If all goes well, NTU will launch the first locally-built satellite into orbit in 2006

By Natalie Soh

SINGAPORE is going into space. The Nanyang Technological University (NTU) is planning to launch the first Singapore-built satellite in 2006.

It is the first time that Singapore will be designing and building a satellite, which will be called X-Sat, from scratch.

Associate Professor Tan Soon Hie, director of the university's Centre for Research in Satellite Technologies, said: 'We really have to design it and build it well. You can't go fix something once it's up there in space.'

To make sure that they get it right from the word go, the centre has enlisted the help of one of the best in the business - Dr Allan Lee, a researcher with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration-linked Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California.

Dr Lee, a Singaporean who was an integral part of the team that built the Cassini orbiter, which is now exploring Saturn, has been part of the effort since early 2001.

It has meant many midnight teleconferences for him to talk to the team in Singapore.

Visiting NTU for a fortnight, he quipped good naturedly: 'They are drawing lessons from a database of mistakes.'

He recalled the challenges the JPL faced in building the US$3.4 billion (S$5.8 billion) Cassini craft.

Among the problems were technical issues like how to protect the craft in a hostile space environment.

He said: 'Take Saturn's rings, for instance. They are beautiful, but they are actually made up of rocks and dust. Just a mote - millimetres in size - will kill you if it hits you because it is travelling at about 5 km a second.'

Radiation from the Sun and even the emptiness of space can cause spacecraft and satellites to fail if their parts are not adequately protected, he said.

So NTU's mini-satellite - about the size of a small fridge and costing about $20 million - will be designed with fail-safe features. In case something fails, there will be back-up systems to take over.

The X-Sat will orbit the Earth at a height of about 800km and take photographs to measure soil erosion and environmental changes.

Apart from that, it will also be able to relay information. If, for instance, a marine biologist releases a probe at sea, the satellite will pick up the data when it is overhead and relay it back to the telecommand ground station, which will be located at NTU.

Right now, NTU engineers are working on the electronic circuits that will be on board the satellite.

The X-Sat will take two more years to assemble and it will be hurtled into space from India in mid-2006.

Said Dr Lee: 'The best part will be the launch. It's like having a baby when you see your craft successfully launched. I am not ashamed to say that we at JPL wept when it happened.'

Turning to Prof Tan, he said: 'Don't worry, you will know exactly what I'm talking about in three years' time.'

OH....for a moment I tot we went nuts trying to get into the global rat-race. Im glad its just a satellite! :D

Better than nothing...:D

It just sounds exciting. It would be even more exciting if they launched it from Singapore itself. Anyway, kudos to this tiny island city!

Originally posted by RafflesCity

It just sounds exciting. It would be even more exciting if they launched it from Singapore itself. Anyway, kudos to this tiny island city! And can you propose a viable site to do that? Pulau Tekong?? :D

Anyway NTU can only come up with a fridge-sized satellite. Let's see how big NUS's one will be...if we make one at all! :colgate:

People say Singaporeans arent innovative and creative enough. But sometimes there are things we do that counter that kind of assumptions. This thread is for all the best things our innovative Singaporean minds can do. We might surprise ourselves! ;)

Singapore lab helps Philips reach milestone

Electronics giant has 100,000 patents worldwide, and playing a critical part is its young development centre here

By Bryan Lee

ANYONE who has ever ruined a much-loved garment when a clothes iron got stuck to the fabric will doff his cap to Philips engineer Sean Chin. Mr Chin and his 10-member team at the Jurong site of the company's development centre helped produce one of the bright ideas that has just enabled the Dutch-based company to notch up a staggering 100,000 patents worldwide.

Back in 1997, Mr Chin and his team knew they had a big project on their hands when they were given the task of developing a new coating for the base plates of Philips' clothes irons. The coating, which was to use a special technology called sol-gel, would enable irons to glide more smoothly over fabrics, while lasting longer. It would also allow colours to be added to the base plates, breaking away from the ubiquitous grey found on rival models.

But 28-year-old Mr Chin, a chemical engineer by training, and his team faced two major obstacles: Sol-gel materials had never been used in a high-temperature setting and they did not bond well to aluminium, the material used to make the base plates. 'One of the challenges was to prevent the coating from cracking. We needed to find the right fillers and the right baking temperature,' he explained.

After four years of hard work, including weekends, 12-hour days, and trips to the company's headquarters in Holland, the team finally succeeded, in 2001, in coming up with a winning formula. 'There was a lot of pressure, especially as we neared commercial production. The period near the launch was particularly hectic as we refined the production process to ensure sufficient yield,' Mr Chin said.

The coating won a National Technology Award by the Agency for Science, Technology and Research last year, and is now found on many of Philips' high-end models sold worldwide. The company is also aiming to use the new material in other domestic appliances, such as coffee makers and bread toasters.

Mr Chin's innovation, which generated six patents, was just one of 128 inventions created at Philips' development centre here. The company yesterday celebrated hitting a milestone of 100,000 patents worldwide. Underlying these were 20,000 inventions created over the last 20 years.

Its Singapore operations - the country has its largest development centre outside Europe, with a staff strength in excess of 1,000 - contributed 600 of these patents. The centre is on two sites, one in Toa Payoh and another in Jurong, and investments in it have hit a total of $220 million, with another $150 million to be sunk in over the next five years.

Singapore chairman and chief executive Mourad Mankarios said the local achievement was all the more impressive as most of the patents were generated in just the last three years, following the centre's opening in 2000. Philips' research and development centres in the United States and Holland are much bigger and have much longer histories.

Also noteworthy, he added, was the diversity of technologies patented here, ranging from material science to software to microchip design. Philips' 100,000 patents make it one of the largest holders of patents in the world.

The company has trebled over the past five years the annual number of inventions for which it sought patents to 3,000. And these were selected out of a total of 8,000 proposed ideas.

Not creative enough? I believe we have some very creative ones on this forum! :D

2003 sees measures to boost entrepreneurship in Singapore
By Dawn Teo, Channel NewsAsia

SINGAPORE : Over the past year, there has been a rash of activities to promote domestic enterprise and help local companies globalise. The push came especially after the Economic Review Committee called for a whole range of measures, including Singapore's first ever minister in charge of entrepreneurship. Although some ideas have since moved quickly, others are barely off the starting blocks.

Networking sessions for entrepreneurs are flourishing, as are stories about people striking out on their own to start up a business. These are all signs that an entrepreneurial culture is slowly but surely developing in Singapore. Still, there is a feeling that more can be done and done more quickly.

Technopreneur and Member of Parliament, Inderjit Singh, has been actively involved in the Economic Review Committee's work. He is pleased that many of its recommendations, like expanding government funding for young companies, have become reality.

But he says some ideas are moving too slowly, for example setting up a private equity exchange. "This is a recommendation that we made and we have also encouraged a few private sector players to make applications with the MAS (Monetary Authority of Singapore). That is taking a bit of time for implementation," said Mr Singh, the chief executive of Infiniti Solutions. "My personal goal was to try to see something happen by the end of this year. But it has not happened, so I hope that can be speeded up."

One party that is working on the idea is SkyVen Capital, which has visited private equity exchanges in Europe and China. "I think one of the conclusions is that there is definitely a need for such an exchange in this part of the world," said its executive director, Peter Tan. "We're looking to see whether it's feasible, and if we come to a conclusion that that's feasible, then whether we should start something, or whether we should fund someone to start something or whether this should be a government-led initiative -- that may be the case." Although it is still early days, Mr Tan reckons government funding will be needed, as such exchanges tend to be unprofitable.

The pace of implementing the ERC's other ideas has also been mixed. These include scaling back the participation of large government-linked companies in the economy. But most critics acknowledge there are some things that will simply take more time to change. - CNA

Scientists discover gene for muscles

Find by Singaporean and British team could pave the way for curing inherited muscle diseases

By Chang Ai-Lien

SCIENTISTS from Singapore and Britain have discovered a gene that controls how muscles develop. Not only does their work shed light on the origins of different muscles in a growing embryo, it could also provide fresh insight on the role of genes in inherited human muscle diseases.

Without the 'u-boot' gene, certain muscles called slow-twitch fibres do not develop, discovered researchers at the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology here, and the University of Sheffield in Britain.

The body's skeletal muscles are made up of a mixture of slow-twitch and fast-twitch muscle fibres. While the slow-twitch fibres contract slowly but can keep working for a long time, fast-twitch fibres react quickly but get tired quickly too, said Dr Sudipto Roy of the institute's muscle and neuron diversification laboratory who led the research.

'A 100m sprint is powered predominantly by fast muscle fibres, while the sustained levels of power needed for a marathon are produced by the slow fibres,' explained Dr Roy, a principal investigator at the institute. 'The next step would be to look at the role of this gene in inherited disorders which cause muscle disease.'

According to the National Institutes of Health in the United States, congenital myopathy - the term for any muscle disorder present at birth - includes hundreds of distinct neuromuscular syndromes and disorders. These incurable diseases are associated with changes in the number or ratio of muscle fibre types.

In general, victims suffer a loss of tone and muscle weakness in infancy, plus delayed motor skills. Other symptoms include general weakness and the wasting of muscles, especially those in the hips and legs; and in certain forms of the disease, this extends to the muscles of the face, eye and respiratory system.

Although the research is still at a basic level, it could lead to doctors testing for the disease in a foetus, and one day, perhaps, being able to rectify the problem in an unborn child.

The culmination of three years' research, the landmark work has been published in the latest edition of the prestigious scientific journal Nature Genetics.

7 Jan 2004

By Katherine Tay, Channel NewsAsia

SINGAPORE : Philips' made-in-Singapore designs have been bagging numerous innovation awards overseas.

Thanks to Singapore's bright engineers and tough intellectual property protection, the Dutch electronics giant is using the country as a springboard to take on stiff global competition.

One of its latest products is a television that becomes a mirror when switched off.

Philips decided to develop this product after learning of the space constraints suffered by some of its customers, like hotels and cruise liners.

Its engineers use a special mirror material which allows television images to be transmitted through an LCD screen.

It was a design challenge that took nine months to crack.

"The light property of the TV and the mirror is actually travelling in the opposite direction, is conflicting, and a lot of experimentation has been done and a lot of feedback from customers is required," said Sim Hak Lian, chief engineer at Philips Consumer Electronics.

The mirror TV is now being marketed globally, and Philips hopes demand will also come from hair salons, lifts and gymnasiums.

Another creation is the Streamium LCD TV.

It features the latest wireless technology to stream multimedia content such as video, photo and music from a PC hard disk.

The Streamium LCD TV will be launched in Europe and the US by the middle of this year, and in Singapore at a later stage.

Both innovations were among the 21 Philips products which won awards at this week's consumer electronics show in Las Vegas. - CNA

NUS gene finding could help S'pore orchid trade bloom

Researchers' genetic engineering results in faster flowering and enables the shape of the orchid flower to be changed too

By Chang Ai-Lien

FIRST it was tropical fish that underwent genetic engineering. Now, the process could soon be applied to another major Singapore export - orchids.

Researchers here have found a way to shorten the flowering process of plants by controlling a key gene, which gives farmers an advantage in the competitive orchid trade.

'By speeding up the entire process, we'll be able to shorten the time needed to get blooms from each plant,' said Assistant Professor Yu Hao, the study's main researcher.

That could spell big profits in Singapore. The Republic is the second largest orchid producer after Thailand, and has a 15 per cent share of the global market.

Revenue from tropical orchid exports came to $26.9 million in 2002. But this was a drop from 2000, when Singapore collected about $33 million from the plants.

The decline is partly because breeders here have been facing increasing pressure from other orchid-producing countries, which can make the blooms at bargain-basement prices.

However, farmers here say Singapore has an edge in that its orchids are well known for their high quality and longer shelf-life.

Now, they are hoping the high-tech improvement will give them a further advantage. To make the blooms appear faster, Prof Yu and his team manipulate the gene AGL24, which they discovered in a plant Aarabidopsis, often used in scientific studies.

They make the gene work harder than usual in the early stages of the plant's growth, when its cells are changing into different types of tissue. This makes the plant burst into flower sooner.

However, as soon as the flowers begin to develop, the gene has to be 'switched off', or deformed blooms will result.

Although scientists have uncovered many genes related to plant development, this is the first 'special' one discovered that has a direct role in both flowering time and subsequent development, said Prof Yu from the National University of Singapore's department of biological sciences.

The landmark work, published in the scientific journal Nature Genetics, is the result of a collaboration between NUS and the California Institute of Technology in the United States.

The discovery is particularly important to the orchid business because genetic engineering of the bloom would not only allow farmers to shorten the flowering time, but also change the shape of the flowers.

Dr Yu and his colleagues are also fine-tuning a process of growing orchids in tissue culture conditions, which can cut the time it takes for a young plant to flower. Some orchids take three to five years to begin flowering.

He hopes that the work on orchids will prove as successful commercially as the glowing made-in-Singapore zebrafish.

The world's first genetically engineered pet fish, also developed at the university's biological sciences department, started being sold in the US this month.

NUS student wins young inventor award

By Alexis Hooi

LIKE many Japanese boys, Mr Ryuji Inai harboured dreams of becoming a professional baseball player. However, when he realised he might not make it to the big league, he turned to his other love, engineering. 'When I joined my junior high school team, there were many other better players. I knew I couldn't be the top,' said the 27-year-old.

His choice proved to be a wise one. On Wednesday, the student in a graduate programme at the National University of Singapore (NUS) beat 92 competitors from 12 countries in the region in the Far Eastern Economic Review's 2003 Young Inventors Awards.

His entry was a new way of building scaffolds to support tissue growth. Scaffolds are essential support structures used in tissue engineering or to grow body parts. Mr Inai modified the existing way of building scaffolds, and his new method allows greater control over the cells grown on them. This allows researchers to grow cells for a variety of body parts, such as the smooth muscle cells in an artery, and to grow better reproductions of cells.

Mr Inai, who was born in Osaka, earned degrees in mechanical engineering in Japan before he moved here 1 1/2 years ago, attracted by the international exposure he knew he would get. 'I'd like to continue my research and if I find something new that makes people's lives better, I'll be happy,' said the postgraduate student, who recently married his sweetheart of 10 years.

The competition, started in 2000, is organised by the Hong Kong-based magazine in association with computer giant Hewlett-Packard. It recognises innovative work by young scientists in the region's universities and other tertiary institutions. Entries covered fields such as chemistry, nanotechnology - study of objects less than 1,000th the width of a strand of human hair - and medicine.

Of the 12 finalists from eight countries, five came from Singapore. One of the competition's 13 judges, information technology firm Lightspeed Technologies chief executive Jeffrey Goh, 36, said the number bodes well for the Republic. Said Mr Goh: 'It's very encouraging, bearing in mind the Government's push for research and development.'

Mr Han Sang Jin, 28, from Seoul National University, clinched the silver medal for creating a highly conductive, cost-cutting carbon material for use in fuel cells. Two diploma holders in biotechnology from Ngee Ann Polytechnic, Miss Joanna Tan and Miss Ginny Tan (they are not related), received bronze awards for inventing a new, cheaper system of watering plants grown by aeroponics, the science of growing plants suspended in air.

The winners of the three prizes will be flown to tour Hewlett-Packard's labs in Palo Alto, California, as well as receive computer equipment from the company. Their schools were also handed cheques worth US$2,500 (S$4,230) to US$7,500 by the Far Eastern Economic Review.

So any of you guys ever had a plan for a business or invention? I suppose most people here are still too young.. but I mean if you had ideas or dreams to do something in the future?

Not in the realm of investments or inventions unfortunately. I just wanna put all the evils behind bars. :D

7 Feb 2004

THE Government yesterday unveiled measures to boost entrepreneurship and cut down on paperwork.

Entrepreneurs enrolled under the Economic Development Board's (EDB's) Startup Enterprise Development Scheme (Seeds) - an initiative launched in 2001 - will now qualify for the JTC Technopreneur Incentives Scheme when they rent a unit at any of the JTC start-up facilities.

This JTC scheme entitles eligible companies to get a 15-per-cent discount off the posted rent for up to two years.

The scheme is open to all local and foreign start-ups as long as they are supported by the Seeds scheme.

Another initiative will see JTC partnering the EDB to roll out a 'one door, two agencies' concept.

JTC chief executive officer Chong Lit Cheong said: 'Start-ups will no longer need to shuttle between the two agencies just to fill in multiple forms with the same information.'

The tie-up will allow JTC to reach out to a wider pool of entrepreneurs.

Yesterday, the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore also announced the addition of a new portfolio management module to its online diagnostic tool which helps businesses assess the various intellectual property (IP) rights that they may have.

To get a report on their strengths and weaknesses in deploying their IP, businesses can sign up for free at www.surfip.gov.sg

Well, i kind'a want to go into medical R&D in the future. Either that or psycotherapy. Does that count? lol.

Originally posted by EyeToEye

Well, i kind'a want to go into medical R&D in the future. Either that or psycotherapy. Does that count? lol. I can almost imagine you in a white coat poking at human bodies.....ewww....:D

Originally posted by EyeToEye

Well, i kind'a want to go into medical R&D in the future. Either that or psycotherapy. Does that count? lol.
Hmm.. I'm not sure ;) The medical R&D part would probably be as part of a big laboratory and lots of researcher working together to develop for their employer. I'm not saying it's worse of course, just probably different from the entrepreneur beating himself into a new market kind of stuff :)

I had some ideas in the recent past but would have had to team up with an investor and some sales people. It's not gonna happen though, since I'm too lazy :D

You know what you guys should do?!

- Make a draft for a Singapore skyscraper book and try to get it published. I mean, it can't be that impossible considering all the knowledge and skills people here have, and the amount of time spent digging up facts and posting in this forum anyway.

..and don't come up with any excuses about schoolwork having first priority :D

Originally posted by Jo

You know what you guys should do?!

- Make a draft for a Singapore skyscraper book and try to get it published. I mean, it can't be that impossible considering all the knowledge and skills people here have, and the amount of time spent digging up facts and posting in this forum anyway.

..and don't come up with any excuses about schoolwork having first priority :D

You know,I really like that idea and wish there was one. I am impressed that you have books for Manhattan skyscrapers and it would be great to showcase our own. It will be worth a try.
:colgate:

Hmm..but I am still in school........:D

And no, its not due to me being busy with school. The fqactis I dont have the financial capital to try it for now just yet!

Hmm..but I am still in school........:D
Hrmmm :) ;)

Anyway, I'm not sure how the world of book publishing works but I thought if you can show a promising early work to a publisher and he says '"yeah, let's do it. I think it could work", then they would spend the cash to get it printed, advertised and distributed!?

Go for it! I'll buy a copy for sure :D

Computer to spot swimmer in distress

Cameras at Clementi Swimming Complex linked to computer that can recognise behaviour patterns

By Natalie Soh

THE next time you are in Clementi Swimming Complex, look out for cameras tracking your movements. No, Big Brother isn't here - in fact, the eight cameras installed around the 50m competition lap pool could save your life one day. They feed visual signals to a computer that has been trained to spot, and more importantly, recognise swimmers in distress.

Drownings are difficult to spot; they are rarely the splashy, flailing events depicted on television shows like Baywatch. Most victims drown quite silently and can quickly sink out of the view of an inattentive lifeguard.

Enter scientists at the Institute of Infocomm Research (http://www.i2r.a-star.edu.sg/) here, who have been making strides in what is called 'behaviour recognition' technology.Drowning Early Warning System project leader Alvin Kam explained that the main technological leap is having the computer actually recognise behaviour.

'It's been proven that no matter what height, weight or creed, when the swimmer is in distress, he does certain things. For instance, he will be in an upright, bobbing position, and his arms move in a certain way.'

The system can separate real distress from horseplay in the pool. Complex algorithms separate each swimmer and filter out the background: the waves and sunlight on the surface that can interfere with most detection systems. Once the computer spots something amiss, it notifies lifeguards, and it is up to them to actually pull the victim out.

'It's an aid. It's not meant to replace lifeguards who still need to be there. But we think it is very meaningful to apply our technological expertise to help save lives,' said Dr Kam.

The system was installed at the Clementi pool as part of a trial. As part of the tests, students were asked to simulate drowning, to see if the system could pick them out. 'We picked our undergraduates carefully,' said Dr Kam with a laugh. 'The first question we asked was if they could swim.'

So far, it has worked well, with good feedback from the lifeguards. The four-man team is still working on improvements. For instance, lifeguards do not want to keep watching the system, since their job is to watch the pool. They would prefer to be alerted by the system to emergencies through a pager or some other means. Elsewhere in the institute, another team is working on a system that can pick out loiterers or suspicious lurking behaviour.

Dr Huang Weimin, acting laboratory head of the media division at the institute, told The Straits Times that there are real-life applications for behaviour recognition technology as hoteliers and building owners are increasingly worried about security.

'Our system is meant as a surveillance aid. Previously, you'd need a guard to continuously watch the feed from the security cameras. Here we are making computers recognise suspicious behaviour and alert the guards.'

The team spent many months filtering out background and ensuring the computer can recognise distinct individuals. 'In a crowded scene, people tend to mill together in a big bunch. The challenge is separating out individuals. Then the system must also be able to distinguish between people of the same build but wearing different colours,' said Dr Huang. 'You also have to knock out factors like glare, rain or ambient lighting conditions that can affect the visuals.'

Amazingly, the team has found that lurkers tend to move in a certain pattern. The system can then alert the security guard to watch the individual a bit more carefully. The system can also recognise fighting, vandalism, an unconscious victim, or just someone kicking a door.

Dr Huang reckons that eventually, the technology can find its way into homes, to check on the kids, for instance, or to prevent car thefts or burglaries. He said: 'You don't have to watch reams and reams of footage, the computer can do that and recognise significant events for you and alert you.'

http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/mnt/media/image/launched/2004-02-06/6cyber.jpg
Signs of distress can be spotted by the computer, which will then alert lifeguards.

I would imagine someone drowning would flail violently. Who would just be still and sink to the bottom of his watery grave?

Anyway this sounds like a great innovation;)

11 Feb 2004

By Julia Ng, Channel NewsAsia

SINGAPORE : In a medical first, a group of surgeons and researchers from the National University of Singapore and Hospital has developed a way to repair the skull after surgery.

It is cheaper, safer, and looks better than the current procedure.

When a bus ran into air traffic controller Ho Boon Pin's car 15 months ago, his surgeon had to drill two 14-millimetre holes into his skull to remove blood clots and to save his life.

The 23-year-old also became one of the first 10 patients who successfully tested out the new Burr Plug, a bone scaffold made from biodegradable plastic (polycaprolactone).

Measuring 14 millimetres in diametre and 5mm thick, the Burr Plug snap-fits perfectly into the hole left behind after a surgical drill has been used.

Unlike titanium mesh, which is what surgeons currently use, the Burr Plug does not cause infection.

Titanium mesh still carries a small risk of bacteria settling in.

The best part is bone cells soon grow over the scaffold, and it becomes just like part of the patient's own skull.

After two years, the scaffold completely fuses with the surrounding tissue and dissolves.

"One advantage is no matter how low profile the titanium plate can be, there's always a slight bulge from under the skin. On the other hand, the polymer cap when absorbed totally will leave a very smooth surface over the bone," said Dr Chou Ning, a consultant at NUH's department of surgery.

Mr Ho says that is an advantage that saves him from recounting the traumatic accident to friends.

"They didn't notice at first until I mentioned I had a surgery done," he said.

Just as strong as titanium mesh but more pliable, the Burr Plug can be custom-made into various shapes to fit the patient.

And it is cheaper.

"If you use a titanium mesh of a similar size in combination with four screws to fix the mesh onto the skull, we're looking at a cost of S$1,000. We're planning to market this Burr Plug in the range of $600," said Assistant Professor Dietmar Hutmacher of the bio-engineering division at NUS' department of orthopaedic surgery.

The team is now looking into using the scaffold to regenerate bones in the spine, knees and even in the eye socket.

One of the team leaders has even set up a company to make and market the breakthrough across Asia.

They have already had enquiries from countries like Vietnam.

The firm is targetting Asia first before tapping into the global market, which could be worth up to US$150 million.

Prof Hutmacher, who founded Biotech company Osteopore, says the team is in talks with the Economic Development Board and venture capitalists to help launch this made-in-Singapore breakthrough.

The team took six years to bring the technology from concept to production.

"We've created a platform technology to make a scaffold, so that the cells can have a home to grow, proliferate and congregate together, and from there produce their own natural bone," said Professor Teoh Swee Hin of NUS' department of mechanical engineering.

"We can ... transfer the medical images to advanced manufacturing to produce the exact shape without a mould. So it can be done very fast and very accurately to fit the defect of the patient."

In Singapore, it will benefit some 100 patients a year whose skulls have to be punctured to remove blood clots.

"If the defect is very big, you'll need a much bigger sheet. You can actually fashion it to the defect of the skull. And again, you can actually fix it without any screws," said Assistant Professor Lim Thiam Chye, head of plastic and reconstructive surgery at NUH.

Research and clinical trials cost over a million dollars and were supported by a grant from the National Medical Research Council.

Two patents have been since been filed. - CNA

11 Feb 2004

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/imagegallery/store/phpncCDep.jpg

SINGAPORE : Local firm Best World International and mainboard-listed Hyflux have scored a breakthrough in home water filters.

The two are taking Hyflux's pioneering ultra-fine membrane technology normally used in giant water plants and adapting it on a far smaller scale for ordinary home-use.

The end result, they claim, is the purest form of filtered water available today that can be drawn from ordinary taps.

The filter has been named the PureFlo.

And its double membrane contains numerous micro-pores measuring just 0.015 microns each which remove particles, some proteins, bacteria and some viruses from the water.

Best World will distribute the device around the region with a recommended retail price of S$252. - CNA

Originally posted by RafflesCity

I would imagine someone drowning would flail violently. Who would just be still and sink to the bottom of his watery grave?

Anyway this sounds like a great innovation;) I dont know....but when I almost drowned 6 years ago, I wasent struggling either! :D

Yeah I think that's how it often happens. Something happen and people just sink without making much noise. Huahh wait, what happened Huaiwei?? :uh:

RafflesCity> very cool product!! i think product like that can have a big potiental in countries where clean water is a scarcity like India.

alot of $$$ :D

Originally posted by Jo

Yeah I think that's how it often happens. Something happen and people just sink without making much noise. Huahh wait, what happened Huaiwei?? :uh:

Hmm maybe they get hit and become unconscious or shagged out after swimming? Otherwise I find it hard not to do anything.

Yes huaiwei please tell us what happened:eek:

Originally posted by drwho

RafflesCity> very cool product!! i think product like that can have a big potiental in countries where clean water is a scarcity like India.

alot of $$$ :D

And in Singapore too. Do you know that about half of our water supply has to be imported? Water is a big topic here and a driver of decisions made by the government.

Originally posted by Jo

Huahh wait, what happened Huaiwei?? :uh: Oh. Its no big deal. :D I didnt noe how to swim yet 6 years ago, and I went with my friens to the beach at Sentosa. Basically they all got to this floating platform near tghe middle of the lagoon, and while I was still stranded along the shallower parts of the beach, they called for me to join them and reassured me that it was shallow enough.

Not surprisingly, midway towards them, I cant feel the seabed, and started sinking. Apparantly those idiots dont seem to noe i am in trouble, and I had to slap the water abit to send some signal. One of them swam over, and tried to use the hand on the chin thing and drag me to the platform, but I suppose he wasent very competent, for my face was still underwater as my eyes stared up wide open at the sun...when normally I cant open my eyes even in a swimming pool? (I think I told some of you about this before)

So anyway, it was a surreal feeling I have not forgetten. I was kinda staring at the light, in a dreamy manner, slipping towards semi-consciousness, I suppose. I remember thinking if that was it...the end of my life....as I stared on and realised just how painless death seems to be.

Unfortunately, I suddenly snapped out of that dreamy state, and started struggling again. It was only then did the rest finally realised i am in serious trouble, and at least 3 more came to my aid.

I survived...dont noe if its a good thing later thou? :colgate:

Oh.. wow! No joke huh?! :eek:

I survived...dont noe if its a good thing later thou? :colgate:
LOL.. Well, it's good for the rest of us :cheers1:

Originally posted by RafflesCity

And in Singapore too. Do you know that about half of our water supply has to be imported? Water is a big topic here and a driver of decisions made by the government.
:)
yeah i have heard it. hmm where does Singapore import the water from and is water expensive in Singapore?

Originally posted by huaiwei
I had to slap the water abit to send some signal.

See, you had to react and did not just go down quietly :colgate:

Originally posted by drwho

:)
yeah i have heard it. hmm where does Singapore import the water from and is water expensive in Singapore?

Most of it is imported from Malaysia and I think some comes from Indonesia.

Malaysia is not happy with the price Singapore is paying but it has to supply the water as it is an agreement safeguarded by the UN.

huaiwei probably knows the links or can supply more details as the saga has gone on so long that I lost track. Drink up! :cheers: :cheers: :cheers:

Originally posted by RafflesCity

Most of it is imported from Malaysia and I think some comes from Indonesia.

Malaysia is not happy with the price Singapore is paying but it has to supply the water as it is an agreement safeguarded by the UN.

huaiwei probably knows the links or can supply more details as the saga has gone on so long that I lost track. Drink up! :cheers: :cheers: :cheers:

oh i see, yeah i really want some information about water trade system on the issue Singapore <---> Malaysia.:)

i guess people are starting to question if water should be free or not. In Sweden there is a huge debate in media about privatization of water if it is good or bad.

well lets drink up! :cheers: :cheers: :cheers:

btw,,why am i up so late again?!?!? the time here is 6.27am :) :D

Late? You mean early..its 5.37 am in London now and I like it..cool dark and peaceful:angel1:

Originally posted by RafflesCity

Late? You mean early..its 5.37 am in London now and I like it..cool dark and peaceful:angel1:

yeah it sure is..with the music..coffe and everything:)

i am awake at night..sleeping when its daylight:)

What a riveting exchange! :)

I almost drowned twice during the same summer vacation in Spain. :eek:

Raffi, will you stick around for a while? And the rest of you guys? I have to go & eat dinner now (my husband cooked it), and I'll be back in a flash. :runaway:

Bon appetit!

I am wide awake and nothing that a few cups of tea cant handle:cool:

The sea-abyss scares me :(

i remember when i was 8 and i was on a boat-trip with my friends. And my friends jumped into the water and me to.

it was fun until i asked "i wonder how deep it is here"

my friend replied : " about 190m deep"

man i freaked..jumped up on the boat again.

its like a trauma for me heh:)

Yah it sounds scary even if you can swim!

I remember when I was in the Maldives and we had to take a boat from the airport to the hotel. Imagine speeding over the Indian Ocean in darkness in a rickety speedboat?

Not very reassuring for me:no:

yeah it sure is scary!

lets say you jump in to the Indian Ocean..and look down in the water its all black..and you start wondering "if i look down..is there something down there looking back at me?"

it gives me the creeps :(

The sea at night is scary! Even in peaceful Singapore, standing on the beach and looking at the sea and hearing it roar at night is
disturbing.

As for the Indian Ocean, sharks and stinging jellyfish are a real danger:runaway:

yeah..heh i wonder how the navy/submarine-dudes cope with it. i would freak if i joined the navy:D

Originally posted by RafflesCity
Bon appetit!

I am wide awake and nothing that a few cups of tea cant handle:cool:
Thanks ... dinner was delicious. :eat: Rice with tomatoes, collard greens & clams plus, of course, the basic ingredients of onions & garlic. :)

I LOVE swimming! My mother was an ardent swimmer and taught my brother and me at an early age. I don't much worry about whether I can reach the ground with my feet or not. Also, I grew up near the water, so I've long been familiar with ships & boats.

I also don't get seasick--at least not easily. I got pretty close though on a crossing from the Irish mainland to the Aran Islands. They had handed out those famous bags to all passengers, but I didn't have to use mine (most people did). ;)

Raffi, a friend of mine told me a horror story about the boat transfer from the Maldives airport to the hotel--I can't remember the details, but they got tossed about horribly and were drenched on arrival. And they their luggage didn't come, plus their rooms weren't ready, so it was a total nightmare.

Stinging jellyfish are apparently also plentiful (and quite a danger) in some stretches of the Australian coast. And then the sharks! :eek: Florida is notorious in that department; one also hears occasional horror stories from California & Hawaii. Sharks go not only after swimmers but also after surfers.

And YES! The people in the Navy sure are heroic! :okay:

WH you sound like a very sporty person!:D Are you staying near the sea?

and dinner sounded tasty:eat:

Haha, Raffi! No, I'm afraid I'm not very sporty at all. I do live near the sea, that's true: SF Bay is a little ways away, but not very far, and of course it meets right smack on the Pacific Ocean. But alas I have very little opportunity to go swimming hereabouts. The beaches of the Pacific are far away, and people really don't swim in it this far north. Too many dangerous currents and c-c-c-ooold! :eek: And I'm not particularly fond of pools, hate that chlorinated water. ;)

hehe..and you like swimming..so I guess you take frequent vacations to sunny locations?

With the exception of the last couple of years I've paid a visit to Ischia, sister island of Capri in the Gulf of Naples, for about 12 years. It's just lovely down there! :)

Originally posted by RafflesCity

See, you had to react and did not just go down quietly :colgate: Yeah...but you have to remember I almost "forgot" to struggle, and had to remind mysef to do it?? :D

Anyway, since that incident, I decided to learn swimming (from a caring friend) the following year, which was a really scary thing as I had to overcome my phobia of deep water since I was 13. But iof the main reason why I felt i had to learn it was because I was about to enter the army in months! :D

Today, swimming ended up as my favourite sport, although I still pay a certain sense of respect for the power of the ability of the waters in taking away my life again if it wants to.....that is probably good, since it keeps me morte vigilant and I wont be silly enough to venture further into the sea then I should! ;)

There is only so much risk taking a person can manage, despite the entrepreneurship21 campaign! :colgate:

He's S'porean...and runs Macau airport

By Karamjit Kaur and Alexis Hoo

MR CHAN Wai Leong's job is to persuade airlines, particularly budget carriers, to use his airport. In time, he hopes it can become a hub for such no-frills flights. The 40-year-old runs Macau's airport.

He took over the job eight months ago and, if he gets his way, he could be one of the few Singaporeans to make their mark in the aviation business in the next few years. The father of two moved to Macau with his family almost a year ago to take up the post of executive director at Macau International Airport Company, which runs the airport.

Until then, the arts graduate from the National University of Singapore had never set foot in Macau, one of two special administrative regions in China. The other is Hong Kong. He was approached to take on the post by the Macau government, the airport's major shareholder, while he was still a regional director with the International Air Transport Association (Iata), based in Singapore.

'I'd never run an airport before and I didn't really know what it would involve, but for some reason, I was chosen and I thought it was a really exciting proposition,' he said. His wife quit her job in the travel industry to join him, and their children, aged five and nine, are now studying in an international school there.

Speaking yesterday at the Raffles City Convention Centre, on the sidelines of a two-day conference on the growing budget airlines phenomenon in the region, he said he was taken aback when he was made the offer.

'I consider myself as an underdog and I'm no scholar, so this job has given me opportunities which I believe wouldn't have been available to me had I stayed in Singapore. It's very different from what I was used to. Although I worked with airlines before, Iata is a non-profit organisation, while an airport is a business and dollars-and-cents matter.'

Currently, 12 airlines - nine domestic and three international, including SilkAir - fly to Macau. One potential customer is AirAsia which, The Straits Times understands, may have flights to Macau towards the end of the year.

Mr Chan said: 'There's no doubt budget carriers will be big in this region and airports need to work with them to meet their needs, which may be different from that of the bigger carriers. At the end of the day, the consumer benefits and the country also benefits because these airlines bring tourists, who in turn stimulate the economy.'

http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/mnt/media/image/launched/2004-02-14/H2_0214.jpg
Head-hunted for the job, Mr Chan hopes Macau's airport will become a hub for budget airlines. -- AZIZ HUSSIN

wow..he's pretty low profile but nice to know a Singaporean is running an airport in China....

Singapore firm behind Taiwan's biggest bookstore

With its distinctive design and 350,000 books, Page One hopes to make impact on local culture

By Lawrence Chung

SINGAPORE'S Page One book chain begins a new chapter today when it officially opens the biggest bookstore in Taiwan. In fact, the new $8 million store in the world's tallest tower, Taipei 101, is the biggest in its growing chain of 11 stores. Its 25,500 sq ft make it almost as large as two Singapore giants, Kinokuniya at 40,000sq ft and Borders at 31,000 sq ft. More than 350,000 Chinese and English-language books fill the shelves of its store here.

That gives it the biggest and most comprehensive collection of books in Taiwan, which is said to have the world's third-largest reading population.p> Page One, which many remember for its dizzying Marina Square shop with books displayed on slanted shelves, also has stores in Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia and Thailand.

Its Taiwan store is no less distinctive in design, based on Chinese landscape paintings. Architect Tan Kay Ngee, who is the elder brother of owner Mark Tan, said he decided to use book shelves of different heights to represent the mountains and rivers in such artworks. The store's design, size and vast collection has already created quite a stir since it opened unofficially on Feb 2.

College student Chen Wei-hua said: 'It is a great place to visit. Page One's sitting area is cosy. The entire design is splendid. It gives customers the feeling that this is an establishment that respects them.' The store also houses an Asian-themed cafe and a gallery selling cultural merchandise from Asia and elsewhere. Owner Mark Tan told The Sunday Times: 'We also hope to promote and contribute to the local cultural environment.'

Mr Tan opened his first Page One in 1983 in Parkway Parade. It specialised in design and arts books, which account for 20,000 of the titles in its Taipei outlet. With 160,000 titles in English, the store also boasts the largest collection of English-language books not only in Taiwan, but also in the Greater China area, which includes Hong Kong.

Meanwhile, competitors had mixed feelings about the store. Ms Chen Shu-chen, public relations manager of Eslite, Taiwan's largest bookshop chain with 50 stores, said that the design was interesting, but wondered about the large share of foreign-language titles. 'Chinese publications still account for 70 per cent of all book sales in Taiwan,' she said.

But Page One's Taipei corporate affairs manager Dennis Liu said English-language publications accounted for 55 per cent of the store's total sales during the first two weeks of its operation, proving that 'there is such a market in Taiwan'.

Have you been to page one bookstore huaiwei? Actually I havent even heard of it.

I have heard of it, but never stepped into one. Quite strange for such a small chain domestically to be able to pull such a stunt overseas? ;)

Maybe the local market is too competitive..just like that Radio International:cool:

Originally posted by RafflesCity

Maybe the local market is too competitive..just like that Radio International:cool: Radio International was not meant for the local market wat! :D

Research-friendly S'pore luring the best and brightest

By Chang Ai-Lien

NEWS ANALYSIS

THE very public disgrace and sacking of foreign 'star' Simon Shorvon last year has not dimmed Singapore's lustre as a research centre. The science-friendly environment here is still proving to be a lure to some of the world's best and brightest, who have headed here in the quest for a breakthrough in the cut-throat biotech world.

One of the latest arrivals is Dr Philippe Taupin, who has attracted world attention with his groundbreaking work on adult stem cells at the famous Salk Institute for Biological Studies in the United States.

'I came here because I want to jump-start my career... There are fewer ethical and political minefields than in the West, and Singapore has pledged a strong commitment to stem cell biology,' said the scientist who moved here three months ago.

About one in four of the 27,000 researchers here are foreigners. Of the 3,600-plus PhD holders among them, nearly one-third are foreigners. Many are drawn by Singapore's reputation as one of the world's most open-minded, research-friendly countries for biomedical work - particularly with regard to embryonic stem cells.

Laws here will allow, for instance, human embryos to be cloned for research under specified circumstances, placing Singapore in a minority camp supporting limited human cloning, including Britain, Japan and China.

In fact, a group here has declared that it hopes to emulate the recent South Korean coup in creating the world's first cloned human embryos and extracting stem cells from them.

Such research would be almost impossible in the US. Restrictions on stem cell research for those who want federal funding are severe, so much so that its scientists are complaining that they are lagging behind such countries as Singapore.

To compound their problems, the funding pie is shrinking, said Dr Taupin, as competition for such funds stiffen. Analysts say that in the US, government funding of basic research has eroded as more funds go into military-oriented programmes.

Working 14-hour days, even on weekends, has been the norm these past three months, as Dr Taupin hurries to get his lab up and running. The competition is global. The pace is scorching.

Dr Taupin notes the irony of his lab's location. It is at the National Neuroscience Institute, where Dr Shorvon was thrown out last April after an independent panel found him guilty of serious ethical breaches of patients' rights - in effect, treating them like lab rats. But to Dr Taupin, Singapore represents 'a real opportunity.'

The buzz from helping to build a sizzling research community from scratch has also proven to be an irresistible draw for researchers like Oxford don Alex Law and eminent cancer researcher Edison Liu.

Professor Law left the prestigious British university to come here to help build from scratch Nanyang Technological University's biosciences research centre, while continuing his own research on protein chemistry.

Dr Liu, who was at the US National Institutes of Health, said he wanted to seize the chance to make an impact in a country that had chosen the biomedical sciences as its lifeline.

What has also proven dazzling are the facilities. Singapore's $500 million Biopolis is home to top research institutes here. It features top-notch scientific equipment, resources and specialised research facilities and services. On top of this, universities are providing millions of dollars to establish facilities for life sciences research.

The generosity and flexibility of these institutions are striking. Japan's famed cancer researcher Yoshiaki Ito was lured to the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology partly because he could do something virtually unheard of - bring with him his entire research team of nine people.

The sky's the limit, it seems, in Singapore's determination to become a science hub. And therein lies the success. As long as the support is unstinting, researchers will flock here. The challenge is to resist the temptation to pull back, especially with grants, when the breakthroughs are slow in coming. Or when the country's economic fortunes are hit hard.

24 Feb 2004

SingTel running technical trials on new devices


(SINGAPORE) A little-known Singapore company unveiled what it claims is the world's first universal mobile operating system at the 3GSM 2004 exposition in Cannes, France, yesterday.

The company is called Radixs and its operating system will let users make voice and video calls, listen to MP3 music, download movie trailers and play multi-user games on their handheld 'converged' devices at less than half the cost of existing comparable devices.

Singapore Telecom is now running technical trials on the new devices, which are set to go on sale in the second half of this year. 'SingTel will be the first mobile operator in the world to launch new data services using the operating system,' said Radixs CEO R Chandrasekar.

'Sun Microsystems will launch a mobile version of StarOffice 7 and create the first full-fledged productivity suite - with word processing, spreadsheets, presentation manager and database functions - on mobile devices.'

Mr Chandrasekar said contract manufacturers in China and Taiwan are making the new devices - which will be smaller than current PDAs (personal digital assistants) and cost half as much.


'The new network-centric operating system will present a challenge to existing operating systems and offer users with a viable and competitive alternative,' Mr Chandrasekar said. 'It will allow existing desktop and mobile apps - as well as 32-bit games meant for game consoles - to be enabled on mobile devices without needing any redevelopment.'

The new operating system is called MXI (Motion eXperience Interface). All the applications will run from a central server - hosted by SingTel - over high-speed mobile networks such as GPRS (General Packet Radio Service), Wi-Fi or 3G once it is rolled out.

SingTel Mobile's senior director for mobile products, Chye Hoon Pin, said the telco is now running technical trials on Wi-Fi, GPRS and 3G. 'We may offer this as a separate service or part of an existing service,' Mr Chye said. 'Our aim is to make voice communication and data access as hassle-free as possible for our customers.'

Sun Microsystems' latest StarOffice 7 suite will be the first desktop application to be deployed without redesign on mobile devices. 'We will also provide assistance to Radixs in joint marketing initiatives,' said Sun's managing director for Singapore, Wong Heng Chew. 'This has the ability to revolutionise data services just as the mobile phone revolutionised voice services.'

Singapore-based Radixs was set up in 1999 with investment from Malaysia's Artisan Encipta and Singapore's EDB Seeds funding. It now employs 45 people and has been working on developing and fine-tuning the MXI system for the past four years.

'Since all the data sits on a central server, the user need not bother about viruses and other issues,' Mr Chandrasekar said. 'The network is the computer and the handheld device is just a conduit to conduct your business.'

http://business-times.asia1.com.sg/mnt/media/image/launched/2004-02-28/040228_pg8_trich28.gif

HOW does one make the Forbes rich list? Write money spinning novels for children? Sell apparel worldwide? Operate casinos? Yes, but in Singapore it pays to own a bank or a property giant. Because here, old money still rules.

The five - by now, familiar - names of Khoo Teck Puat, Kwek Leng Beng, Ng Teng Fong, Wee Cho Yaw and Lee Seng Wee again feature in this year's billionaire list. And along with most of the super wealthy, their fortunes grew from last year.

According to Forbes March 15 issue, the total net worth of the world's billionaires soared by half a trillion dollars, from US$1.4 trillion in 2003 to US$1.9 trillion this year - a sign of the recovering global economy.

Joining the world's most exclusive club this year are 64 newly minted billionaires, including Harry Potter author J K Rowling and Hong Kong's Michael Ying of Espirit, bringing membership to 587.

The ranking is based on share prices and exchange rates at Feb 6, 2004. Privately held companies are valued by coupling estimates of revenue or profit to prevailing price-revenue and price-earnings ratios for similar publicly traded companies.

In Singapore, the late Mr Khoo's fortune swelled by 65 per cent to US$4.3 billion, making him Asia's 13th richest man.

The jewel in Mr Khoo's banking and hotel empire was his 13.5 per cent stake in London's Standard Chartered Bank. Stanchart was the best-performing UK bank stock in 2003.

Mr Khoo, 87, died from a heart attack on Feb 21. This was the first time in at least nine years that his fortune has crossed the US$4 billion mark - but that only earned him the rank of 108 in the global billionaire's list.

Trailing a distant second in Singapore was property and hotel tycoon Kwek Leng Beng who controls the Hong Leong Group, including City Developments and London-listed Millennium and Copthorne. Mr Kwek's wealth weighed in at US$2.8 billion, up from US$1.7 billion.

Ng Teng Fong, who made his money in real estate, is Singapore's third richest man with an estimated fortune of US$2.3 billion.

Mr Ng runs the privately-held Far East Organization, which includes listed Yeo Hiap Seng, Orchard Parade Holdings and Hong Kong-based Sino Group.

Banking veterans Wee Cho Yaw and Lee Seng Wee, who own United Overseas Bank and OCBC, had net worth of US$2.2 billion and US$1.8 billion.

All five men are over Singapore's retirement age of 62. At 63, Mr Kwek is the youngest of the lot, while the late Mr Khoo was the oldest, followed by OCBC's Mr Lee at 79.

Raffie thats cool! now Symbian gets competition from Singapore OS on mobile phones;) :)

$10,000,000: That's how much he's kissing goodbye

Ex-Prudential top producer gives up commissions to set up his own financial start-up

By Lorna Tan

NOT every man can walk away from $10 million. But Mr Goh Yang Chye, a top producer at Prudential Assurance, did just that. He has left the company, where he made his name in the insurance industry, to set up his own business.

In doing so, the 43-year-old star, whose commissions alone fetch him a seven-digit income every year, is saying goodbye to the $10 million of commissions he would have earned over the next five years.

His start-up, GYC Financial Advisory, which obtained its financial advisory licence last December, will provide a range of financial services. For a start, the advisory firm located in a 4,000 sq ft office at OUB Centre, will employ as many as 30 advisers.

Mr Goh aims to break even in a year. He also plans to list his business in three years. Industry observers may say that he is being too optimistic, as most independent financial planning firms have still not broken even despite being around for over a year.

But he is willing to take the risks and make the sacrifices for 'attempting something so challenging and fun. Surely it is an adventure that is worth the journey'. While the bulk of GYC's revenue is expected to come from servicing people who have at least $50,000 in investible funds, the rest will be generated from high net worth individuals with half a million dollars or more to invest.

Unlike most other start-up financial advisory firms, GYC will also provide financial services to small and medium-sized enterprises and has set up a corporate financial planning services division to handle this.

Mr Goh said that there's more to his new venture than just a bigger dream. 'I have come to a phase where I want to provide value added in terms of financial services to customers,' he said in a recent interview. 'If I stay in Prudential, I will be constrained... I have the expertise but am not allowed to do it.' That's because, as a tied agent, he was forbidden to offer products of other product suppliers.

Armed with an engineering degree from the National University of Singapore in 1987, Mr Goh was looking for a career that allowed him flexibility in terms of time and 'being paid for what I'm worth'. A career in insurance seemed like a good bet. In four short years, he rose to the highest rank of senior agency manager, now known as senior financial services director.

A member of the Court of the Table - a club which admits those who have earned a higher tier in terms of commissions - and a life member of the Million Dollar Round Table, Mr Goh clinched the Life Insurance Practitioner Award of the year in 2000 from 20,000 insurance advisers. At Prudential, a 100-strong team under him has generated business premiums and recurring premiums well in excess of half a billion dollars in the past 10 years.

