With his boyish features, fashionably floppy side-part, and strapping, 1.83m frame, Charles Tan could almost pass as a member of a K-pop boy band. Or at least the manager of one.
In reality, he’s the executive director of Sunray Group Holdings , and a second-generation leader of his family business. The privately owned construction firm is responsible for the interiors of mega-projects like Marina Bay Sands (MBS), Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) and Jewel Changi Airport, to name a few. It has also worked on banks, retail stores, restaurants and museums.
You wouldn’t think it to look at him now, but the 38-year-old father-of-three once slept in his car for weeks on end, just to bring those projects to completion. “It was tough. Very tough,” he said, recalling his experience working on the now-defunct Maritime Experiential Museum in RWS.
The Integrated Resorts (IRs) were Tan’s first projects. “We had to coordinate with the US because there was a Hollywood director directing the show for the museum. We were rushing for the opening.
It was a mad, mad rush. I used to sleep on site in my car because I didn’t have time to go home. But what a great experience, and when the product came out, it was amazing.
We had rave reviews. I kind of miss those days actually. It keeps you young!” Tan, then 24, was fresh out of school.
He had been pursuing a degree in food technology and nutrition in Australia. But duty called. His family business needed an extra pair of hands, given th.