What's Success And Can You Define How You've Unlocked It Over A Glass Of Whisky?

What’s success and can you define how you’ve unlocked it over a glass (or two) of whisky? Andrew Leci drams up these answers and more, from a man who’s rejuvenating the Singapore cityscape one heritage building at a time.

- Andrew Leci

Put Ashish Manchharam in a flowing robe, bring a gong to life and burn a little incense (sandalwood, I’m thinking, although I don’t know why) and I’d happily volunteer to be the dispenser of his wisdom.

‘Ruffled’ isn’t a word to which Manchharam, despite admitting to suffering the odd sleepless night over decisions made, can be associated. He is a man of vision, and that vision is clear. It’s of the future, and a future borne of a healthy respect for the past and the cultural heritage of his home. He and 8M, the company he founded and now helms, aim to turn legacy Singaporean real estate into gorgeous, relevant, iconic structures and spaces.

“I focus on rejuvenating old buildings,” Manchharam says over an Ardbeg 15, relishing the peatiness as a whisky infusion that may be (at a stretch) analogous to what he is striving to achieve. That is, partial decomposition but with the potential for renewal in the modern age, somewhat like the heritage buildings he is prepping for the 21st century with more than a fair degree of design intent. “Bringing them back to life and making them relevant today,” is the 8M mantra, and the company’s burgeoning portfolio attests to some fine judgment, a clear vision and a group of people who know what they’re about.

“We don’t rebuild, we renovate and rejuvenate,” says Manchharam, not perhaps appreciating the somewhat grandiose intent. I want to rejuvenate my glass of whisky, but he is a contemplative sipper who, very kindly and with little thought for his own health and safety, agreed to de-detox for the time it took to sit down with me at the Mandala Club for a natter.