A tale of two Genting(s) – Part I of II

September 2, 2022 Malaysia Casino & Hotel

Senior industry executive and author Daniel Cheng shares his on-the-ground insights into Singapore’s two colossal operations and how the tables might turn as the venerable Genting Malaysia resort outperforms its cosmopolitan peer for the first time.

It once was the king of the hill. Up until the turn of the millennium when casino gambling in Macau was deregulated, the Genting Highlands Resort ruled as Asia Pacific’s largest casino resort.

Perched over 1800 meters above sea level in the heart of Banjaran Besar which formed part of the 1700 km-long Tenasserim range of the Indo-Malayan mountain system of Southeast Asia, the sprawling 15,000-acre resort nestled atop Gunung Ulu Kali, sitting majestically high above the clouds.
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Located 50 km from the capital city, Kuala Lumpur, it was the maiden gaming property of the Malaysian global casino empire founded by Chinese immigrant Lim Goh Tong.

Since its inception half a century ago, the casino enjoyed a monopoly in Malaysia and faithfully minted shedloads of capital to fund the international exploits of the Lim family far and wide from Australia to the Philippines, the United Kingdom, America and the high seas.

But the home stalwart was to lose its flagship status after Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) opened in 2010.

At over $5 billion, the development cost for the Singapore resort had eclipsed the aggregate capital investment spent on the Malaysian property over its four decades in business.

The seminal resort not only lost its star billing in the Genting casino stable but also suffered the ignominy of a talent drain as experienced executives were cherry-picked over to the new integrated resort. The resort’s name too was changed to Resorts World Genting (RWG) as the Group amalgamated all its casinos’ brands under the new name created for the Singapore property.

RWS would live up to its billing to become the best Genting performer by far, and even touched the summit of the world’s most profitable for a couple of quarters.

Industry sages predicted the rise of RWS to be at the cost of RWG’s downfall, as much from cannibalization of the old to the new, and fierce market competition from the two, spanking new multibillion-dollar resorts.

The prophecy however did not materialize. Save for an initial blip, strong loyalty from local customers saw business rebounding despite the new kids on the block. While Malaysians do enjoy the occasional jaunts across the Causeway to punt in Singapore, their frequent pilgrimages up the mountain hadn’t lessened.

For the locals, there is a sense of gemütlich about RWG; it is distinctively Malaysian, and nothing can replace that homey feeling, like the comfort of the old, tattered blanket you can never part with.