Ironically, Mr Goh, who lives in a semi-detached house in Serangoon Gardens, made his biggest gains as an investor from non-paper assets. In 1993, he paid a deposit of $25,000 for a 2,500 sq ft flatted factory at Pandan Loop - which had a sales tag of $800,000 - and promptly sold it for $1.1 million just three weeks later.

Married for 14 years, Mr Goh has two sons, aged 10 and 11. His wife, who joined the insurance industry in 1994, is now the finance director of his firm. A man who plans at least 10 years ahead, Mr Goh expects to add a fund management arm by the middle of this year to manage the wealth of high net-worth clients from Singapore and China.

'I also plan to set up offices in Kuala Lumpur by the first quarter of next year and in Shanghai, Australia and United States over the next three years,' he added.

http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/mnt/media/image/launched/2004-02-22/N12A_0222.jpg
Thinking big, Mr Goh aims to break even in a year and plans to list his business in three years which analysts say is too optimistic. -- DESMOND WEE

Bright ideas

They're so good that students get grants to develop their projects

By Jane Ng

WHEN Chua Yi Chong saw an elderly cleaner struggling to lift a large bucket of water at a shopping centre, it set the 14-year-old thinking of ways to make the job easier for her. Together with two classmates, the Nan Hua Secondary student created a mop that can dispense soap as well as water, eliminating the need to lug around a pail while mopping the floor.

The trio submitted their design for Ideas In Action, an innovation challenge sponsored by banking giant Citigroup, who were impressed enough to give the group a grant of $800 to come up with a prototype.

Their effort is one of many student projects that have caught the eye of grant-providers, which include the Central Singapore Community Development Council and the Education Ministry. Some of these creations include a toothbrush with a thermometer attached so users remember to take their temperature; a toilet bowl brush that prevents mosquitos from breeding on its bristles and an iron which turns itself off when the user walks away.

The Nan Hua boys, who spent 10 months perfecting their mop, are hoping housewives and firms will take to their idea. Said Yi Chong: 'With the rising cost of having a maid, maybe people will consider not employing one if housework can be made more convenient. We hope our mop will do that.'

His classmate Shi Da, also 14, who worked with him on the mop, pointed out: 'This also makes life easier for us in case the job falls on us in future!' To get their fancy mop, they started with a basic one comprising a wooden stick with a rectangular sponge at one end. They attached two slim containers - one with water, one with soap - to the top of the stick and linked them by tubes to the sponge. Squeezing one of the containers will result in water or soap being squeezed on the sponge.

Three students from Tanglin Secondary came up with the anti-mosquito toilet bowl brush. Secondary 4 student Lim Weiliang and two schoolmates designed a sliding cover for the brush-head which removes excess water from the bristles and provides a good-looking shield.

According to them, hanging the normal brush on the wall immediately after washing the toilet bowl results in 20ml of water collecting after 10 minutes. 'Hardly any' dripped for theirs. Said Weiliang: 'I didn't know our effort would work so effectively. It's very exciting to come up with new ideas for daily use.'

Secondary-school students are not the only ones working on such innovations. There were also nine primary-school teams among those shortlisted by Citigroup. One group, made up of six Primary 5 pupils from Junyuan Primary, designed a toothbrush with a thermometer. The boys came up with the idea during the Sars period last year, when pupils had to take their own temperatures.

Said one of the members, Peh Jun Jie, 11: 'Many of our friends forgot to take their temperature before coming to school, so we wanted to make it part of their daily routine so they would remember.' Their first effort flopped, and so did their second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh!

In one, the thermometer was not waterproofed; in another, it was not accurate because the thermometer's metal tip did not have contact with the user. They finally stopped trying to combine the two, and, instead, fixed a toothbrush head at the top of a thermometer case, so the user would remember to take his temperature after brushing his teeth.

One of the boys, 11-year-old Winston Foo, said the team is hoping its creation will help prevent a Sars outbreak like the one last April.

Teachers and principals said such projects would help students realise that 'education is not just about books', and that lifeskills can be learnt while doing the projects. Nan Hua Secondary principal Foo Suan Fong said: 'Coming up with innovations requires students to think deeply and observe situations, so they can find new solutions to problems. It's something they enjoy doing and can gain from at the same time.'

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Innovation challenge

CITIGROUP'S annual innovation challenge, called Ideas In Action, provides each shortlisted group of students with a grant of up to $2,500 to develop their ideas. In 2002, 140 proposals were sent in from 90 schools, and last year, 160 from 102 schools. Of these, 47 were shortlisted.

The programme, which began in 2002, also allows teachers to participate from this year. Another new element is a $10,000 grant to develop a project commercially.

Bet you didn't think of this

Collapsible table

School: Chung Cheng High

Secondary 3 students: Simon Lin, Chuang Ming Jun, Chen Zhi Yin, Chua Fong Yee and Chan Jun Xiang

The idea: An easy-to-clear table for hawker centres.

The top is made of two wooden flaps which can fold inwards, so everything on the table drops into a container underneath it. A trash bag and a tablecloth - to collect spills - are needed. It would allow hawker centres to save on hiring cleaners, and patrons don't have to wait for tables to be cleared. The idea can be used in libraries too. Instead of collecting reading matter the visitors do not put away, librarians merely fold the table and pick up the material from the container underneath.


Multi-spout drink dispenser

School: Nan Hua

Secondary Secondary 2 students: Wong Miao Chen and Rachel Pek

The idea: A drink dispenser that can fill several cups at the same time, which can be used by restaurants, caterers and groups at camps.

The students first created a teapot with three spouts, but later realised that different volumes of water would flow out when the pot is tilted, because of its curved shape. So they made the body of the dispenser rectangular, so that liquid flows out evenly. It has six spouts on each side of the body, arranged in two layers of three. A gentle tilt of one side of the device would fill three cups on each side while a greater tilt would fill six. Tilting both sides at the same time would fill 12 cups at any one time.



Multi-purpose thermometer case

chool: Nanyang Girls' High

Secondary 2 students: Melissa Nicole Teoh, Florence Kok and Fiona Foo

The idea: To create a trendy-looking thermometer case.

The plan was modified after the Sars period when the demand for thermometers dropped. The hand-sewn cases are made of suede and vinyl and decorated with beads. After Sars, they put the opening along the length of the case, rather than the width and added a zip. The cases can be used to hold stationery, cosmetics and other knick-knacks.

Those ideas by the school are quite cool! Reminds me of the WITS projects and USMS suggestions in army:colgate:

S'pore should be angling for more bucks in fish trade

By Chang Ai-Lien

THE humble fish has been a traditional money-spinner for Singapore, a trend which looks set to continue into its high-tech future. Dollar for dollar, the returns seem to be quicker in coming than say, longer term life sciences work such as stem cell research.

Whether it's breeding the tropical beauties that flash inside aquarium tanks, or producing fast-growing fish to satisfy the world's ever-expanding stomach, researchers here are at the forefront of fish research.

And why not? This is a field where Singapore has fewer rivals and a distinct advantage. The country is already acknowledged as a giant in the world of tropical fish, with a strong grip on one-quarter of the global export market. Latest figures from the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) show it amounts to $74 million of ornamental fish sold all over the world last year.

The handsome return has inevitably attracted rivals from countries such as Indonesia and Sri Lanka, who are offering lower prices to grab a bigger share. To ward them off, fish breeders here have been pumping money into quick solutions even as scientists open up new areas of research in the field.

One traditional company, Teo Way Yong and Sons in Seletar West Farmway, has pumped at least $3 million into creating high-tech vaccines to keep fish mortality rates down. The company, one of the top 10 players in the business here, has three biologists, a fish immunologist and a fish expert on its R&D team and has also developed new pumps, filters and drainage systems to produce healthy fish.

It also stands to reason for Singapore to fund such research because its tropical climate gives it a natural advantage with some species. The endangered dragon fish, one of the most treasured and expensive aquarium fish, does not breed outside the region, a fact not lost on scientists at Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory.

With molecular tools to decode the fish DNA, they plan to study breeding patterns and how to produce highly sought-after colours in the fish such as gold and red. The ultimate aim is to crossbreed them, create new varieties as well as better-quality fish.

Meanwhile, the world's first genetically modified pet - the GloFish is making waves commercially. The locally-produced zebrafish contains jellyfish and sea anemone genes that make it glow as if dipped in fluorescent paint. It's on sale across the United States, even as its creator Gong Zhiyuan, using the same technology, attempts to alter its body shape in his bid to produce another winner in a business where novelty sells. 'This is value-added work,' said the National University of Singapore researcher.

What could also put the zebrafish in the international spotlight is its potential in detecting cancer-causing agents or pollutants. Researchers from NUS have developed such strains, as well as zebrafish that produce vaccines in their muscles.

By extending the technology to fish we eat, vaccines could one day come in the form of sashimi, rather than a painful injection. In the longer term, the aim is to have the tiny transparent fish explain how human cancers develop.

This is a multi-million-dollar effort being pursued by about 50 scientists at various institutions in Singapore. By determining what genes are being activated or turned off when the disease occurs, as well as the role of carcinogens, the researchers hope to be able to design drugs to block the genes or cancer-causing proteins from working.

Then there is work on fish for food. Transgenic salmon - touted as the first contender on the menu when the authorities approve genetically modified animals for food, were developed by NUS head of biological sciences Hew Choy Leong. He has produced gene-enhanced super salmon which grow at least four times faster and cost 40 per cent less to produce then conventional ones.

At the AVA's $33-million Marine Aquaculture Centre on St John's Island, researchers are perfecting state-of-the-art techniques for large-scale fish breeding and rearing, in the hope that this work will help produce almost half the fish people eat here. These activities demonstrate that sometimes, big rewards come in less glamorous packages.

It's time the life sciences give tradition a few more dollars. Singapore's natural advantage is obvious.

GloFish sparks off classroom study in US

Genetically modified pet fish from Singapore used to help undergraduates understand transgenic technology

By Chang Ai-Lien

THE world's first genetically engineered pet fish is doing more than lighting up fish tanks in the United States. The made-in-Singapore fluorescent fish is beginning to help some university students there understand transgenic technology better.

To its creator, Associate Professor Gong Zhiyuan of the National University of Singapore, the mutant zebrafish is a mascot for the potential benefits of genetic modification. He believes that the fish, which has been sold commercially in the US since last month, could become a popular option for the study of transgenic animals.

More than 700 biology undergraduates at Oregon State University are doing research on the fish. To him, this is far more exciting than the profits which the fish are bringing him as aquarium pets.

'This is exactly what I'd hoped for when I created the fish. As the first marketed transgenic fish, it will be an excellent model to help students and even the public understand transgenic technology and biotechnology as a whole,' said Prof Gong, who is with the university's department of biological sciences.

Aptly named the GloFish, the 2.5cm creature, which normally sports silver and black stripes, can be made to glow red, green, orange and yellow with the help of jellyfish and anemone genes. Oregon State bought close to 100 GloFish and normal zebra danios, said the university's paper, The Daily Barometer.

The aim is to familiarise general biology students with the principles of genetics, natural selection and evolution, and animal behaviour, among other things. Though the GloFish is not sold here - local companies have not moved to get the special approval required for genetically modified products - it seems to be getting popular in the US.

Texas-based Yorktown Technologies, which bought the rights to commercialise the fish from NUS for an undisclosed sum, claims to have sold tens of thousands of GloFish at US$5 (S$8.50) each since they went on sale. Pet shops have reported mixed reviews, with some saying sales are good, and others saying the relatively high cost has deterred buyers.

Not everyone is enamoured of the fish, though. Sales were banned in California after critics raised ethical concerns about the bioengineered pet. But Prof Gong maintains that the genetic manipulation of the fish is no different from what farmers and breeders have been doing for years to produce different traits in animals and crops.

He believes that the GloFish is a first step towards acceptance of a wide range of other transgenic products in the pipeline, including fast-growing fish and hardy crops, he said. He added: 'I hope that the GloFish will teach people to understand rather than fear the technology, and help them become more confident in biotechnology products.'

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Singapore products take on the world

8 local firms display their mobile technology goods at biggest global fair of its kind - and they may just tie up with some partners

By Natalie Soh

CANNES may be synonymous with films, but the stars that have occupied centrestage over the past four days in France have names like WCDMA, Edge, UMTS, SMS and MMS. Telecommunication companies put their latest gadgets on show as contracts were signed and firms pledged their commitment to third-generation mobile technology.

The biggest names in the mobile world - Siemens, Ericsson, Nokia, Alcatel, Motorola, NTT DoCoMo and Samsung, to name a few - have swarmed to the Palais des Festivals on the Cannes harbourfront to showcase their wares.

Their travelling roadshow at the 3GSM World Congress, considered the most important meeting on the calendar for the mobile technology industry, has attracted more than 27,500 delegates from around the world.

New technologies were on display, with Intel creating one of the bigger stirs when it announced it will incorporate the new wireless broadband standard - 802.16 - in its Centrino chipsets in a few years. This will mean users don't have to be shackled to hotspots any longer.

Singapore also made its mark at the congress: Eight companies showed off their stuff at a stand with a mini-kopitiam theme, complete with traditional marble-top tables and wooden chairs, that aimed to bring Killiney Road to Cannes.

'It's a nice place for our people to sit and talk with business partners. And they get a taste of Singapore - teh tarik included,' said Mr Young Fong, senior manager of mobility development with the Infocomm Development Authority (IDA), which accompanied the Singapore firms.

'This congress is the event for any IT or telecom type of company,' he said. 'Companies the world over gather to showcase their wares once a year, and we brought the local companies that have a ready product that can take on the world.'

The local companies said they have already met potential partners and were 'talking seriously'. One, Mikoshi, has attracted interest in its multiplayer first-person shooter games. A key selling point: It can 'sense' another player nearby using location-based services, and if the other player is keen, you can immediately load up and start to shoot.

The Java Competency Wireless Centre, which helps companies ensure their applications are interoperable through the networks, is another local bright spark.

Said its development manager Gavin Ang: 'We help users ensure that their applications or content comes out properly on every device, including different makes and different networks. Your picture is not affected when sent to a different phone.

'To be here is good exposure for us. There are only a handful of companies around the world that do a similar job, and we're contacting and meeting partners from the world over.'

Perhaps the biggest change at the congress was optimism about the future, which contrasted sharply with the gloom of recent years.

As Ericsson chief executive officer and president Carl-Henric Svanberg said: 'There's a bit of optimism here about the future and where the industry is heading. This is based on real growth in the subscribers and network traffic.'

Want to succeed in China? Be prepared to fail first

By Tan Tarn How

SINGAPOREANS wishing to venture to China must be prepared to taste the bitterness of failure first before savouring the sweetness of success, an entrepreneur said yesterday. Mr Christopher Sim, who offered this advice, should know.

Before he hit pay dirt last year, he was badly burnt in the three ventures he'd launched in China, in piano manufacturing, granite processing and plywood trading. 'I downgraded from a semi-detached house to an HDB flat, from a Jaguar to the MRT. I was on the brink of bankruptcy,' he told the 200 people who had come to hear success stories from people like him and Hyflux boss Olivia Lum.

His turning point came last November when Shanghai-listed North China Pharmaceutical spent about $6 million on a 40 per cent stake in his start-up, Henan Han's TCM Biotechnology. The decade-long struggle has taught him 'there is no short cut to success', he said at the forum on doing business in China. It was organised by Young PAP at the Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall located off Balestier Road.

Yesterday's was the first of the Rainmaker Series of forums which aim to encourage young people here to venture out. 'Rainmaker' is United States management guru Jeffrey Fox's term for those who increase sales and create growth opportunities.

Like Mr Sim, Ms Lum had the audience rapt and tickled as she advised those eyeing China ventures to heed its customs but find creative ways to get around them. When a mainlander commented that her Shanghai office looked like a 'boy scout and girl guide troop' because the staff were so young, she hired a 65-year-old as general manager, she said.

Giving a non-Chinese take on it was Singapore permanent resident Ashis Bhattacharya, marketing director of US-based control systems maker MOOG, who has been going to China for 10 years. Having no prior knowledge of China's history and customs was a minus, but also a plus, he said. 'I can ask simple questions, and they will take time to explain.'

Environment Minister Lim Swee Say said it was vital that people and companies here try to make it overseas as Singapore can no longer just depend on attracting multinationals here. China, he said, is a competitor and a collaborator, and a country 'none of us can afford to neglect'.

