

PLAYING THE CONDUIT

How would he like to see Orchard Road evolve? The father of one hopes to see more side streets — those at Ginza in Japan are among his favourite shopping haunts, with interesting wares and F&B joints. Big shopping districts such as Fifth Avenue are “quite predictable” by contrast.

“If the Government does have a plan, we hope to work on side-street development (with it),” he says, noting that Killiney Road leading to Orchard Road has potential for interesting developments. He also envisions the “high-energy” Somerset zone evolving into a late-night shopping area with a bar belt.

What Mr Goh believes has served him well is the trust he has won from stakeholders after nearly two decades in the retail sector.

Honesty and integrity, he stresses several times, are key values when building relationships and navigating competing interests. He proudly points out how the ORBA has managed to organise precinct-wide promotion activities in recent years — quite a feat considering that these are all competing malls.

In part, the initiative took off due to Mr Goh’s powers of persuasion. “The big boys have to say, ‘Okay, work together.’ I play the role of conduit … that connects everyone,” he says.