Robert De Brito

Robert A De Brito is a hospitality veteran whose career spans over five decades of progressive leadership across housekeeping, laundry, and rooms division operations within some of Malaysia’s most distinguished internationally branded hotels.

Beginning as a washerman in 1968, Robert’s journey through the industry is a remarkable testament to dedication and craft rising through the ranks to lead housekeeping and rooms division operations at properties including The Regent Kuala Lumpur, Shangri-La Kuala Lumpur, Pan Pacific Kuala Lumpur, Hotel Nikko Kuala Lumpur, Sheraton Imperial, The Westin Kuala Lumpur, and others.

.As an Industry Advisor with Asianhotelier.Org, Robert brings an irreplaceable perspective one rooted in more than 55 years of hands-on hospitality experience across virtually every dimension of rooms and operational management. His career embodies the values at the heart of the platform: that excellence in hospitality is built from the ground up, through discipline, continuous learning, and an unwavering commitment to standards.

Derrick Felix

Derrick Felix is a seasoned hospitality leader with over 29 years of experience across international and local hotel properties. Currently serving as General Manager within Marriott International, his career has spanned multiple senior leadership roles reflecting a consistent track record of operational excellence and financial delivery across diverse property types and market segments. His rise through the ranks is a compelling example of industry-grown leadership — shaped entirely through hands-on experience, on-the-job progression, and structured professional development, proving that talent and dedication are the most powerful qualifications of all.

A specialist in hotel pre-openings, Derrick has successfully led the launch of multiple properties, with several achieving GOP and EBITDA targets within months of opening. His early career grounding in Food & Beverage and banquet management gives him a strong end-to-end understanding of hotel operations that continues to inform his general management approach today.

As an Industry Advisor with Asianhotelier.Org, Derrick brings a practical, results-driven perspective shaped by nearly three decades on the frontlines of hotel leadership. His passion for developing leaders, empowering teams, and building commercially sound yet people-focused operations makes him a valuable voice in guiding the next generation of hospitality professionals across the region.

Hazali Zakaria

Hazali Zakaria is a seasoned security and safety professional with over two decades of experience across luxury hotels, major convention facilities, and high-profile public institutions in Malaysia. Beginning his hospitality career as a Human Resources Assistant in 1998, his journey to Director of Safety & Security level is a compelling example of cross-functional growth having built expertise across sales and marketing, convention operations, retail security, and hotel security leadership before arriving at his current specialisation. His career spans a broad range of environments giving him a depth of situational experience that few security professionals can match.

Earlier exposure to sales and marketing roles across several well-known Malaysian hotel brands gave Hazali a well-rounded understanding of hotel operations beyond the security function an advantage that informs his collaborative, guest-aware approach to safety leadership. He is a Certified Counter Terrorism Practitioner and Certified OSH Coordinator, and currently serves as Vice Chairman of the Malaysian Association of Hotels Kuala Lumpur Chapter, Safety & Security Committee.

As an Industry Advisor with Asianhotelier.Org, Hazali contributes deep expertise in hotel safety, security governance, crisis preparedness, and regulatory compliance areas of growing importance across the region’s hospitality landscape.

Ryan Hon Ru Yuan

Ryan Hon is a Rooms Division professional whose career spans over a decade of progressive experience across internationally branded properties in Malaysia, Australia, and the Middle East. Beginning his hospitality education at YTL International College of Hotel Management in Malaysia, he went on to pursue his bachelor’s degree at the International College of Hotel Management in Adelaide, South Australia.

His career reflects genuine breadth and versatility having served as a butler, guest service officer, duty manager, front office supervisor, and front office manager across ultra-luxury resorts, pre-opening assignments, and large-scale branded city hotels.

Most recently, Ryan has made a deliberate transition from Front Office into Housekeeping, taking on the role of Executive Housekeeper broadening his rooms division expertise and deepening his operational leadership across the full guest journey.

As an Industry Advisor with Asianhotelier.Org, he represents the emerging generation of multi-disciplinary hospitality professionals whose cross-functional experience and international exposure make them invaluable voices for the next generation of hoteliers across Asia.

Franklin Gorden

Franklin Gorden is a Rooms Division professional with over 25 years of progressive experience across Front Office and Housekeeping operations within internationally recognised hotel brands. His career tells a compelling story of deliberate reinvention — having spent his first twelve years in Front Office management before making a purposeful transition into Housekeeping leadership, a path he has pursued with distinction for over fourteen years across some of Kuala Lumpur’s most prominent properties.

Starting out as a waiter in Kuching, Sarawak, Franklin made his way to Kuala Lumpur where he steadily built a career that would take him across flagship properties including Traders Hotel by Shangri-La, Hilton Kuala Lumpur, Berjaya Times Square, Pullman Kuala Lumpur City Centre, and PARKROYAL COLLECTION Kuala Lumpur — a journey that reflects both his ambition and his willingness to grow beyond the familiar.

As an Industry Advisor with Asianhotelier.Org, Franklin contributes deep operational expertise across the full rooms division spectrum — and a career story that demonstrates what consistent professionalism, adaptability, and commitment to craft can achieve over the course of a distinguished hospitality career.

Hasrul Hamid

Hasrul Hamid is a hospitality professional turned Learning & Development and Talent Specialist, whose career journey is a remarkable example of cross-functional growth within the industry. Beginning as a Commis Chef in 1997 and progressing through culinary roles before transitioning into hygiene, stewarding, and ultimately people development, Hasrul has arrived at his current calling as a Director of Learning & Development. This ground-up progression across the kitchen, operations, and training functions gives him an unusually complete understanding of what it takes to develop talent in a real hospitality environment.

His expertise spans learning culture development, brand service programme facilitation, talent acquisition, mentoring, and coaching — complemented by a strong grounding in food safety and hygiene governance built through years as Hygiene Coordinator and Stewarding & Hygiene Manager. These experiences reflect both his commitment to professional standards and his breadth across operational and people disciplines.

As an Industry Advisor with Asianhotelier.Org, Hasrul brings a deeply practical perspective on talent development, learning design, and the cultivation of future hospitality leaders — shaped by a career that began in the kitchen and evolved through every layer of hotel operations.

Muzhaffar Rashman

Muzhaffar Rashman is a hospitality professional in Rooms Division specialising in both Housekeeping and Front Office operations. Beginning as a Bellman he advanced steadily through roles as Guest Service Officer, Team Leader, and Assistant Manager, building strong capabilities in guest engagement, service recovery, and team leadership along the way. A deliberate move into Housekeeping as an Assistant Manager further broadened his perspective, deepening his knowledge of cost management, quality assurance, and cross-departmental collaboration.

Muzhaffar has since held leadership roles within Marriott International, contributing to both reopening and pre-opening phases across properties with large room inventories and sizeable teams. Most recently, he has taken on the challenge of leading the pre-opening of the Front Office and Residence division for Hyatt Regency Kuala Lumpur at KL Midtown.

As an Industry Advisor with Asianhotelier.Org, Muzhaffar brings the perspective of a practitioner who has experienced the industry from the ground floor up. His passion for mentoring future hoteliers and his commitment to bridging operational excellence with people development make him a valuable contributor to building a stronger, more capable generation of hospitality professionals.

Lambda Murray

Lambda Murray is a hospitality professional whose career spans over two decades across guest services, concierge operations, recreation management, and security leadership within internationally branded properties in Malaysia, Singapore, and Macau. Beginning as a Front Office Agent in Singapore, he progressed through concierge and guest services roles building a strong foundation in guest experience, service excellence, and team development along the way. A longstanding member of Les Clefs d’Or, he was recognised with the Best Concierge Award by the Asia Pacific Association in 2011.

A deliberate career pivot took Lambda into recreation management at Sheraton Grand Hotel Macao, before transitioning into Loss Prevention first at W Kuala Lumpur and subsequently as the Complex Director of Loss Prevention, where he led security operations across a large dual-branded property complex. His security expertise encompasses emergency response, OSHA compliance, crisis management, and high-profile event security planning, and he has achieved a 100% Associate Engagement score for his department across consecutive years.

Most recently, Lambda has transitioned into Rooms Division leadership as Director of Rooms, bringing together his broad cross-functional experience into a single operational mandate. As an Industry Advisor with Asianhotelier.Org, he represents the kind of versatile, multi-disciplinary hospitality professional whose unconventional career path offers genuinely distinctive insights for the next generation of hoteliers across Asia.

Shanmugam Thangavelu

Shanmugam Thangavelu is a seasoned hospitality executive with over 25 years of experience managing high-end resorts and hotels across Malaysia, Singapore, and the Seychelles. His career reflects a deliberate and steady progression through the full spectrum of hotel operations from Guest Service Manager and Director of Housekeeping to Director of Rooms, Executive Assistant Manager, Director of Operations, and ultimately General Manager a journey built within some of the world’s most respected luxury and international brands including Four Seasons, Raffles, Westin, and Marriott International.

In senior operational leadership at The Westin Langkawi, Shanmugam navigated the resort through the pandemic while driving consistent improvements in guest satisfaction and revenue. His subsequent track record as General Manager  delivering strong financial results alongside a high Associate Engagement Index  reflects an ability to balance commercial performance with people leadership, meeting the expectations of owners, guests, and teams in equal measure.

A holder of a Degree in Economics from Universiti Utara Malaysia, Shanmugam brings to his role as Industry Advisor with Asianhotelier.Org a wealth of cross-brand, cross-market experience and a deep commitment to people development and operational excellence.

Mohammad Ikmal Mohamad Supuan

Mohammad Ikmal Mohamad Supuan is a Housekeeping professional with 20 years of progressive experience across internationally branded hotels in Malaysia. Beginning his career as a Housekeeping Supervisor n 2005, Ikmal steadily advanced through the various leadership positions before stepping into Executive Housekeeper positions where he has operated with distinction ever since.

His Executive Housekeeper career spans a strong portfolio of properties including RHR Hospitality, Alila Bangsar Kuala Lumpur, Four Points by Sheraton Chinatown Kuala Lumpur, and Angsana Teluk Bahang Penang — with notable pre-opening experience at both Alila Bangsar and Four Points by Sheraton Chinatown, where he built housekeeping operations from the ground up. Educated at Hospitality College in Selangor and the Shangri-La Academy in Zhuhai, China, he brings both formal training and deep practical expertise to his leadership of housekeeping teams.

As an Industry Advisor with Asianhotelier.Org, Ikmal contributes the grounded perspective of a specialist who has devoted his entire career to the craft of housekeeping —making him a highly practical voice for the next generation of rooms division professionals across the region.