The first season of The Apprentice Asia aired in the summer and fall of 2013. It featured 12 candidates.
After the last show, Tony Fernandes hired contestant Jonathan Allen Yabut of the Republic of Philippines, a senior product manager. Andrea Loh Ern-Yu, a civil-and-commercial litigation lawyer, of Singapore was the runner-up. Yabut beat eleven finalists, winning a one-year contract and a six-figure salary job in Fernandes' airline, AirAsia.
Summary
This season was hosted by magnate Tony Fernandes, who was later joined by Mark Lankester, CEO of the Tune Hotels’ Group, Rob Jesudason, finance executive, and Kathleen Tan, CEO of Expedia Asia. The role of the hosts in this show is to analyze what went wrong with the contestants' strategies and business outcomes, and to determine which team member of the losing team should be "fired" from the show.
The season started with 12 contestants, six men and six women from across Asia. All of the participants had been successful in various enterprises, including restaurant management, IT, and sales. During the show, the contestants lived communally in a suite in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where they were divided into two teams based on their gender. Each week, Fernandes assigned the teams a task. Each team selected a "project manager" to lead them in the week's assigned task. The winning team received a reward, while the losing team faced a boardroom showdown with Fernandes and two of his associates in order to determine which team member would be fired. Elimination proceeded in two stages. In the first stage, Fernandes confronted the losing team and required the week's project manager to select two additional team members which the project manager believed were most responsible for the loss. The rest of the team was dismissed (allowed to go back up to the suite, because they were safe to stay for the next round), and the project manager and the two other selected members faced a final confrontation several minutes later in which Fernandes fired one of the three.
Candidates Initially both teams, or "corporations", were divided by their gender. Color key
Contestant Age Background Origin Original Teams Week 3 Teams Week 5 Teams Result Episode Date Jonathan Allen Yabut 27 Senior Manager Philippines Mavericks Mavericks Mavericks Hired by Fernandes (Finale) July 31, 2013 Andrea Loh Ern-Yu 25 Lawyer Singapore Apex Mavericks Mavericks Fired (Finale) July 31, 2013 Alexis Lothar Bauduin 29 Company Director China Mavericks Mavericks Apex Fired (Week 9) July 17, 2013 Samuel Rufus Nallaraj 37 Company Vice-President India Mavericks Mavericks Apex Fired (Week 9) July 17, 2013 Dian Krishna Mukti 36 Homemaker & Miss Universe Indonesia 2003 Indonesia Apex Apex Mavericks Fired (Week 8) July 10, 2013 Celina Le Neindre 30 F&B Consultant Philippines Apex Apex Apex Fired (Week 7) July 3, 2013 Nazril Idrus 38 Financial Coach Malaysia Mavericks Mavericks Mavericks Fired (Week 6) June 26, 2013 Nik Aisyah Amirah Binti Mansor 25 Auditor Malaysia Apex Apex Apex Fired (Week 5) June 19, 2013 Ningku Lachungpa 29 Company Director India Apex Apex Fired (Week 4) June 12, 2013 Dussadee Oeawpanich 35 Restaurateur Thailand Apex Apex Quit (Week 3) June 5, 2013 Hanzo Ng Kian Tat 34 Business Owner Malaysia Mavericks Fired (Week 2) May 29, 2013 Hendy Setiono 30 Founder & CEO F&B Company Indonesia Mavericks Fired (Week 1) May 22, 2013
Elimination table + Elimination chart No. Candidate Task Number12345678910 1 Jonathan IN BR IN IN IN LOSE IN BR IN 2 Andrea IN IN WIN IN IN IN IN LOSE IN FIRED 3-4 Alexis BR IN IN WIN BR IN LOSE IN FIRED Samuel IN LOSE IN IN LOSE IN BR WIN FIRED 5 Dian IN IN IN BR IN BR WIN FIRED 6 Celina IN IN LOSE BR IN WIN FIRED 7 Nazril BR IN IN IN WIN FIRED 8 WIN IN BR IN FIRED 9 Ningku IN IN BR FIRED 10 IN WIN 11 Hanzo IN FIRED 12 Hendy FIRED References Color keys
Episodes
Episode 1: Get Ready for Sharp Suits and Even Sharper Claws Air date: May 22, 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: Hollywood Dreams, Lots of Sukling, and a Boardroom Battle. Meow. Air date: May 29, 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: The Hand, the Clueless Local, and the Shocking Twist Air date: June 5, 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. 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: Coffee Can Be A Challenge Air date: June 12, 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 mistakenly mentioned that the Genio model of the machine was manually operated when it was 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: One Befuddled Nash; One Distrusted Sam; And Winners and Losers Air date: June 19, 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: Samuel and Alexis were asked to join Apex. Dian was asked to join Mavericks. Project managers: