Jonathan Yabut of the Philippines is the Winner of ‘The Apprentice Asia’
Jonathan Yabut nailed the last challenge of “The Apprentice Asia” making him the first ever winner of the reality TV series as announced by AirAsia Group chief executive Tony Fernandes, the show’s host, during the program’s finale episode on Wednesday, July 31.
Yabut bested Singaporean lawyer Andrea Loh during the final episode and 11 other contestants from all over the region including fellow Filipino contestant Celina Le Neindre who was fired on week 7.
As the first “Apprentice Asia” winner, Yabut bagged a one-year work contract with a salary of at least $100,000.
Here’s a recap of the final episode from AXN:
Dramatic tension:
- Jonathan’s poster was criticised by AirAsia Foundation head Yap Mun Ching for having more negatives than positives, but Yap liked the idea of getting guests to sign on the poster.
- Andrea fumbled with the speech during the cocktail event, failing to get the guests’ attention. However, Yap felt that Andrea brought across the message of the AirAsia Foundation better.
- Jonathan conducted the auction well, however he was criticised for picking safe items that failed to attract the attention of the guests.
- Andrea fumbled during the auction again. She lost track of bids and conducted herself in a casual and unprofessional manner. However, her items attracted high bids, which the crowd gave a standing ovation to.
Boardroom tension:
- The six fired team members that helped out in the task were brought back to the boardroom, and were asked to provide their feedback on Andrea and Jonathan.
- After the fired candidates left the boardroom, Fernandes pointed out that Andrea had a better winning record (6-2, 1-1 record as Project Manager, 1 time in bottom 3) compared to Jonathan (4-4, 0-1 record as Project Manager, 3 times in bottom 3).
- Jonathan pointed out that statistics are just numbers, and that even in his losses and Andrea’s wins, he was a strong team member. Andrea felt that the statistics proved well that she had the versatility to do well in a wide range of tasks.
- Andrea pointed out that on several occasions, Jonathan did not step up to be the Project Manager even though the task played to his strengths in marketing and branding.
- Jonathan defended himself by arguing that he was a good team player by allowing others to be Project Manager instead of wasting time fighting over who should fill that position, and that he brought out the best in all his team members. He also pointed out Andrea’s lack of positivity as a weakness, as she would shoot down ideas that she didn’t like.
- Jonathan argued that he was a better candidate than Andrea because he brought the best out of his team members, together with strong passion, leadership, adaptability and resilience.
- Andrea pointed out that she had greater potential, the right balance of intellect and emotion, and the drive to win.
- Fernandes asked for his advisors’ opinions on who should he hire. Kathleen Tan felt that Jonathan had better people skills, bringing out the best in people, and wondered if Andrea’s emotions would be a hindrance in AirAsia. On the other hand, Mark Lankester felt that Andrea had more potential, the qualities of an apprentice, and that she would be a better leader.
Fired: Andrea Loh Ern-Yu
Hired: Jonathan Allen Yabut “Jon”
minsan nang narating ang tuktok nang pangarap sa isang pinoy ..para sa mga kabataan ngayon nasa gitna nang kahirapan ..hindi masama ang mangarap ng malaki kunt itoy ginagampanan at pinaghirapan.. manalangin at itoy iibigay hindi man ngayon baka bukas..kaya mngarap ka..libre na manyan diba…
sana itoang maging tulay para sa kabat-an minsan nang mangarap pero sumuko agad..galing nang noypi..
napanood ko yan! and i learned a lot from this show..
i love his speech at the finale party, simple lang pero malaman….what ours is ours! haha! i think he is implying the issue of territorial dispute over china.
and he stated that we are not too small to dream big – – if there is spark, there is hope, with hope there is action, and with action there is change!
Congrats Jonathan! Well Done!
..keep it up jonathan, na picture ko sayo ang pagiging isang mabuting anak, estudyante, empleyado at makabayang filipino. Inspirasyon ka ng mga kababayan mong may galing at talino. MABUHAY KA!!!!!!!!!
Proud to be Pinoy! Congrats and God Bless!
The moment AAG Chief Tony Fernandes announced the total amount raised from the fund raising event (1.3 million ringgits) but failed to identify which share was Jonathan’s and which was Andrea’s, it became obvious – if not very clear – that the winner will be Jonathan. This is because when the bidding event was partly shown, Jonathan’s highest bidder was only 50K or 60K while that of Andrea was 400K. Again, during the selection of items for bids, Jonathan opted for small ticket items – despite having the advantage of the first pick – while Andrea opted for the high end, thus the 400K bid.
In other words, had Mr. Fernandes annouced Jonathan’s share and that of Andrea’s, the former’s share would have compared MISERABLY ! Probably within the range of just 10% to 40%. And this would certainly create a lot of negative feedbacks and publicity or even protests from a lot of Singaporians who live nearby or who could have made up the majority during the fund raising event. I would even hazard to say that the one who bid 400K to Andrea was a Singaporian.
But as a Filipino, I’m glad that Jonathan won – fair and square – because in a number of times Andrea fumbled in her introductory speech and in her auctioneering. She can’t even deliver her introductory speech extemporaneously and relied mostly on her script and her teamates to remember the prices of items she’s trying to bid. So Jonathan, congratulations for making the Filipino proud once again.
the qualities of a true leader with a heart is with jonathan…mabuhay ang pinoy!!!!
For sure pag iinitan nanaman ng mga singaporeans ang mga pinoy sa SG kc natalo sila……joke joke joke