The following is a list of episodes in the Asian television show The Apprentice Asia.
Episodes Original Series Episode 1 Episode title: Get Ready for Sharp Suits and Even Sharper Claws Air date: 22 May 2013 Task: Sell fish at a wet market for the highest profit Project managers Mavericks: Hendy Apex: Nik Dramatic tension: On Team Apex, Nik mislabeled a tray of prawns that was RM47 per kilogram at cost price as RM15 per kilogram. They thus incurred a loss of RM300 on that tray of prawns alone. Team Mavericks began to sell their fish before the stall was properly set up. Winning team: Apex Reasons for win: Both teams failed to make any profit and incurred losses instead. However, the women were able to minimise their loss by making large sales to restaurants at good margins to clear their remaining stock. They attained a loss of RM186 which was less than the men's loss of RM654. Reward: A private dinner at Chynna, Hilton Kuala Lumpur. Losing Team: Mavericks Reasons for loss: Hanzo and Alex began channeling customers to their stall even though prices were not demarcated by the rest of the team yet. Hendy and Samuel proceeded to sell fish to customers without prices established. The team also sold leftover fish at near-giveaway prices to nearby restaurants further worsening their loss. Sent to boardroom: Hendy, Alex and Nazril Fired: Hendy Setiono - for his inability to lead his team "in moments of crisis", lacking any form of strategy going into the task and allowing the team to be had by crafty housewives seeking the best bargain possible. He also brought Alex and Nazril - two strong team members - into the boardroom and refused to name any weak members in the team, namely Hanzo and Samuel. When explaining his reasons, Fernandes realized that Hendy wanted to resign (or be fired) and let him go. Notes: Fernandes was especially displeased as both teams made a loss. However, as Apex made a smaller loss, they were declared the winners of the task.
Episode 2 Episode title: Hollywood Dreams, Lots of Sukling, and a Boardroom Battle. Meow. Air date: 29 May 2013 Task: Create a 30-sec viral video to promote Expedia. Project managers: Mavericks: Samuel Apex: Dussadee Winning team: Apex Reasons for win: The team understood the concept of a viral video. They produced a video with a catchy dance that was easily replicable. Reward: Martini at the Marini's On 57 bar on the 57th floor of the Petronas Towers Losing team: Mavericks Reasons for loss: The team failed to create a video with a talking point, instead producing a clip that resembled a television commercial. In addition, Jonathan failed to ask proper questions during the meeting with the Expedia executive, instead focusing on business and marketing strategies which was irrelevant to the task. Sent to boardroom: Samuel, Jonathan and Hanzo Boardroom tension: Samuel accused Hanzo of shooting down a video idea involving Richard Branson's lost bet against Fernandes, in which Branson had to cross-dress as an air stewardess on an AirAsia flight. Fernandes felt that it was a "dumb move" as that idea could have made the difference between a win and a loss. However, he reserved some criticism for Jonathan and Samuel as well, commenting that "all three should be fired". Fired: Hanzo Ng Kian Tat - for his inability to co-operate with his team, as well as a general lack of engagement in the task.
Episode 3 Episode Title: The Hand, the Clueless Local, and the Shocking Twist Air date: 5 June 2013 Task: Make a sales pitch for 3 Taiwanese products (from a choice of 6) to large retailers (Giant Hypermarket and Sogo) and small retailers. The team with the highest sales revenue wins. The choice of products were done by alternate selection, with Apex winning the coin toss and the right to choose first. Apex chose the wireless IP camera, portable battery charger and portable bicycle and Mavericks chose the rice cooker, video projector and portable bicycle (a different model) Corporate restructuring: Since Mavericks lost the previous two tasks, Andrea was instructed by Fernandes to join Mavericks in order to even out the teams. Project managers: Mavericks: Andrea Apex: Celina Winning team: Mavericks Reasons for win: Although they did not make any sales to Giant due to poor pricing strategy, they came back with a large sale to Sogo. Also, the team made a decent amount of sales to small retailers because the large retailers sales pitch team decided to help sell to small retailers after they found out that Samuel and Nazril did not make many sales. They made a total of RM1,172,938. Reward: Shopping spree at La Martina with RM7,500 to spend among the team. Losing team: Apex Reasons for loss: Although they made good sales to Giant, the products did not cater to the market that Sogo was targeting. In addition, they made poor sales to the small retailers because Ningku's hard-sell techniques put off potential buyers and Nik did not plan the route well to maximise the number of retailers they could meet. They made RM1,083,862 of sales in total. Sent to boardroom: Celina, Nik and Ningku Quit: Dussadee Oeawpanich "Dee" - as she felt that the cut-throat and ultra-competitive team dynamics did not suit her style of working, with team members being disrespectful to one another. While Fernandes was shocked at her decision, he eventually respected her decision and allowed her to leave. As such, no one was fired that week. Notes: Fernandes chose the project managers this week, instead of the team deciding for themselves. The first time that Team Apex lose, breaking their two weeks winning streak. Although Dussadee announced her intention to resign before the final boardroom (but after Celina chose whom to bring back to the boardroom), Fernandes still conducted the final boardroom before announcing that none would be fired.
