03

A Royal Dream Come TrueIt’s a perfect combination, the father built it and the son revolutionised it. Today The Big Rajah is KLs most sought after caterer ensuring that every event is one to be remembered.

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“My dad always said I should get to the point where I should chase him and tell him how things should get done but that day never came because he was iconic and really good at what he did. He was a very hands-on person who was afraid of nothing.”

JOHN WILLIAM XAVIERCEO of The Big Rajah

05

JOHN WILLIAM XAVIERCEO of The Big Rajah

It was 10pm and the knocking on the door was getting incessant. Rather than getting ir-

ritated, John Joseph Xavier welcomed the anxious guest into his home and patiently sat with him

listening while he listed what he needed. He assured the guest that he would do whatever was

necessary to meet his request and bid the relieved guest good night. This was what was done in the

early days and this was how it got done!

Much has changed with time since the 1980s to now. While John Senior believed in personally managing every-

thing by himself and building his catering business that way, his son, John William Xavier, CEO of the Big Rajah

Food Caterers Sdn Bhd, has a diff erent way of doing things, and proving that it works just as well.

“My father built the business around him which was good but it also trapped him. HE was the brand. My dad used

to go for the functions he was catering to and stay till the end getting home only after midnight.

“I decided that was not the way, I made the business about the brand of the company, not about the person. Today

if I leave, the company will still continue. I only show up for offi cial functions, otherwise I remain low key focusing

on the business,” explained John.

Wise words from the only son who never intended to take over the family business in the fi rst place. Years spent

watching his father build the business; John had other plans for his life, one that did not include food and bever-

age at all. But it would be impossible to speak about that without fi rst looking at how Th e Big Rajah got started.

As his children were growing, John Senior, who was born in 1929, decided to make ends meet by helping out a

friend in catering while still holding down his full time job in Filem Negara.

Having gained some experience in the catering business, he eventually with two other friends started a catering

business calling it Little Caterers. Little Caterers grew quickly in popularity as John Senior worked hard building

it to great heights.

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06

Years of hard work and sweat later, John Senior decided the time was ripe to leave Little Caterers and build a family

business. A devoted husband and father, together with his wife Rossari, his four children, nieces and nephews, the

family started a catering business called Big Caterers. After ten years of giving the business his all, John Senior chose

to fi nally retire. He was after all, 70 years of age.

With this turn of events, John Senior’s wife and children left Big Caterers as well and decided to start Th e Big Rajah

in 1999 with the tag line “A Royal Banquet.” It was, after all, a business built on the philosophy that everyone should

be able to eat in royal style.

Sitting at the helm was John William Xavier. How did someone who never wanted a part of the catering business

end up steering the ship?

After his A-levels, all John wanted to do was hotel management in Switzerland. His sister was already in England

studying business administration and it was while he was waiting in line for her to return that he got involved in

events management and real estate. Watching money coming in made John yearn to become a businessman.

Suddenly the option to continue studying was not that attractive anymore.

“Real estate was my fi rst calling but with real estate when the market was up things were good

but when the market was bad we were really aff ected. At this point I dabbled in other pies but

nothing really worked. Th en I sat down and analysed all options and realised that the food

industry was actually a good one,” said John looking back.

With catering experience already tucked under his belt, having worked part time in both

Little and Big Caterers, John recalls following his father around as he worked in the

early catering days. He also remembers big pots of food arriving at the house while his

mother did the cooking for the events. Th e family literally ate and drank catering.

When Big Caterers started, there was only one staff and that staff was John. He start-

ed at the bottom as a driver and remembers what a hard task master his father was.

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“Th e hours were ridiculous and the pressure he put on me was tremendous. My dad always said I should get to the point

where I should chase him and tell him how things should get done but that day never came because he was iconic and

really good at what he did. He was a very hands-on person who was afraid of nothing,” said the aff able John.

Being who he was, it only made sense therefore that John Senior should be the honorary chairman of Th e Big Rajah. Be-

cause John was still working at events management when Th e Big Rajah started, it was John Senior who ran the company

in the initial fi ve months putting the systems in place following the blue prints of Little and Big Caterers.

When John took over the reins, he set about making changes to the company and the catering industry. “With my dad,

everything was done manually, and it took up his life. I knew that I had to change the outlook. Although we both believe

in the personal touch, the concept of one person running the show can be changed. You need to delegate and supervise.

“Nowadays everything is computerised. We are trying to revolutionise the industry and make it relevant. In doing this,

I emulate hotels and the changing trends. It was us who introduced the dome concept and brought in uniforms so our

waiters will look professional. We have trucks with Th e Big Rajah brand emblazoned on it so there is uniformity. We

started doing on-the-spot tosai and ice-kacang.

“I modernised the industry so if someone wanted pomp, fanfare and style, they could always come to us. We spent money

on decorations which we bought in India. Our trays, warmers and cutlery are one-of- a-kind and purchased in India

as well. As for the menu, Th e Big Rajah specialises in fi ne Malaysian cuisine encompassing Indian, Malay, Chinese and

Western foods. As we revolutionised the industry others have followed which makes me very aware of the need to be

constantly innovative and fi ve steps ahead,” said John adding that he is very much a thinker just like his mother.

Taking on a legacy was understandably not easy. Initially John was not sure if he could bring in the numbers that his

father was able to. “Th e second generation is always judged harshly. Th e icon is always self-made. No matter how hard

you try society does not give you much of a chance.

“People always said my dad did this and did that. When I started there was a lot of travailing. It took almost three years

before we started actually making money. I did other jobs such as events management and home ownership campaigns

to bring in money into this business once the initial capital was wiped out and since we did not want to depend on bank

loans. Th e early period was indeed very tough.”

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“Constantly being innovative inspires me. God wakes me up with new ideas so I am never pressured on how to get

new ideas for my company. You can run the same old same old but after a while you have to do something different.”

Believing in working smart and delegating work to capable staff surrounding him, John is working hard in changing the mar-

keting strategy of Th e Big Rajah. With the help of his business manager, Vivian Danker, they have created a website and made

a niche for themselves. Together they have changed the cottage industry to become as professional as it gets.

Insistent on not taking on too many orders so the high quality of Th e Big Rajah is maintained, John maximises his functions to

ten a day. Th ere is a check and balance procedure in place and details and punctuality are factors that are carefully adhered to.

“We personalise the service and give customers what they want. We provide the canopies, chairs and tables for the functions

we cater to. We can stage a setting for you; provide the décor and the food of course. Everything complements each other; we

even manufacture ice cream for our catering.

“Th e Big Rajah has grown by word of mouth as people believe in our product. We in turn believe and live on repeat clients,”

remarked John adding that although his cooks are from India the recipes used for the business are actually from his mother.

With clients ranging from royalty to the prime minister, multinational companies and the everyday guy on the streets, John

believes in being relational to everyone he meets including his staff .

“Constantly being innovative inspires me. God wakes me up with new ideas so I am never pressured on how to get new ideas

for my company. You can run the same old same old but after a while you have to do something diff erent.

“I intend to keep innovating and growing this company. Vivian, my niece, thinks like me. She does everything from the mar-

keting, coordination, and trouble shooting. She is a replica of me and hopefully one day she will take over the company.

“As for me, I plan to keep innovating the company and making the functions aff ordable. Although my father, who I greatly

admired has since passed away, I intend to keep giving our customers the best that I can just as he did for all those years.”

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