Together again: Bak (in suit) having a pep talk with Fok and Nurashiken (right) at Ames Hotel.
MELAKA: Three seasoned hoteliers got a second chance to work together again at a hotel here after the Covid-19 pandemic forced them to go separate ways.
Ames Hotel’s general manager Jason R. Bak, the hotel's executive assistant manager Nurashiken Zainal Abidin and director of catering and events Carol Fok are now back as colleagues at the same workplace.
"We are so delighted to be colleagues again, like true friends," said Bak when met at the hotel on Sunday (Aug 6).
Bak said he cherished working with the two and had always harboured hope that the three would be reunited.
"Covid-19 had impacted the local hospitality industry but I also taught people like me to cherish the people surrounding me, especially my working colleagues," he said.
Bak said he goes back a long way with the two, who he described as true hoteliers with the well-being of the guests always at heart.
"We used to spend most of our time at the workplace during peak seasons where our bond grew stronger and we consider ourselves as a family," he said.
Nurashiken and Fok had worked together since the early 1990s while Bak joined them in 2013 at their previous workplace.
However, they parted ways when their former hotel ceased operation during the peak of Covid-19 and had to source for employment at different hotels.
Nurashiken joined Ames Hotel first, followed by Fok and Bak was appointed as the general manager in June of this year.
Nurashiken described their friendship as irreplaceable and special.
"We have been through thick and thin together and supported each other since we first became workmates," she said.
Fok said she kept the both of them in a special place in her heart.
"You will never get such caring colleagues like them and we have been together for such a long time," she added.