Cluster way to help infocomm firms abroad survive

TO HELP local infocomm companies stay in the game and ward off foreign competition, the Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) has started playing Cupid. The way to go is clustering, said the Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts, Dr Lee Boon Yang, in a speech at the Singapore Computer Society's annual dinner at Swissotel The Stamford last night. This means bringing together small companies with different strengths to form a stronger entity.

Addressing nearly 900 guests, including SingTel's chief executive officer Lee Hsien Yang and IBM Singapore's managing director Patricia Yim, Dr Lee said: 'Our companies know very well that they have to look beyond the Singapore market and that opportunities for expansion lie overseas. But they are severely hampered by their small size when venturing overseas and faced with competition from the globalised information-and-communication-technology giants.'

Dr Lee said that more than 20 local companies have banded together to seek opportunities in China. As part of IDA's strategy of clustering, or 'hunting in packs', they have organised themselves around four clusters serving the financial services, health-care, logistics and transport segments. A leader with an established track record of doing business in China heads each cluster and acts as 'big brother' to help the others along.

Dr Lee said that the Government cannot simply force small entrepreneurs to consolidate. It can only help to bring potential players together and let the companies discover the merits of partnership themselves, he said. He added: 'There is no room on Bukit Timah for all climbers. Those who wish to succeed will need to find new hills and mountains to climb, or go waterskiing instead.'

He refused $20,000 pay to sell soon kueh

By Alexis Hooi

HE WAS retrenched two years ago and had the good fortune of being offered another job almost immediately. But Mr Peter Chua, 38, decided to turn down the $20,000 a month offer to sell curry puffs and soon kueh.

The former general manager of telecoms equipment maker Alcatel in Singapore is part of a growing number of entrepreneurs here. Statistics from the Ministry of Manpower show that some 274,300 people here were self-employed last year, up 27 per cent from the 216,000 a decade ago.

Singapore Retailers Association president Jannie Tay said this was the way to go in the current economic climate. 'The only way to survive now is to go back to basics, whether it's selling soon kueh or hawking goods.'

Take the case of Mr Chua. He paid $180,000 to buy the business and recipes from the foodstuff's original owner and pumped in $50,000 more for equipment. He does not take a monthly salary and survives on his savings. To cut costs, he has also roped in his wife - who gave up her dental nursing job - and mother.

Still, the father of two boys is happy, saying self-employment beats the risk of falling victim to company restructuring again. And even though he has yet to recoup his investments, business is slowly growing.

My Genie Gourmet now supplies curry puffs, soon kueh and gu chai kueh to 20 stalls, including three outlets of his own. The soon kueh, which makes up 70 per cent of sales, is put together by 15 staff in a factory. Production has doubled since he bought the business in August 2002. He hopes to open 100 outlets over the next three years through franchising.

While he admitted that his family thinks he is 'crazy' for doing this, he said: 'This time, it's my own business. That's the difference and that's what drives me.'

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'Sure, my deals in I.T. used to be like $5 million a shot, but that was not consistent. For a business like this, who knows? I might be making $5 million a year if it takes off.'
- Mr Chua, who bought a business making curry puffs and soon kueh
-- PHOTO: TAN SUAN ANN

NTU team develops molecule-sized sensor

A TEAM of researchers here has developed an electronic sensor the size of a molecule. For starters, the team from Nanyang Technological University (NTU) has created a biosensor that can detect glucose using carbon nanotubes, wire-like conduits about 50,000 times thinner than human hair.

The group, comprising mostly scientists from China, managed to come up with the device after developing a nano-sized transistor that, despite being smaller, can conduct current better than the silicon-based ones used now.

Their creation, a carbon nanotube field effect transistor, has a channel for current flow that is 500 times smaller than current silicon-based transis- tors. Apart from being used in biosensors, such a transistor could also be used in mechanical devices that may consume less electricity in the future.

A team of graduate students from NTU's Microelectronics Centre is working on fine-tuning the 'circuits' for such molecular electronic devices. Their research, said Associate Professor Zhang Qing, 43, who is their head, is still at a 'fundamental level'. 'If you don't do it now,' he added, 'you won't have it and won't be able to realise the potential that everyone can tap in the future.'

The buzz over nanotechnology, as the developing of materials at the atomic or molecular level is called, started more than 15 years ago when scientists at an IBM laboratory in California arranged atoms of the gas xenon to construct the 'IBM' logo. Since then, its possibilities have been trumpeted.

Another American technology firm, in an advertisement about future technology, suggested that with nanotechnology, devices as small as mobile phones for ants could be built.

Originally posted by huaiwei

My Genie Gourmet now supplies curry puffs, soon kueh and gu chai kueh to 20 stalls, including three outlets of his own. The soon kueh, which makes up 70 per cent of sales, is put together by 15 staff in a factory. Production has doubled since he bought the business in August 2002. He hopes to open 100 outlets over the next three years through franchising.

While he admitted that his family thinks he is 'crazy' for doing this, he said: 'This time, it's my own business. That's the difference and that's what drives me.'

http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/mnt/media/image/launched/2004-03-01/P3_0301.jpg
'Sure, my deals in I.T. used to be like $5 million a shot, but that was not consistent. For a business like this, who knows? I might be making $5 million a year if it takes off.'
- Mr Chua, who bought a business making curry puffs and soon kueh
-- PHOTO: TAN SUAN ANN

He sure sounds happier selling soon kueh. I guess anyone would if you can be self-employed and make decent profits:cheers:

Start-up moves lauded but costs still an issue

By Sue-Ann Chia

HE HAS been critical of what he regards as the lack of measures to foster entrepreneurship here. But Mr Inderjit Singh came out yesterday to pat the Government on the back for its initiatives in the new Budget.

The Ang Mo Kio GRC MP said he had low expectations initially about the incentives that would be announced. But he was cheered by the range of measures such as tax benefits for start-ups and an Enterprise Investment Incentive.

'It gives many of us who have been advocates of an entrepreneurial economy confidence that we finally have the 'ears' of the Government.'

Still there were portions of his speech which had a familiar ring, like when he spoke of the need to help local firms reduce business costs, and the Government's dominant role in a host of listed companies.

What happened to cost- reduction efforts? he asked. 'While there is a realisation by the Government, my impression is that the Government has run out of ideas or lacks the will to do something about it and this can be very detrimental to the Singapore economy,' he said.

The deputy chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee (GPC) for Finance and Trade and Industry made a pitch for permanent rental reductions, lower industrial and commercial prices, and reduced utilities costs and other charges. He also felt the Government should avoid micro-managing government- and Temasek-linked companies.

Mr Singh and Nominated MP Fang Ai Lian were among the few MPs who dealt with economic aspects of the Budget, as many of the 25 who spoke yesterday zoomed in on procreation policies.

Of those who raised concerns about business issues, Mr Leong Horn Kee (Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC) felt the Budget was too 'pro-multinational companies and large local companies'.

For small local firms that have sought help, the Government only gave 'parsimoniously' and 'grudgingly', said Mr Leong, who chairs the Finance and Trade & Industry GPC. Why offer local start-ups a new tax relief for $100,000 of profits over the first three years of operation, as most will be struggling to make money initially, he asked.

He suggested instead that the scheme allow companies to enjoy offsets starting from the first year of profits.

A grand decision made-in-Singapore

Levi's ads, the world's most awarded print campaign of last year, was designed here by BBH Singapore

By Nicholas Fang

YOU'VE probably seen Levi's 'Re-cut for women' Classic 501 print advertisements featuring scantily clad models promoting its jeans that are specially tailored for women. But what you probably did not realise is that this advertisement was the world's most awarded print campaign of last year. And perhaps even more noteworthy is the fact that it was designed right here in Singapore.

The advertisements were created by Mr Marthinus Strydom and Mr Alex Lim Thye Aun of BBH Singapore, the Asia-Pacific headquarters of the London-based advertising agency founded in 1982. Among the accolades, the series of Levi's ads clinched a gold, two silver and a bronze award at AdFest 2003, as well as eight awards at the Asian Advertising Awards last year.

BBH has also achieved other significant accolades for its work in Singapore, despite adopting the unusual approach of maintaining five key hubs around the world instead of having offices in as many countries as possible to be close to their clients.

The firm's Singapore chief executive Ben Fennell said that BBH's unique approach, with only two offices in Asia compared to the average of 20 offices that most other companies had, actually helped it to be more focused in its work.

'Customers are usually a little concerned in the beginning when they hear of our approach. We explain to them that we have a good collection of creative talent at our hubs, and that this is better than what can be sourced for locally in the different markets. We also work our fee structure such that BBH is committed to invest in a number of flights to get out to meet our clients and maintain key relationships that way.'

He said that any reservations that BBH's clients have usually dissipate after several weeks when they realise that its hub strategy does not affect working relationships or productivity. 'They realise after a while that they don't have to pay to cover the overheads of 15 branch offices, for example. The meetings also tend to be more productive. If we were located just down the road from them, then it would be easy for meetings to be held any time and they would tend to be less efficient.'

BBH, whose clientele includes such global names as Coca-Cola, Virgin Atlantic, Unilever as well as its first client Levi's, recorded 40-per-cent year-on-year income growth last year. It also won the AdAsia Agency of the Year award for last year and was the only Singapore-based agency to emerge among the top three at both AdFest 2003 in Bangkok and the Asian Advertising Awards in Hong Kong last year.

With a 50-member team comprising 75-per-cent Asian staff and the rest expatriates, he said BBH Singapore, set up eight years ago, aimed to expand. 'We're looking at the telco and financial services markets, which are categories that people find difficult to market all around the world. I'd like to challenge the companies in those sectors and put pressure on them to do something that will be interesting, creative and different.'

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Among the accolades this winning series of Levi's ads clinched were a gold, two silver and a bronze award at AdFest 2003, as well as eight awards at the Asian Adverstising Awards last year.

Originally posted by Jo

So any of you guys ever had a plan for a business or invention? I suppose most people here are still too young.. but I mean if you had ideas or dreams to do something in the future?

Something that i want to do is to open a hydrogen-plant. I think if Asia starts to invest in fuel cell technology then Asia may will be the biggest hydrogen-economy in the world and that will create jobs and investment:)

The battle is Hydrogen vs OPEC
:)

A speck is all it takes to shatter glass

Micro impurities in glass panels pose a real danger, but S'pore team devises a fast way to detect them

By Natalie Soh

IMPURITIES in glass can make a glass panel shatter even if they are so tiny that they are invisible to the naked eye. This make glass screens a veritable time bomb because you can't predict when they will crack, say scientists here, who have devised a system to locate those faults before the glass shatters.

Since most modern skyscrapers are fitted extensively with glass panels, detecting the faults is a matter of urgency, explained a senior scientist at the Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology (SIMTech), Dr Fang Zhong Ping. 'Can you imagine the damage if a suspended glass panel breaks and falls from a height? Glass can be beautiful but it can be dangerous too,' he said.

Buildings and shower screens mostly use tempered glass - which is up to four times stronger than ordinary window glass. But tempered glass can contain tiny motes of nickel sulphide, formed during the manufacturing process, said Dr Fang.

Nickel sulphide is unstable, explained Dr Fang. Over time, with vibrations and heat from the sun, these tiny specks may expand by as much as 4 per cent, causing pressure to build up inside the panel because the specks have no room to expand. The end result: The glass shatters.

He said: 'It's really a worldwide problem. There is currently no way to exclude these nickel sulphide residues in the manufacturing process, nor predict when and how the nickel sulphide mote will change and cause damage.' Scientists have also found that a speck just 80 microns thick - the width of a strand of human hair - can cause problems. These defects were blamed in part for a rash of tempered glass shower screens shattering in Housing Board blocks two years ago.

To check a panel, a technician would ordinarily have to scan the entire surface, 2-3cm at a time, with a handheld microscope, said Dr Fang. But the SIMTech team's method is much faster. A light beam is directed at the glass panel and, with some help from a wedge of transparent silicon rubber, is reflected to light up the inside of the glass panel. The motes will scatter the light, appearing like tiny sparkling diamonds inside the glass.

Said Dr Fang: 'Once you spot them, then you can do closer investigations with a microscope to see if the panel has to be replaced.' The team uses a lightweight handheld scanner that can sweep about 1 sq m at one go, reducing the time needed to scrutinise the glass panels. The system has been tested on a prominent building here. The scientists wouldn't say which skyscraper it was, only that 10 of its panels had to be replaced.

Patents have been filed for the system and SIMTech is transferring the technology to eight glass manufacturers here and to building inspection firms.

Beyond Singapore's Horizon

Local game developer's sci-fi shooter is poised to take on the world after drawing rave reviews

By Leung Wai Leng

BEYOND Event Horizon: Revelations is a sci-fi PC game planned for international publication.

Combining action, strategy and role-playing in fully rendered 3D, it features a multilinear storyline set against a futuristic backdrop of political intrigue, unexplained phenomena and space warfare.

It is also being developed in Singapore.

Local game developer Nexgen Studios is forging ahead with its first major PC title after receiving positive reactions from investors for Beyond Event Horizon's technical demo.

'The project was actually based on another online fantasy game that we wanted to make,' said Mr Alvin Yap, 32, managing director of Nexgen Studios.

'But doing an online game would be very taxing for a new company like ours, so we decided to do a third-person shooter. This is, after all, our first major project and we'd like to get the fundamentals right.'

In a shooting game, a first-person shooter allows you to survey the action from the eyes of the character. In a third-person shooter, the perspective allows you to see your character interacting with the game world.

Beyond Event Horizon isn't your average shooter.

'I didn't want to just make a shooting game like Unreal Tournament,' said Mr Yap. 'You play three main characters at different parts of the game and you'll discover each character's secrets and hidden agendas.

'That's why the secondary title is Revelations, because everything is not what it seems.

'Beyond just the characters, there are ongoing intrigues and strange phenomena, which allow us to explore technology such as nanotechnology and cybernetics as well as the ethical use of scientific advances.'

The development took five months and cost $70,000, half of which came from the Media Development Authority.

Beyond Event Horizon has already attracted some attention from publishers, with agents representing names such as Midway expressing interest.

The company was invited to pitch the game at Midway's office in Austin, Texas. Mr Yap has also received e-mail from other publishers interested in the game demo.

Despite the scale of the project, the team behind the game is surprisingly small.

Nexgen Studios has a full-time staff of eight programmers and artists as well as two 'virtual interns' from the Art Institute of California, both of whom communicate with the team and submit their work via file transfer protocol (FTP).

Italian game music composer Manuel Marino, who has composed music for games such as Dark Ages II, is working on Beyond Event Horizon's soundtrack.

What the company lacks in size, it makes up for with passion.

'Making games was a child hood dream,' said Mr Toh Kok Heng, lead programmer for Beyond Event Horizon.

His game-making experience dates back to his student days in Ngee Ann Polytechnic, where he single-handedly attempted to program a 'Quake-like first person shooter'.

The desire to make games also led Mr Marc Scheib, a German intern from the University of Applied Sciences in Berlin, to work in Nexgen Studios after finding the company through Gamasutra, a game developers' website.

'I was specially looking around Asia for game developers,' said Mr Scheib of his choice to work in Singapore.

Leading the pack, however, is Mr Yap himself, who gave up a successful banking career to start Nexgen Studios with $100,000 from his family and his own savings in March last year.

He said: 'I could have been a senior manager or an AVP, but I've always wanted to work in games, that is my passion. So when I had the opportunity given to me, I jumped at it.'

Despite freely admitting that starting Nexgen was a crazy decision, Mr Yap believes in the future of game development in Singapore.

'I believe it is possible for Singapore game developers to rival international content. Singaporeans aren't associated with creativity, but in nine months of operation, I have encountered a lot of creative Singaporeans.

'In Singapore, people aren't aware of how lucrative it could be, because games are exportable worldwide. But it is a high-risk area - you could get millions or you could get nothing.'

Originally posted by huaiwei

Singaporeans aren't associated with creativity, but in nine months of operation, I have encountered a lot of creative Singaporeans.



I hope this stereotype gets nailed into the coffin! :dooby:

Time for us to give underdogs a fighting chance

I ONCE asked Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at a dialogue session if there was ever any chance of our national leaders being from the group of people who have achieved their own brand of success through the road less travelled, the underdogs.

Someone who didn't come from the Hwa Chong/Ivy League clan, someone who isn't a rocket scientist or doctor. Yet someone with the calibre and personal capacity to lead.

Mr Lee said sure, and I believed him, not only because he's my personal inspiration, but also because I believed he wanted that as much as I did - ideally. But this society's not ready for it, and I'm saddened for myself and Singapore.

