Kwinana resident and recent father-of-one Victor Hoa has wholeheartedly embraced his new role as St Mary’s Cathedral Manager.
The humble Mr Hoa believes there is nothing remarkable that makes him stand out from the crowd.
“I guess I’m a typical, normal, average guy [who has] travelled for work quite a bit before deciding to come here to settle down,” he told The Record.
Mr Hoa was a consultant in the Marine sector who specialised in environmental protection and dredging and reclamation. He spent much of his 13-year stint travelling across south-east Asia and decided to relocate to Perth to settle down and be with family.
“After thinking about it for a while, I just had enough. I rose up the ranks, I had my own team, I felt I really accomplished what I wanted to accomplish there, so it was a good time to step back.”
His wife Jazel gave birth to their first child in late-December.
The Coronavirus pandemic worsened severely when the Singaporean couple moved to Perth in March 2020, leading to a state-wide lockdown.
The spare time allowed Mr Hoa to re-evaluate his career path before stumbling upon the advertisement for Cathedral Manager.
“I thought about it for quite a while and thought, ‘why not give it a go?’. It’s something different and, as they say, the rest is history!”
As a cradle Catholic who did a lot of volunteer work in his youth, shifting from a corporate environment to working with a team of priests was one of the pull factors for Mr Hoa.
“I thought it’d be nice to go back into something more community-based and not so commercial,” he expressed
“After discerning for some time, I thought it’s a good opportunity.”
Six months into the dynamic role, Mr Hoa appreciates being in a workplace culture where “everybody just wants to do the right thing”.
He spent his first month as an understudy
to his predecessor, Tony Meyrick, who retired after 11 years as the inaugural
Cathedral Supervisor and Manager.
“So far, it has been good. There’s a lot of different kind of challenges, but
the support from the priests, staff, and volunteers have been great, which
makes things manageable.”
Mr Hoa has been kept on his toes during a disruptive time of pandemic. Not long into his tenure, he had to implement safety measures in-line with the State Government’s directives of keeping mandatory contact registers from 5 December onwards and responded swiftly to the 31 January to 5 February snap lockdown.
Mr Hoa’s says his consultative management style helps him work collaboratively with the Cathedral priests, staff, and volunteers. “I like to hear different perspectives, talk to people about things, and see what actually works. Most of the time, I’m more than happy to talk to people and see how things work the best way for everyone,” he concluded.