The Apprentice Asia

They Rap! They Beat-box! They Make Girls Cry!

This week's task is to design Air Asia's uniform.

This week’s task was one that was close to Tony’s heart.

It was to design new uniforms for AirAsia staff, including:

  • weekend flight attendant uniforms
  • guest services uniforms
  • ramp staff uniforms

They were assisted by upcoming Asian designers, and had to present their designs at a fashion show attended by AirAsia personnel. The team that garnered more votes from AirAsia staff would win.

Leading By Doing Nothing

Under threat of being fired, Dian finally volunteered to be The Mavericks’ project manager.

But she was uncomfortable with bossing people around, and let Jon and Andrea lead all discussions, plan the fashion show, direct the models, and emcee the show!

“What is your comfort zone?” Tony later asked Dian, “To do nothing?”

Many of her design ideas were also shot down by Andrea and Jon. “Dian was actually laughing around and she was suggesting ideas that weren’t really serious,” Jon complained, “If we lose, I think she deserves to be kicked out.”

Celina Designs For… Celina.

Wanting to impress Tony, Alex volunteered to be Apex’s project manager. It was fashion-enthusiast Celina, however, who took over the design process, while Alex and Sam took the backseat.

“I definitely think the way I dress influenced our designs,” she bragged, “I went with my gut feel: Would I wear this? Absolutely!”

But a disapproving Kathleen decried, “She got too involved in her own personal likes and tastes. They forgot they are designing something for the cabin crew.”

Sam Gets Shut Down. Again.

Sam DID voice his concerns during the meeting with the designer, but Celina simply insisted on her way, and Alex backed her up. (A bad move, since Tony was told that the designer thought that Sam’s ideas were actually good.) Later, when Sam tried to tell the models how to time their entry and exit, Alex and Celina heatedly demanded that he stay out of the way – while in full view of the models!

Sam noted, in his usual calm, affable way, “Alex and Celina sort of ganged up against me.“

Tony astutely pinpointed the problem, telling Sam, “Something you need to learn – sometimes when you talk too much, people switch off.”

Eventually, Sam retreated to a corner to quietly write out his rap. (Yes. His RAP.)

Sam Raps! Alex Beat-boxes! Terribly!

While The Mavericks’ fashion show was pretty run-of-the-mill, Apex’s fashion show was all pizzazz!

Instead of the usual musical accompaniment to the catwalk, Sam rapped, while Alex beat-boxed!

It was Sam’s idea to rap, “because that would be an instant way of connecting with the audience” – and he was right.

There was Sam, all spiffy in his dark work suit and a big grin on his face, rapping:
“You feel it’s hot and you wonder why – ‘Cos AirAsia stewards are up in the sky!”

Sam’s an embarrassingly lousy rapper, but an absolutely fantastic emcee. He blazed with sheer infectious energy and fun through the show. We’re not sure if they were laughing at him or with him, but the crowd certainly had a blast!

Even Celina enthused, “Sam was AMAZING in this task - to get the crowd roaring!”

The Results

Apex’s show was fun, but their flight attendant uniforms were old fashioned and impractical. As Tony noted, they didn’t keep to the brief.

Apex only garnered a total of 55 votes out of 123.

The Mavericks won.

Elimination

Alex icily threw Celina under the bus with a scathing condemnation of Celina’s poor networking and “human skills”.

“The only thing that she’s done is that she always says ‘I, I, I, I, I,’ all the time,” Alex criticized, “It’s an attitude problem.”

Having sung Alex’s praises earlier in the boardroom, Celina was shocked.

She started crying, saying that she only uses a cool front to stop herself from breaking down. But Tony was unconvinced that Celina was enough of a people-person to fit into his organization.

Celina was fired.

Later, travelling away, Celina continued crying, hurt that Alex made her feel small. “He found my weak spot, and he went right for it. And he’s GOOD,” she said, dripping with sarcasm, “Bravo to him.”

 

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