The other day, I received a rejection for my scholarship application with a government ministry barely 24 hours after I sent it in. It was obvious they took one look, and decided I wasn't even worthy considering.

I believe our society's obsession with perfection is going to cost us some day. For so long, this society has run on the diesel of the elite who got where they are in the first place because of their impeccable academic track record. Maybe it's time to give others that bit of a fighting chance.

I, for one, think that my 'promising spark' factor is in the fact that I got to where I am so far. I hailed from the Special stream of a top secondary school, but things happened in my personal life and I messed up my O levels, ending up in a pre-university institute.

But I managed to pick up the pieces of my life and made the most of the situation. Being very involved in co-curricular activities, doing volunteer work overseas, heading various committees, among many other activities, gave me valuable experience. I saw the shoddy side of humanity, experienced politics of envy and society's ills first-hand, and saw life beyond the rose-tinted glasses that most youths still have on at this age.

And I shed blood, sweat and tears to emerge top in my class and joint-top Malay student of my school at the A levels with grades of A,B and C and a distinction for General Paper.

I'm proud of myself for having the tenacity and discipline to chart my own path to success after I'd fallen from grace. Well, obviously that ministry found all these irrelevant - rather, would have found them irrelevant, had it even bothered to find out more.

I don't deny that Singapore has its grounds for demanding nothing less than perfection. However, we need to balance that with flexibility of paradigms so as to cope with the changing times. We can't afford to have such a myopic perspective and narrow definition of success because the repercussions are great. Like Bob Carlisle sang, 'For all that I've done wrong, I must have done something right...'


LYDIA RAHMAN (MS)

Hopes, fears and dreams

ITE graduate selling chicken pies. NTU undergraduate turned undertaker. Security guard cum part-time artist. These were among the people Deputy Prime Minister LEE HSIEN LOONG saluted last night at a forum with the Nanyang Technological University Students' Union. Excerpts from his speech:

TODAY, I propose to take your point of view - a student about to complete your studies and start out in life, wondering what is in store for you, and what you should aim for.

Let me start with a self-assessment. Every one of us would like to achieve the best we can for ourselves. But what we can actually achieve depends on the world we live in, and on our own strengths and weaknesses.

STRENGTHS

WE HAVE significant strengths. Firstly, we are all at least bilingual. We are educated in English, which is the international language of business. At the same time, we also speak our mother tongues - either Mandarin, Tamil, or Malay. These languages will anchor our Asian identity, and help us understand and do business in the region. You may not realise how big an advantage this is, until you are physically stationed in another country.

Secondly, our young people are very well-educated. Students and parents often complain about the Singapore education system but, on the whole, it prepares you well to compete with others. International surveys consistently show that our students are among the most competent in the world, especially in science and mathematics. Singaporeans who go to top universities abroad often do brilliantly, emerging at the top of their classes. So our schools must have done something good for them.

Thirdly, Singaporeans are not only talented as individuals, but also belong to a meritocratic and efficient system. Our system gives you every opportunity to develop your talents, put them to full use, and work as part of a Singapore team. Imagine how different your lives would have been, and what limited choices you would have had, if you had been born and grown up in some other country, say in Iraq or Nigeria.

WEAKNESSES

WE MUST be aware of our weaknesses too, and I would like to mention three. Firstly, young Singaporeans do not know enough about our own country, or what is going on in the world around us. I am sure you know who is William Hung or F4, but (as a recent survey showed) far fewer have heard of Dr Goh Keng Swee, and I suspect not so many are sure who Pervez Musharraf is, or know that Indonesia is holding its elections today.

Secondly, young Singaporeans have grown up in a safe, orderly, almost artificial environment. Everything works. The trains run on time, the lifts in HDB blocks work, the police are helpful and efficient, and the National Day Parade is a precision show.

Children no longer catch guppies in longkangs, or spiders in the bushes. We have worked very hard to create this order and efficiency, but the side effect is that our people have been sheltered from the realities of the world, and often do not realise how unusual and precious Singapore is.

A 20-year-old Singaporean is much less toughened and street smart than a 20-year-old Vietnamese or Indian who has had to fend for himself or herself. We have been so insulated that the first time we come into contact with the outside world, it is something of a shock, as many of our businessmen operating in China and other countries have found out.

Which leads to the third weakness - because we live in a prosperous, comfortable environment, our young are not as hungry and eager as their parents were, or as young people in China, India or Vietnam today are.

As Mr Ron Sim said when he accepted the Businessman of the Year award recently: 'I am lucky to be born poor because it fuels the hunger, it fuels the despair, the desire to make things good and right. But don't get me wrong. If you were born rich, you are luckier. It might be hard to stir the hunger, but it is not difficult to create the desire. As the saying goes, 'Do also die, don't also die', so why not do your best and then die?'

I am not saying that our young people do not work hard - many work very hard. Neither am I saying that we do not have any poor families for whom every dollar counts - we have some. But, on the whole, our people have inherited success, and are striving to improve on what their parents have already achieved.

Whereas young Chinese, Indians and Vietnamese have themselves experienced hardship and deprivation, and feel a powerful urge to get ahead, to lift themselves and their families out of poverty. The intensities of the two drives are not quite the same. It is not anybody's fault - it is just the result of growing up in different circumstances

HOPES

TO PREPARE for this talk, I met some of your classmates, to find out what was on their minds and yours. Let me tackle some of the things that we talked about, starting with hopes.

Your immediate preoccupation is to get good jobs after graduation. Every graduate thinks about this, but perhaps your batch more than others, because the past few years have been so difficult. We have seen the Asian crisis, the bursting of the dot.com bubble, Sept 11 and Sars. Unemployment has been up, and jobs have been harder to find. But since late last year, the economy has been picking up.

Already for last year's graduates, the job situation was improving. Nearly four in five (79 per cent for National University of Singapore and 76 per cent for Nanyang Technological University) of them found jobs within three months of their final exams, at an average monthly salary of $2,200.

But your first job is only the start of a long journey. You must expect to change jobs several times before you retire. Some people spend their whole career doing one short contract after another. So you have to be ready to keep on learning new skills throughout your lives.

ENTREPRENEURS

TOO FEW Singaporeans dream of being entrepreneurs, of building something new, and going for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. In contrast, many Americans aspire to start their own businesses, and a good number actually do so.

Entrepreneurship is not just for a select few. Anyone with a good idea and the drive to see it through has a chance of success. They need not be big, high-tech ideas. Many enterprising businessmen have succeeded with simple ideas. One is Mr Don Lim, who started the Don Pie Club, selling chicken pies. (His story was recently in Streats.) He started out working in a confectionery. Later, he became a chef in the cafeteria of a multinational company. But four years ago, at age 45, he started his own eatery. He needed financing. To convince the finance company to lend him money, he baked the loan officer a chicken pie. It must have been a good pie, because he got a $30,000 loan, which got him started. Now, he sells 4,500 chicken pies per month at two outlets, and is planning on a third outlet.

Mr Lim is not a graduate - he took a course in the Institute of Technical Education in metalwork. Some people claim that a university education actually makes you less suited to become an entrepreneur. I hope you will prove them wrong.

Some NTU graduates have set up businesses. Last year, three of them - Mr Vincent Lee Kah Mun, Dr Saw Lin Kiat and Mr Ho Kok Hiang - set up a company called Inflexion Pte Ltd. The start-up provides medical diagnostic solutions, to detect early common Asian diseases. Their most recent product is a device to detect nose cancer. The three young entrepreneurs credit much of their success to the education and contacts provided by NTU.

For something less high-tech, The New Paper recently reported on a 23-year-old NTU undergraduate, Miss Michelle Tan, who became an undertaker. She helps families make funeral arrangements according to their requests and budgets, which can range from $4,000 for a simple funeral to $10,000 for an elaborate Taoist funeral. It is an unusual path to take, but as Miss Tan said in the interview: 'People die every day and somebody has to help the family.'

A job is not just a way to support ourselves, but should also be a source of satisfaction and fulfilment. Whether you are an engineer designing a new gadget, an entrepreneur growing a new business, or an SIA girl serving passengers with style, work should be something challenging and worthwhile, if not every day, at least on the whole.

PASSION

BEYOND job satisfaction, many of you will want to pursue other passions in life. I strongly encourage you to do this, whether your interest is social service, sports, or the arts.

A few months ago, I attended a function at a community club. I noticed the stage backdrop had been most professionally done. It turned out that a grassroots leader had designed and painted it. He was a self-taught artist, and did this for many functions in that constituency. I chatted with him. I thought he looked familiar. It turned out that by day, he worked as a security guard at the Monetary Authority of Singapore, (which is where I had met him), but evenings and weekends he spent pursuing this hobby!

Some of you may know Miss Jeanette Wang. She is a third-year undergraduate at the School of Communication and Information. She participates in triathlons - swimming, cycling and running. These are tough races - the men's race is called the Iron Man competition. In between triathlons, Jeanette passes her examinations, and also participates in vertical marathons.

Last year, she won the woman's category in the Stamford Vertical Marathon. The prize was a trip to New York. There, she ran up the Empire State Building, and won the race again for her age group. I wish Jeanette all the best in running up the ladder of success in life.

We must define success in many different ways. As a society, we should accommodate many different paths, and recognise and celebrate achievement in many fields. If you have a passion, be brave, seize the moment and pursue it.

LOVE AND FAMILY

WE HAVE been discussing the problem of too few babies recently. The encouraging thing is that most young people want to get married, and most married couples want to have children. The trouble is that not all who want to get married actually do so, and couples who want children end up having fewer children than they would really like.

I hesitated to raise such a delicate subject tonight, but I think that I have to discuss it with you. You are the age group just entering the years of forming families and bearing children. If I cannot even talk about this with you, then we have no hope of ever solving the problem. By talking about it, we can desensitise the issue, understand it better, and make progress tackling it.

Furthermore, we must recognise that this problem is more serious for better-educated Singaporeans, and especially graduates. Graduates marry later than non-graduates, both men and women. More graduate women remain single than non-graduate women.

And graduate women who marry produce fewer children on average than non-graduate women. Many couples say they cannot afford to have more children, yet, ironically, the ones who are financially most well off are also the ones with the fewest children.

The problem does not come about because people are being self-centred or irresponsible. People are behaving extremely sensibly and rationally, from their own points of view. But the difficulty is that when we add together all these individually sensible decisions, the collective outcome is a serious problem for the whole society.

To solve this societal problem, we have to zoom in on the individual, to understand the reasons why people are not getting married, not having children or having too few children. Then we can gradually shift social attitudes towards childbearing, and also tackle the practical issues - for example make work arrangements more conducive to family life, and lessen the financial burden of bringing up a child. Then, over time, we can get people to change their minds and have more babies.

I have no magic solution to produce tonight. We have a Working Committee on Population studying all the things we might do, to come up with a practical plan. But tonight, I would just like to mention one aspect: matchmaking.

MATCHMAKING

IN THE old days, parents left nothing to chance. They would work hard to find a suitable match for their son or daughter. Often they would seek the help of professional matchmakers. (And once you are married, they would nag you until you had a child.)

Today, this is still how it is done in India. The Indian Sunday newspapers carry thousands of matrimonial ads. Let me read you one: 'Affluent Mumbai-based South Indian Brahmin family, invites suitable alliance for their only son - 28/5ft 8in, fair, good looking, MBA/MSC. Just returned from UK after completing MSC. Boy is well-placed in one of the largest retail groups in India. Father - CEO of a well-known media company. Girl should be tall, slim, good looking, qualified from a high status background. Caste no bar.'

In fact, young, well-educated professional Indians regard matrimonial ads in the same way as job ads. They will short-list what they want from the ads, go for an interview, and see if their application is successful. Some outsource the whole process to professional matchmakers.

It does not mean the entire affair is objective-driven and devoid of romance. Nowadays, few Indian couples get married without first meeting one another. The ads facilitate a meeting between two people who might be suited for each other. They will date many more times before they tie the knot. The ads reflect their basic attitude towards marriage: that it is a desirable goal in life that should lead to happiness, a serious decision to be carefully taken, and something which there is no reason to feel coy about.

But in Singapore, we have gone the Western way. Young people find their own partners to marry but, by leaving things to chance, many remain single. Singaporeans probably will not want to go back to the old arrangements, but perhaps some discreet tactful assistance will be helpful - such as from the Social Development Unit (SDU). I know not all students welcome the attention of the SDU; some even refer to SDU as 'Single, Desperate and Ugly'. But I assure you that if you try out any of their activities, you will find many people who are 'Sexy, Desirable and Unique'.

The SDU not only provides meaningful and good service, but its charges are also very reasonable. In fact, NTU and NUS students can get complimentary memberships. The response is quite encouraging, as nearly all (95 per cent) the students take it up, and about a quarter (23 per cent) participate in SDU activities. Only a small minority opt out, I hope because they are already dating.

But if you prefer private matchmaking agencies, there are several to choose from. There is D'Match, set up by two former SDU counsellors, and Ice-breakers. There are also many online dating services, such as Hotspots.com, and singaporecupid.com.

This is one industry where the Government feels that the more players we have, the better. Maybe we should even consider granting dating service providers some tax incentives!

DREAMS

OUR achievements are only limited by our dreams. Recently, I met Mr Isao Uchida, the president and CEO of Yokogawa Electric Corporation. Yokogawa manufactures industrial equipment, and just celebrated its 30th anniversary of operations in Singapore. Mr Uchida told me that back in 1973, when he was a young executive, he was tasked to study how Yokogawa could internationalise its operations. He came to Singapore. The Economic Development Board (EDB) officers showed him the plans, pointed to a piece of barren land along the East Coast on a map, and told him that that was where he could put his plant. Mr Uchida said he did not really listen to the presentation, but he decided to invest in Singapore, because he saw 'fire in the EDB officers' eyes'. Today, the Singapore plant is one of Yokogawa's key operation centres, and is still expanding.

I have talked about how your hopes for getting good jobs, pursuing your passions and leading happy family lives can be achieved in Singapore. But beyond these practical pursuits, we must all have dreams. Just like the EDB officers, if we chase our dreams hard enough and have 'fire in our eyes', we can make dreams become reality.

Originally posted by huaiwei
Singaporeans aren't associated with creativity, but in nine months of operation, I have encountered a lot of creative Singaporeans.

Raffis reply: I hope this stereotype gets nailed into the coffin! :doobie:

I wholeheartedly agree. What good is such stereotyping? :bash: Besides, the author contradicts himself in the immediately following sentence. :ohno:

Get ready to Go To Jail

The hunt for Singapore's next Monopoly champion is back again even as secondary schools are now using the board game to hone entrepreneurial skills. TAY SUAN CHIANG reports.

He is a bartender, mixing drinks smoothly at a pub in Circular Road. But Mr Pang Chee Keong, 34, is also adept at playing Monopoly. In fact, he is Singapore's best after he won the national championship in 2000. And he will defend his title in slightly over a week's time in the contest held once every four years.

The 2004 edition takes place on April 17 and 18 at Tampines Mall. If he wins, he will go to Tokyo in October to take part in the World Monopoly Championship against 44 other contestants.

This ultimate showdown has been staged since 1973, and comes around once every four years. Players compete on the American version of the board game. The winner walks away with US$15,140, the total sum of money available to players in the game. The current champion is Mr Yutaka Okada, an economist from Japan.

Singapore has produced only one winner so far - Mr Cheng Seng Kwa who triumphed in 1977. Little is known about him, except that he was a marketing executive then. Mr Pang has been to the finals before. In 2000, he flew to Toronto to compete. He found the 32-hour flight the most stressful part of the competition.

'I had to attend a cocktail dinner upon arrival, and the competition was held the next morning. There was no time to rest and I was so jet-lagged,' he recalls. Still, he managed to win three rounds of competition, but did not make it to the finals.

As the defending national champion, he has been invited back by game organiser, Hasbro Singapore, to take part in this year's game of wits. At stake is $8,000 in cash, a trophy and the chance to represent the country in the world championship.

Mr Pang, who has played Monopoly since he was a child, has not been practising too much lately. But he has experience on his side. He believes the game is 80 per cent strategy and 20 per cent luck. 'The trick is to know when to buy and sell property. I buy any property that I land on, and only sell when I am bankrupt,' he says.

The contest has drawn 300 contestants so far. Among them is Ngee Ann Polytechnic student Yvonne Teo, whose game plan is to take it easy before the duels start. The 21-year-old does not believe in playing the game often to brush up her skills. 'Unlike studying for exams, Monopoly isn't a game you can mug for, so I will just adjust my play as I go along,' she says.

