Heritage: Eastern & Oriental Hotel

I just thought that it would be nice to compare how the heritage Eastern & Oriental Hotel (E&O Hotel) in George Town had looked like then and now. The old picture was reproduced from a photograph hanging in the hotel's lift lobby while the new picture was snapped very recently.


In all my life, I must have gone into the E&O Hotel not more than five times. The first time was more than 20 years ago when I was trying to impress her with my new credit card. At that time, credit cards were very rarely used and it was a privilege to carry one. Nowadays? Banks are offering all sorts of gifts to persuade people to sign up with them. What a big joke.

Speaking of credit cards, the Ban Hin Lee Bank had a very good opportunity to start a credit card service in the mid-1990s. I was already running the bank's ATM Centre, was familiar with card services and was ready at any time to expand my role. However, the senior management of the bank balked at offering credit cards. If I remember correctly, they claimed that they couldn't see the earning potential from the business. I think that was one of the very few wrong business decisions made by the bank.