Episode 4 Episode title: Coffee Can Be A Challenge Air date: 12 June 2013 Task: Promote the Nescafé Dolce Gusto with a pop-up café. The winner would be judged by Nestlé executives. Project managers: Mavericks: Alex Apex: Ningku Dramatic tension: Apex chose the ice cappuccino flavour to be placed on the poster, which was not available at the retail outlet and only on the online store. Mavericks bought Ferrero Rocher chocolate to display, only to be pointed out by the Nestlé executives that the chocolate brand belonged to their competitor. Winning team: Mavericks Reasons for win: The team correctly identified the target market for the product to be premium consumers. In addition, the sales team had adequate product knowledge and engaged customers well. Reward: A spa trip Losing team: Apex Reasons for loss: Although the team had a good tagline "Coffee can be an escape", they failed to make a good poster, showing only a single flavour (which was not even available at the retail outlet) and only one model of the machine when there were two available. Also, Ningku sent Nik and herself to distribute flyers, leaving the team short-handed at the pop-up café. Furthermore, Dian showed her poor product knowledge, when she mistakenly mentioned that the Genio model of the machine was manually operated, which it was actually automatic, upsetting the Nestlé executives. Sent to boardroom: Ningku, Dian and Celina Boardroom tension: Ningku initially accepted responsibility for the task and asked to leave. However, Fernandes rejected her request (as opposed to the previous week, when Dussadee was allowed to quit). This would have made little difference anyway, since she was fired. Fired: Ningku Lachungpa - for poor leadership as a project manager, and for showing weakness by asking to quit the show. She had also tried to defend herself by emphasising on Dian's poor product knowledge which Fernandes felt was "pathetic". Notes: This is a second week in a row that someone asked to resign. Should Fernandes had approved the request, it would be an Apprentice first whereby two competitors requested to leave the show in a row.
Episode 5 Episode title: One Befuddled Nash; One Distrusted Sam; And Winners and Losers Air date: 19 June 2013 Task: Make the biggest profit while trading contract for difference (CFD) products on the IG platform, starting with USD20,000 of virtual money. Corporate restructuring: Since Team Apex lost the task twice, Samuel and Alexis were asked to join Apex, but Dian was also asked to join Mavericks. This made the even out number of the teams. Project managers: Mavericks: Nazril Apex: Samuel Winning team: Mavericks Reasons for win: The team adopted a conservative strategy, opening only 1 position at the start. They made a loss of $3,628. Reward: Dinner with IG's Head of the Asia Pacific region Tamas Szabo and Tony Fernandes at the Fukuya restaurant. Losing team: Apex Reasons for loss: The team adopted an aggressive strategy at the start that failed to pay off, despite huge gains on the second day. They incurred a loss of $7,759. Sent to boardroom: Samuel, Nik and Alexis Fired: Nik Aisyah Amirah Binti Mansor - for failing to step up in this task given her financial background as an auditor, for making a major miscalculation, and for being the weakest member as a whole among the three. Notes: Fernandes was not around to assign the task this week. Mark Lankester did the corporate restructuring and Fernandes announced the task via a video recording. Similar to the first task, both teams made losses, and Mavericks won by virtue of making a smaller loss. Nevertheless, Fernandes was displeased, stating that he "dislikes losses". Footage from this episode was later seen in an IG commercial.
Episode 6 Episode title: Tony. Loses. It. Air date: 26 June 2013 Task: Manage part of the Hilton Kuala Lumpur for the day. The winner would be judged by Hilton executives based on the quality of service. Project managers: Mavericks: Jonathan Apex: Celina Dramatic tension: Celina micro-managed Apex, calling Alexis every 2 minutes to check on their progress. This annoyed Samuel and Alexis as they were trying to focus on completing room service orders, and they eventually ignored Celina's calls. Winning team: Apex Reasons for win: Despite a few minor hiccups with slow check-ins, the team provided service that most closely met Hilton's high standards of service. The executives were so impressed that they commented they would "hire Alex(is) right away". Reward: A night's stay at the Grand Executive Suite of Hilton Kuala Lumpur Losing team: Mavericks Reasons for loss: The team made many critical errors. Nazril left the room keys at the front desk, wasting precious time as they went down to collect the keys, and overstepped his power as an employee by giving a complimentary pizza to one of the guests. Dian left the manual that described the layout of the room at the front desk, leading the housekeeping team to be unsure of the layout of the room. Jonathan took down a room service order incorrectly: when the guest ordered Mediterranean Pizza with Grilled Chicken with Feta Cheese and Olives, Jonathan only took down the latter half of the order (Grilled Chicken with Feta Cheese and Olives), leading the kitchen to produce a special order incorrectly. Furthermore, the team made a HHonors Diamond VIP member (the highest level) wait for 45-minutes to check in, which Fernandes found unacceptable. Sent to boardroom: Jonathan, Nazril and Dian Boardroom tension: Jonathan and Nazril accused Dian for having a lack of integrity by claiming the manual was "missing" instead of mentioning that she left it on the front desk, and pointed that she had not stepped up during the course of the entire interview. Fernandes agreed, but he decided to give Dian a second chance. Nevertheless, he warned Dian that she would be fired the following week if she failed to step up. Fired: Nazril Idrus "Nash" - for making too many mistakes, not just during this task, but in other challenges as well.