But fellow competitor Patrick Wee, 23, disagrees. The interior designer feels constant practice will give him the edge. He plays the game on his PDA every day, and always beats the computer, which is his competitor. His strategy is to buy the cheaper properties, quickly build houses and hotels on them, and start collecting rent.

Some 1,000 participants are expected to take part in the competition, which is open to all Singaporeans and permanent residents, aged 11 years and above. Each round is a one-hour play on the Monopoly Singapore game board.

Mr Pang and the top 15 players will play in the semi-finals. Joining them will be eight Secondary 1 students who were the winners of the Monopoly School Championship on March 27. They will compete on a giant 6m x 6m Monopoly Singapore game board. There will be four rounds of six contestants each in the semi-finals. The finals will see four survivors battling for the grand prize.

Mr Pang can't wait to get started. 'I don't put pressure on myself to win. It's all done in the name of fun,' he says.

The 2004 National Monopoly Championship will be held on April 17 and 18 at Tampines Mall. The heats are scheduled on April 17 while the semi-finals and finals will take place the next day.

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Get real estate: fun facts about monopoly

- You can find 10 types of Monopoly game boards in Singapore. Monopoly Singapore, Monopoly Standard (US version) and Monopoly - The Lord Of The Rings Edition are just three examples. Prices range from $21.90 to $99.90.

- Monopoly Singapore and Monopoly Standard (US) are the bestsellers every year. The local version was introduced on Aug 9, 2000 and has sold more than 25,000 sets since.

- Each month, 30,000 Monopoly sets are sold, and it is always the top gift to buy for Christmas, says Ms Joy Koh, marketing manager for Hasbro Singapore.

- The Monopoly game has been played for more than 60 years, by over 480 million people worldwide.

- Over 5,120,000,000 little green houses have been 'constructed' since the Monopoly game was introduced. Its origin is hazy but, in 1935, games company Parker Brothers bought the rights to the game from a Charles Darrow.

- Players have a 64 per cent chance of landing on the railroad or MRT-station slots.

- You are most likely to land on properties in the orange, red and yellow colour groups.

- There are 16 Chance cards, which will most likely send you to another space on the board.

- There are 16 Community Chest cards, which will most likely give you a reward or money.

- Pay $50 and get out of Jail early in the game while many properties are unowned and undeveloped. You need to be buying and building fast.

- Going to Jail can be a good thing. When most properties are developed between Jail and the Go To Jail spaces, roll the dice and hope you stay in Jail, which is better than landing on someone's patch and paying rent.

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Students get on board

Monopoly may just be a fun board game to some children, but not to 140 Secondary 1 students who were at Nanyang Junior College (right) on March 27 to take part in the first-ever school championship. Seventy secondary schools participated, and each sent two representatives.

'We wanted to give Secondary 1 students a head start on entrepreneurship, which is what Monopoly is about,' says Ms Joy Koh, marketing manager of Hasbro Singapore, which organised the competition.

Students were randomly picked to play against one another, and each table consisted of four students from different schools. The schools had about a month to train their students.

At West Spring Secondary, mathematics teacher Ouyeong Yew Wah finetuned the game plan. 'I picked two representatives based on their aggressive play and decision-making skills, which are important to winning the game,' he says.

In the end, students from Catholic High, Kenneth Sooi and Tan Zhongming, each walked away with a game hamper worth $150 and a trophy. The school also won $2,000 to set up an entrepreneur club.

Mr Ouyeong's students did not win but he is already laying the foundation for the future. 'We've decided to make Monopoly- playing a permanent after-school activity for our Secondary 1 students to help them think on their feet,' he says.

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Winning drive: champ's top tips

Defending champion of the National Monopoly Championship, Mr Pang Chee Keong, shares his winning tips.

Buy property fast: You make money from collecting rent from other players who land on your property, so snap them up fast, no matter how much they cost. This includes utilities and MRT stations.

Build houses quickly: Build as many as you can afford to. You will be able to collect high rents from players who land on your property.

Sell only when bankrupt: Even when other players offer to buy your property, don't sell, as you could end up paying more rent if you land on them later. Sell only when you are bankrupt and in need of cash.

Offer high prices when necessary: If you are just missing one property from the colour group, offer to buy it from your opponent, even if the price is high. You will be able to recoup your expense once you build houses on your properties.

Stay focused: The object of the game is to bankrupt your opponents. Collecting high rents from your player is one way. Another is to sell unwanted properties to them at high prices.

Know when to cause a building shortage: If you have only low-rent monopolies, quickly build three or four houses per property to restrict the availability of houses to owners of high-rent monopolies. They can't build houses, which means they can't collect higher rents.

Maybe we arent that uninnovative afterall? :D

May 4, 2004

Singapore pips US on patents

More products being made based on ideas from the Republic, Taiwan

By Khushwant Singh

THE Government’s effort to fast-track the Republic into the knowledge economy has taken a great leap forward. Patents by inventors here are now cited more often than those in the United States, traditionally the world leader in the field. When an invention is patented, subsequent products based on its concept must “cite” its origin.

The New York Times yesterday quoted Dr Francis Narin, president of CHI Research, a consulting firm in the US, as saying that both Singapore and Taiwan have moved ahead of the US in the overall number of citations. Singapore’s patents include ones in chemicals, semiconductors, electronics and industrial tools.

Applications for patents by Singapore residents here increased more than fourfold from 145 in 1995 to 626 last year. Said Dr Narin: “It’s not just lots of patents. It’s lots of good patents that have a high impact.” Patents are the main way for companies and inventors to reap commercial rewards for their ideas and stay competitive in the marketplace.

But the increase in the number of patents is just one aspect of the challenge to American global dominance in the sciences. Analysts also point to the declining number of prizes awarded to American researchers and the decreasing quantity of scientific papers published by them.

After winning a huge majority of the total up until the 1990s, the American share of Nobel Prizes, an icon of scientific excellence, has fallen to about half of the total since 2000. The rest went to Britain, Japan, Russia, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland and New Zealand. And in published research, Physical Review, a top physics journal, noted that American research papers fell from 61 per cent in 1983 to 29 per cent of its research papers last year.

Mr Martin Blume, the journal’s editor, told the NYT that China has surged ahead by submitting more than 1,000 papers a year. “Other scientific publishers are seeing the same kind of thing,” he added.

There is also the reverse brain drain, as hundreds of doctoral students from Asia now prefer to head home instead of taking work in the US. Applications from foreign graduate students to research universities are also down by a quarter partly because of the US government’s visa restrictions after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

America’s decline in the sciences is worrisome, analysts say, because new scientific knowledge is an engine of the US economy and technical innovation, its influence evident in everything from potent drugs to fast computer chips.

Ms Shirley Ann Jackson, president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, said recently that the drop in foreign students, the apparently declining interest of young Americans in science careers and the ageing of the technical workforce were a perilous combination of developments.

She asked: “Who will do the science of this millennium?”

:banana:

The original text from the NYT:

http://graphics7.nytimes.com/images/section/homepage/NYT_home_banner.gif

U.S. Is Losing Its Dominance in the Sciences

By WILLIAM J. BROAD

Published: May 3, 2004

The United States has started to lose its worldwide dominance in critical areas of science and innovation, according to federal and private experts who point to strong evidence like prizes awarded to Americans and the number of papers in major professional journals.

Foreign advances in basic science now often rival or even exceed America's, apparently with little public awareness of the trend or its implications for jobs, industry, national security or the vigor of the nation's intellectual and cultural life.

"The rest of the world is catching up," said John E. Jankowski, a senior analyst at the National Science Foundation, the federal agency that tracks science trends. "Science excellence is no longer the domain of just the U.S."

Even analysts worried by the trend concede that an expansion of the world's brain trust, with new approaches, could invigorate the fight against disease, develop new sources of energy and wrestle with knotty environmental problems. But profits from the breakthroughs are likely to stay overseas, and this country will face competition for things like hiring scientific talent and getting space to showcase its work in top journals.

One area of international competition involves patents. Americans still win large numbers of them, but the percentage is falling as foreigners, especially Asians, have become more active and in some fields have seized the innovation lead. The United States' share of its own industrial patents has fallen steadily over the decades and now stands at 52 percent.

A more concrete decline can be seen in published research. Physical Review, a series of top physics journals, recently tracked a reversal in which American papers, in two decades, fell from the most to a minority. Last year the total was just 29 percent, down from 61 percent in 1983.

China, said Martin Blume, the journals' editor, has surged ahead by submitting more than 1,000 papers a year. "Other scientific publishers are seeing the same kind of thing," he added.

Another downturn centers on the Nobel Prizes, an icon of scientific excellence. Traditionally, the United States, powered by heavy federal investments in basic research, the kind that pursues fundamental questions of nature, dominated the awards.

But the American share, after peaking from the 1960's through the 1990's, has fallen in the 2000's to about half, 51 percent. The rest went to Britain, Japan, Russia, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland and New Zealand.

"We are in a new world, and it's increasingly going to be dominated by countries other than the United States," Denis Simon, dean of management and technology at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, recently said at a scientific meeting in Washington.

Europe and Asia are ascendant, analysts say, even if their achievements go unnoticed in the United States. In March, for example, European scientists announced that one of their planetary probes had detected methane in the atmosphere of Mars — a possible sign that alien microbes live beneath the planet's surface. The finding made headlines from Paris to Melbourne. But most Americans, bombarded with images from America's own rovers successfully exploring the red planet, missed the foreign news.

More aggressively, Europe is seeking to dominate particle physics by building the world's most powerful atom smasher, set for its debut in 2007. Its circular tunnel is 17 miles around.

Science analysts say Asia's push for excellence promises to be even more challenging.

"It's unbelievable," Diana Hicks, chairwoman of the school of public policy at the Georgia Institute of Technology, said of Asia's growth in science and technical innovation. "It's amazing to see these output numbers of papers and patents going up so fast."

Analysts say comparative American declines are an inevitable result of rising standards of living around the globe.

"It's all in the ebb and flow of globalization," said Jack Fritz, a senior officer at the National Academy of Engineering, an advisory body to the federal government. He called the declines "the next big thing we will have to adjust to."

The rapidly changing American status has not gone unnoticed by politicians, with Democrats on the attack and the White House on the defensive.

"We stand at a pivotal moment," Tom Daschle, the Senate Democratic leader, recently said at a policy forum in Washington at the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the nation's top general science group. "For all our past successes, there are disturbing signs that America's dominant position in the scientific world is being shaken."

Mr. Daschle accused the Bush administration of weakening the nation's science base by failing to provide enough money for cutting-edge research.

The president's science adviser, John H. Marburger III, who attended the forum, strongly denied that charge, saying in an interview that overall research budgets during the Bush administration have soared to record highs and that the science establishment is strong.

"The sky is not falling on science," Dr. Marburger said. "Maybe there are some clouds — no, things that need attention." Any problems, he added, are within the power of the United States to deal with in a way that maintains the vitality of the research enterprise.

Analysts say Mr. Daschle and Dr. Marburger can both supply data that supports their positions.

A major question, they add, is whether big spending automatically translates into big rewards, as it did in the past. During the cold war, the government pumped more than $1 trillion into research, with a wealth of benefits including lasers, longer life expectancies, men on the Moon and the prestige of many Nobel Prizes.

Today, federal research budgets are still at record highs; this year more than $126 billion has been allocated to research. Moreover, American industry makes extensive use of federal research in producing its innovations and adds its own vast sums of money, the combination dwarfing that of any other nation or bloc.

But the edifice is less formidable than it seems, in part because of the nation's costly and unique military role. This year, financing for military research hit $66 billion, higher in fixed dollars than in the cold war and far higher than in any other country.

For all the spending, the United States began to experience a number of scientific declines in the 1990's, boom years for the nation's overall economy.

For instance, scientific papers by Americans peaked in 1992 and then fell roughly 10 percent, the National Science Foundation reports. Why? Many analysts point to rising foreign competition, as does the European Commission, which also monitors global science trends. In a study last year, the commission said Europe surpassed the United States in the mid-1990's as the world's largest producer of scientific literature.

Dr. Hicks of Georgia Tech said that American scientists, when top journals reject their papers, usually have no idea that rising foreign competition may be to blame.

On another front, the numbers of new doctorates in the sciences peaked in 1998 and then fell 5 percent the next year, a loss of more than 1,300 new scientists, according to the foundation.

A minor exodus also hit one of the hidden strengths of American science: vast ranks of bright foreigners. In a significant shift of demographics, they began to leave in what experts call a reverse brain drain. After peaking in the mid-1990's, the number of doctoral students from China, India and Taiwan with plans to stay in the United States began to fall by the hundreds, according to the foundation.

These declines are important, analysts say, because new scientific knowledge is an engine of the American economy and technical innovation, its influence evident in everything from potent drugs to fast computer chips.

Patents are a main way that companies and inventors reap commercial rewards from their ideas and stay competitive in the marketplace while improving the lives of millions.

Foreigners outside the United States are playing an increasingly important role in these expressions of industrial creativity. In a recent study, CHI Research, a consulting firm in Haddon Heights, N.J., found that researchers in Japan, Taiwan and South Korea now account for more than a quarter of all United States industrial patents awarded each year, generating revenue for their own countries and limiting it in the United States.

Moreover, their growth rates are rapid. Between 1980 and 2003, South Korea went from 0 to 2 percent of the total, Taiwan from 0 to 3 percent and Japan from 12 to 21 percent.

"It's not just lots of patents," Francis Narin, CHI's president, said of the Asian rise. "It's lots of good patents that have a high impact," as measured by how often subsequent patents cite them.

Recently, Dr. Narin added, both Taiwan and Singapore surged ahead of the United States in the overall number of citations. Singapore's patents include ones in chemicals, semiconductors, electronics and industrial tools.

China represents the next wave, experts agree, its scientific rise still too fresh to show up in most statistics but already apparent. Dr. Simon of Rensselaer said that about 400 foreign companies had recently set up research centers in China, with General Electric, for instance, doing important work there on medical scanners, which means fewer skilled jobs in America.

Ross Armbrecht, president of the Industrial Research Institute, a nonprofit group in Washington that represents large American companies, said businesses were going to China not just because of low costs but to take advantage of China's growing scientific excellence.

"It's frightening," Dr. Armbrecht said. "But you've got to go where the horses are." An eventual danger, he added, is the slow loss of intellectual property as local professionals start their own businesses with what they have learned from American companies.

For the United States, future trends look challenging, many analysts say.

In a report last month, the American Association for the Advancement of Science said the Bush administration, to live up to its pledge to halve the nation's budget deficit in the next five years, would cut research financing at 21 of 24 federal agencies — all those that do or finance science except those involved in space and national and domestic security.

More troubling to some experts is the likelihood of an accelerating loss of quality scientists. Applications from foreign graduate students to research universities are down by a quarter, experts say, partly because of the federal government's tightening of visas after the 2001 terrorist attacks.

Shirley Ann Jackson, president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, told the recent forum audience that the drop in foreign students, the apparently declining interest of young Americans in science careers and the aging of the technical work force were, taken together, a perilous combination of developments.

"Who," she asked, "will do the science of this millennium?"

Several private groups, including the Council on Competitiveness, an organization in Washington that seeks policies to promote industrial vigor, have begun to agitate for wide debate and action.

"Many other countries have realized that science and technology are key to economic growth and prosperity," said Jennifer Bond, the council's vice president for international affairs. "They're catching up to us," she said, warning Americans not to "rest on our laurels."

http://graphics7.nytimes.com/images/2004/05/03/science/0503_RESE_graphic1.gif

http://graphics7.nytimes.com/images/2004/05/03/science/0503_RESE_graphic2.gif

MAY 7, 2004

By Maria Almenoar

HYFLUX chief Olivia Lum leads the four Singapore women who made the top 10 in this year's Global Female Invent and Innovate Conference and Awards.

Ms Lum, 43, is known for Aquosus, a device that sucks moisture out of air and collects it as pure drinking water.

Also honoured is Nanyang Technological University (NTU) researcher Eileen Fong, 23, who devised a technique to coat surfaces with human bone material to keep the human body from rejecting such things as titanium plates, for example, that doctors insert in patients.

Another NTU staff member, Dr Tuti Mariana Lim, devised a water-saving way to sterilise medical instruments with a cool hydrogen flame.

Internet users who use search engines often will soon have reason to thank Ms Cindy Chen, 44, co-founder of BIGontheNET. Her software invention automatically categorises the hundreds of search results listed by popular search engines, for a more comprehensive read.

