He got involved in Sunway back in the early seventies when I was only a toddler. So I can remember it being part of our lives very early on.

He had a lot of different businesses but the travel thing was something that I was interested in more than anything else. He would have always talked a lot about business at home and I was always interested in listening to him, so it was like an education. He's passionate about business and not just in the sense of making money . . . it's his actual hobby. He takes it home with him. We end up discussing business over dinner sometimes and I feel sorry for my mother having to listen to us.

So what's it like to work together?

We're very different, in that he would sit back and think things through much more than I would. I'd be much more gung-ho. We work well together on that basis. Not that I'd be reckless, but he would be a bit more conservative than I would. He's an accountant and figures and accountancy wouldn't be my forte at all. On the other hand marketing would be my thing and he's very interested in the marketing end. So we bounce ideas off each other and I learn from that.

Does he give specific advice?

He's not really someone who gives advice and I'm not the kind of person to accept advice. In fact I take it almost like criticism! I tend to observe him and see what works, and learn how I should do things by watching him. And I'm continuing to learn from him. I learn new things from him all the time.

What in particular have you learned from him?

He's a very fair person, and being fair is something that I would feel really strongly about as a result. And that carries through to everything, from dealing with staff to suppliers or clients. Once you're fair and you're honest people trust you and respect you and that's really important in business. Also, he leads by example. He loves the business and people can see that and they have respect for that and they get interested in the business as a result.

Tanya Airey is Managing Director of Sunway Holidays and Jim Furlong is Chairman of Sunway (in conversation with Patrick Freyne)