the keng NS man

The Harry's man

HE RUNS 28 bars on this island, but admits candidly that he prefers to enjoy his drinks elsewhere. That should tell you a lot about Mr Mohan Mulani.

Noticing my raised eyebrows when he mentioned this, Mr Mulani adds: 'I avoid drinking at my outlets because then I run into too many people I know.' The message is clear: This man values his down time, he doesn't want to mix business with pleasure.

In fact, as we chat over coffee at his flagship outlet - Harry's @ Boat Quay, which was his first purchase when he made his foray into the food and beverage industry in 1994 - Mr Mulani admits that he is most proud of having just become a published author. The 28 bars (that figure will become 31 by November), the catering company, the nightclubs, the restaurants, the textile trading business before that... all that pales before his latest achievement: a 168-page book titled The Story Of Harry's.

It chronicles Mr Mulani's life from his Sindhi roots (he was born in Sidhpur, a small town in north Gujarat) to his family's move to Singapore (his father moved here first, and the family followed in late 1960) to his education (he went to Haig Boys' School, Broadrick Secondary School and Tanjong Katong Technical School before getting a degree in political science from the University of California, Los Angeles) to his stint in the family business (he is a Sindhi, after all) to his Harry's life (buy the book from any major bookstore if you want to know more).

It is also an embodiment of Mr Mulani's outlook on how human beings mature. 'As we get older, we start to reinvent ourselves,' he says, adding that he has started taking deeper looks at life and how it pans out eventually. 'I'm reading Freedom At Midnight by Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre... it talks about some very crucial events that affected the lives of many people,' he says. It is a hint that, having just turned 50, this man has started looking beyond his corporate achievements so far.

He has become much more appreciative of what life has given him. He speaks about the roller-coaster ride he has endured in his professional life - the financial crisis in 1997 hit him hard and he fought hard to stave off bankruptcy - without embarrassment or rancour. In fact, the dedication in his book is a glowing tribute to Singapore and he writes about the growth of his chain of bars: 'Harry's is riding on the coattails of Singapore.'

He has become much more aware of his health. He plays squash twice a week and runs regularly on the treadmill. You get a notion of how seriously this trim man takes his fitness pursuits when he tells you, with well deserved pride, that he can run 6.6km in 40 minutes.

And he has become much more protective of his personal life. He refuses to give us a photograph of himself with his wife Rita (she is part of the Harry's Holdings family, looking after the Gymboree playschool business in Singapore and Malaysia) and their daughters Drishti, 21, and Virti, 17. He even requests that we don't meander in that direction in our conversation, but relents when promised we wouldn't get too personal.

He is however willing to share more about his plans for Harry's Holdings. Having grown the brand from bars to restaurants (five Mirchi outlets and Marrakesh) and even nightclubs (The Rupee Room and Bollywood And Beyond), he has taken the company public - it is currently listed on the Phillip Securities OTC Capital market but Mr Mulani wants to have it listed on the Singapore Exchange's Catalist board by the first half of this year.

Mr Mulani's latest corporate move is into the hotel trade, setting up a boutique hotel called The Club in Singapore's Chinatown area. It is a branch of the business he is keen on growing overseas too, with India being the first port of call.

When I tell him about my recent trip to Kerala and the houseboat industry that is booming there ' over 1,000 houseboats ply the placid backwaters of Allepey, giving tourists a taste of the laidback lifestyle that permeates that region ' his eyes sharpen their focus. Sitting up, he turns the tables on me. Suddenly, he is the interviewer and I am the interviewee as he asks me about the place and the type of tourist traffic it attracts.

This businessman can sniff out opportunity from miles, even countries, away. That flash of business acumen was probably what made him start on this Harry's journey. Much has been written about how Mr Mulani used to patronise Harry's Bar at Boat Quay and how, when he found out the owners were thinking of selling it, he bought the place. All very romantic and the stuff of feel-good stories. But let's get real here... how often do regulars buy their favourite bar when it's about to go out of business'

That business acumen also added a refreshing touch to Mr Mulani's book: Every copy entitles you to one bottle of Harry's Premium Lager. While that sounds like great value for a book that costs $25 before GST, the truth of the matter is this: How many of us would go all the way to a Harry's outlet, show the book, claim the free beer... and walk away after draining just one bottle of beer'

That's why I think there's more to Mr Mulani's habit of heading anywhere but a Harry's bar when he feels like having a drink. Having had the pleasure of meeting the man, and getting a feel of his business smarts, I'm convinced he's using that time to suss out the competition... and probably figure out how he can spread the Harry's mojo even further. -tabla!
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