Other young Singaporean women were also represented in the awards.

Institute of Technical Education Bedok student Evie Ng, 18, was not in the top 10 but got to exhibit her invention, a water-saving device, at the three-day event organised by Women Business Connection Singapore and the British-based Global Women Inventors and Innovators Network (GWIIN), which encourages women to be creative and market their inventions. The event ends today.

GWIIN counts 1,000 women inventors, scientists and academics among its members. This is the second year it is presenting global awards and the first time it is doing so in the Asia Pacific.

GWIIN founder Bola Olabisi thinks women don't get due recognition for their inventions: 'Windshield wipers, umbrellas and matchboxes - not many people know they were invented by women.'


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Copyright @ 2004 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved.

Patenting success

Patents filed by S'poreans and organisations here quadrupled from decade ago

By Chang Ai-Lien

ALL Mr Tan Yin Leong has is two years of post-primary training at a vocational institute, but he is a heavyweight in the patent scene.

The prolific inventor- entrepreneur now owns five United States-registered patents on the testing of computer chips developed in his high-tech equipment factory in St Michael's Industrial Estate.

Another four are on the way.

His company spends $100,000 on research every year, up to $30,000 to file each patent, and about $1,000 to maintain each yearly.

But the patents have more than paid for themselves.

They have boosted the reputation of his company, Test Max, and drew business for his factory of 20 workers.

He may be unusual in having so many to his name, but he is part of a steady rise in the number of patents filed by Singaporeans and organisations here in the last decade.

Patent applications rose over four times to nearly 8,000 filed here last year, up sharply from 1,818 in 1994.

The US Patent and Trademark Office said it granted close to 300 patents to Singapore applicants in 2001, over 10 times the number a decade ago.

An organisation applies for patents in the countries that it wants to do business in, which is why many register in the big US market.

The big players tend to be multinational companies (MNCs) rather than individuals like Mr Tan, whose patents include a 'burn-in test probe for fine-pitch packages with side contacts' and 'connector contact fingers for testing integrated circuit packages'.

US-based chip maker Intel Corporation, for example, held top spot with 199 patent applications in Singapore last year.

'Intellectual property is the life blood of the company,' said Mr F. Thomas Dunlap Jr, its senior vice-president and general counsel.

The patent fever here mirrors the situation in China and the rest of Asia, which is becoming increasingly aware of the importance of protecting intellectual property (IP).

Indeed, the Asian challenge is eroding the US' stronghold in patents and research papers, according to a report published in The Straits Times yesterday.

Asian patents are also standing out in terms of quality - measured by how often subsequent patents refer to them.

US consulting firm CHI's president Francis Narin was quoted in a New York Times article saying that recently, both Taiwan and Singapore had surged ahead of the US in the overall number of citations.

Despite the MNCs' grip, an emerging trend here, of which Mr Tan is part, is that Singapore companies - even small and medium enterprises - have jumped onto the bandwagon to protect their rights and earn money from licensing.

According to latest data available from the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*Star), over $3 billion was spent on research and development in 2002. And the brainpower of the close to 20,000 research scientists, engineers, and full-time postgraduate research students generated $11.5 billion in revenue that year.

'The rising trend is a reflection of early fruits of sustained emphasis in R&D.

'However, what's also important is that the intellectual property created must be used by industry to bring out new products and services and capture new markets,' said an A*Star spokesman.

Research institutes have also done well.

The National University of Singapore is ranked third among all organisations with inventors here granted US patents, as it moves from being a teaching to a research-intensive institution.

It filed 132 patents locally and internationally last year compared to 10 in 1993. Of these, 29 were with the US Patent and Trademark Office.

Professor Jacob Phang, who is in charge of entrepreneurship and patenting at the institute, said: 'At NUS, we're all very IP savvy now.

'If there's commercial potential in the discoveries, we'll generally hold back publishing until after the patent is filed.'

The university has been ranked as comparable with the top 5 per cent of US universities in research, he said. One in five of its patents has been commercialised.

Meanwhile, Mr Tan hopes his success will spur others on.

'The patents are not just for making money, they also convince big overseas players of our capabilities,' said Mr Tan, 51, an active member of the Singapore Inventors' Development Association, where individuals meet to exchange advice.

His enthusiasm has rubbed off on his family.

Last year, his daughter Natali, then 17, invented a self-draining system for a liquid dispenser used in his factory's machines. Her brainwave is in the process of being patented.

MAY 13, 2004

By Andy Ho

SINGAPORE inventions are surpassing American ones in worth, if a recent New York Times report is right. It quoted an expert saying that Singapore's patents recently 'surged ahead of the US in the overall number of citations'.

That expert is Dr Francis Narin, 70, president of CHI Research Inc, a New Jersey firm that consults on intellectual property issues. And by citations he meant the references that every patent makes to earlier and related patents - just as scientific papers make footnote references to findings in papers other researchers have published. Presumably, more innovative and valuable patents are cited more often.

I asked Dr Narin if it was true that United States patents issued to Singapore-based enterprises have overtaken those issued to US-based firms in scientific merit and dollar worth.

His reply: First, the NYT report was slightly inaccurate. What he had wanted to convey was that, in the past five years, US patents issued to Singapore-based corporations were being, on average, as frequently - sometimes even more frequently - cited as most US patents issued to most other countries. What this suggests is that, above all, some people are developing very good technology here.

Second, and what the NYT didn't report, was that in the figures for Singapore, one company stood out: Chartered Semiconductors, the world's fourth largest semiconductor foundry, which just returned to profitability in the March quarter after losing US$82 million (S$142 million) last year.

So Singapore patents - especially Chartered's - are being cited very often, but do citations really indicate a patent's worth? That depends on whom you ask.

Ask patent attorneys who go to court over patent infringements, and many will tell you they feel that patent citations can be misleading. They think of citation analysis as typically counting the number of times a patent has been cited by other patents.

Take Dr George Liu, a US-trained immunologist who also qualified and practised as a patent attorney in Washington DC before coming here to work as a patent agent. Dr Liu cautioned: 'Patenting is not a beauty contest. A patent's commercial value lies in the market, not the citations it generates.' He drew an analogy with the number of times a paper is cited by others. That is not always a good guide to its scientific merit, he said, because many authors intentionally cite papers from affiliated researchers while omitting those from competitors.

Of course, a patent may also be cited frequently not because of its inherent worth but because it has a background section that, say, describes a particular field very well. Or because it clarifies succinctly a lot of a specific area's jargon.

Ask researchers and consultants who spend their time trying to quantify innovation, however, and you get a different take. For them, patent citation analysis is a great tool - provided the indices used are properly weighted.

This is because citations accumulate over time, so older ones may be cited more often than newer patents simply because they are older, not better. Thus, only patents issued in the same time period are comparable. Technology and industry type are factors too.

Hence it is important to attach proper weights to citation counts - and firms like Dr Narin's make their money by designing ways to do this correctly. If a patent is cited very frequently, properly counted, it is likely to be a highly original invention that may even launch a new technology. Inventions which merely add to an already mature technology score would be cited less often.

What properly weighted indicators capture then are a firm's technological strengths. Does this mean that they identify which technology is likely to be commercially important?

Not at all, given that many other factors in the market also matter, not least of which is the business cycle. An analogy: You can't know which player on a sports team will score the winning goal but, by analysing the talent on both teams, you can improve your prediction on which will win.

Finally, by linking these indicators to a company's performance on the stock market, consultants like Dr Narin have shown that oft-cited patents do tend to have higher economic value in the real world.

So does this mean Chartered Semiconductors looks like a winner? In the last five years, despite the downturn, Dr Hsia Liang Choo - who delves in technology development at Chartered and chairs its patenting committee as well - says the company has become very focused on catching up with the best technology. So it has been encouraging creativity all round, which is reflected in its technological developments patented in that period.

These patents have generally been very forward-looking, which is why many competitors are citing them. But that's okay, he said, because that is how technological knowledge diffuses: 'We also cite their patents as we build on their developments too.'

For Singapore, the question now is how best to foster another Chartered.


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Copyright @ 2004 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved.

Chartered seems to be a company which needs more limelight over here. It has remained a Singaporean company despite international successess, and has obvviously done us proud in the area it sets its sights on.

Chartered seems to be a company which needs more limelight over here. It has remained a Singaporean company despite international successess, and has obvviously done us proud in the area it sets its sights on.

But i think given the nature of what's its doing (semiconductor), people might not know it as well as Creative......But the contributions by Chartered is indeed commendable....... :okay:

But i think given the nature of what's its doing (semiconductor), people might not know it as well as Creative......But the contributions by Chartered is indeed commendable....... :okay:
Yeah..but Creative isnt really a very "Singaporean" company if you think about it? :D

Yeah..but Creative isnt really a very "Singaporean" company if you think about it? :D

But which "Singapore" company which is big is truly "Singaporean"?? The market here is too small to sustain the growth.......

But which "Singapore" company which is big is truly "Singaporean"?? The market here is too small to sustain the growth.......
Singapore Airlines? :D

I dont really call Creative Singaporean, because it actually succeeded only after uprooting itself and basing in the US. Isnt that more of the "quitter" mentality then the "stayer" one?

Singapore Airlines? :D

I dont really call Creative Singaporean, because it actually succeeded only after uprooting itself and basing in the US. Isnt that more of the "quitter" mentality then the "stayer" one?

I guess there are a lot of limitations in the Singapore market then.....How to stay when you know you can't make it big here?? Might as well make it big then come back.....like Stephnie Sun....haha....:D

I guess there are a lot of limitations in the Singapore market then.....How to stay when you know you can't make it big here?? Might as well make it big then come back.....like Stephnie Sun....haha....:D
Yeah..naturally there are limitations here, but wont it be even more challangeing to stay rooted to this place while expanding all over the world...like what Flextronics and Chartered has done?

Yeah..naturally there are limitations here, but wont it be even more challangeing to stay rooted to this place while expanding all over the world...like what Flextronics and Chartered has done?

I guess there are many ways to success....it depends on how one wants to get it.....no right or wrong......

I guess there are many ways to success....it depends on how one wants to get it.....no right or wrong......
I am not saying it is right or wrong lah, but I am asking why is Creative getting so much attention as an example for Singaporeans to spread their wings, instead of some other companies like Chartered?

I am not saying it is right or wrong lah, but I am asking why is Creative getting so much attention as an example for Singaporeans to spread their wings, instead of some other companies like Chartered?

Maybe Creative has a better marketing team and it's product is more for like "pop music"?? Maybe creative is more well known because it kinda have more contact with public.....I don't think the public would buy a semiconductor directly right?? It's like more people know pop music than say jazz music......haha...:D

sorry double post......

No lah....I am talking about how the govt likes to use Creative an an example. I doubt most singaporeans even know they are Singaporean if the govt dosent say so!

No lah....I am talking about how the govt likes to use Creative an an example. I doubt most singaporeans even know they are Singaporean if the govt dosent say so!

Aiya...the government would use anything that is well known loh.....maybe they use Creative because many people knows it but didn't know it's a Singapore product loh.......

Aiya...the government would use anything that is well known loh.....maybe they use Creative because many people knows it but didn't know it's a Singapore product loh.......
Which is sending a wrong message to people if they didnt realise....

Which is sending a wrong message to people if they didnt realise....

I guess the government might have understand that most people bochap such things......haha...:D

They also always say use 5566 to teach chinese what(as if it really correct like that)......haha....:D

I guess the government might have understand that most people bochap such things......haha...:D

They also always say use 5566 to teach chinese what(as if it really correct like that)......haha....:D
5566? I only knew the PM mentioned it in a speech. I didnt knoe much about what exactly was said. :D

Well the garmen do realise when it says something, it can change the minds of millions. I just think it is about time it gives allocades to other companies, and hopefully, we shall have more of them as what the article hopes too! :)

5566? I only knew the PM mentioned it in a speech. I didnt knoe much about what exactly was said. :D

Well the garmen do realise when it says something, it can change the minds of millions. I just think it is about time it gives allocades to other companies, and hopefully, we shall have more of them as what the article hopes too! :)

I hope so too.....but then if they always say the correct things....doesn't this give us less things to bash about??? :D

I hope so too.....but then if they always say the correct things....doesn't this give us less things to bash about??? :D
Muahaha...this is not called garmen bashing ok? Remember we are being watched! :D

Muahaha...this is not called garmen bashing ok? Remember we are being watched! :D

haha....no lah...we are just being constructive here......hope no one misunderstand this....:D

haha....no lah...we are just being constructive here......hope no one misunderstand this....:D
You neber know man...:D

Talk about being creative and entreprenuial! :)

You neber know man...:D

Talk about being creative and entreprenuial! :)

Haha....looks like you bash more serious than me lah......:D

Haha....looks like you bash more serious than me lah......:D
I wasent bashing lah....wakao. I think they should be more "creative" in who they showcase as "creative" people! :D

I wasent bashing lah....wakao. I think they should be more "creative" in who they showcase as "creative" people! :D

You're not bashing, i believe you.....but I seem to notice some undercurrents in those still waters......:D

2 firms bag awards for excellence abroad

By Daryl Loo

WITH demand in the construction sector here expected to hit just $12 billion to $13 billion in the medium term - half as much as in the heyday of the 1990s - local companies have to start seeking greener pastures abroad.

'Our local firms must consolidate and venture overseas to overcome the constraints of our small domestic market,' National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan said at the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) Awards last night.

And against such a backdrop, two local firms - SembCorp Engineers and Constructors, and Tiong Seng Contractors - distinguished themselves by bagging construction excellence awards for projects abroad.

SembCorp, which won an award for its GE Medical Industrial Park project in Beijing, entered China in 1988, and now operates in Indonesia, India, Britain, Mexico and the Middle East. Its revenue from overseas hit $223.6 million last year.

'It is always heartening when the industry tells you that you are doing the right thing,' said SembCorp president Wong Hean Fine. It validated the company's philosophy of finding customers around the world.

Tiong Seng, cited for the Meritus Mandarin Hotel project in Shantou, China, also ventured abroad in the late 1980s and now has ongoing projects in China, Papua New Guinea and Laos.

Director Pek Lian Guan said: 'The award gives us a lot more encouragement to expand overseas.'

According to a BCA spokesman, this is the first year two companies were given awards for projects undertaken outside Singapore.

Patents for mega-growth

ASIA's surging economies including Singapore are making headway in industrial patent applications, an indication that technology will increasingly take over from human horsepower in propelling growth. According to America's National Science Foundation, the United States conversely is at risk of losing its preeminence in original research and application. Its share of industrial patents is sliding relative to numbers for Japan, Taiwan and South Korea. Singapore also is well up there. This would surprise Singaporean inventors and multinational firms which patent their industrial processes, but catch-up numbers tell the story. Applications made here are up four times, to about 8,000 filings from just under 2,000 in 1994. Patents granted to Singaporean applicants by the US Patent and Trademark Office numbered 300 in 2001, against a handful a decade ago. But a straight-extrapolation comparison is deceiving. Some five million patents are held worldwide in manufacturing alone, three-fifths of them in the US and Europe. The US is in no danger of losing its edge, not unless a tightening of restrictions owing to terrorism fears begins to disenchant foreign researchers and doctoral students.

America's dominance is reaffirmed in a study by a British research house, Robert Huggins Associates. This is not a surprise. Its findings also confirm that Asian countries are making rapid headway in applied technology, at the expense not of the US, but Europe. This may be a bit of a surprise. Unless Europe's industrial laboratories and research universities buck up, it says, Asia could become No 2 after the US, as measured by the World Knowledge Competitiveness Index. Asian scientists familiar with the work of Europe's grande-dame research institutes (the Pasteur, Karolinska and Max Planck institutes) might demur. But the knowledge index which pulls together data on criteria like patents, research and development and education spending, shows that Asia is not that far behind Europe. It tracks 125 industrial cluster-regions in North America, Europe and Asia. Tokyo (38th place) and Shiga (39th) are the highest ranking Asian regions. San Francisco-Silicon Valley comes in first, which just about confirms that technology which equals patent registrations equals industrialism at its best. But India's tech-city Bangalore, widely held as a model, ranks at the bottom. Reason: it represents 'basic, generic, transferable skills', not the brain-work that creates unlimited value.

Strides made by Singapore as measured by patent filings are in this universal context pleasing, but the research and industrial community should be mindful of the fact that per-capita measures are less indicative of industrial prowess than absolute numbers. And there are also patents awarded for whimsical mechanical contraptions which are not in the same class of design and utility patents for industrial and medical products and processes. But there is much to cheer about the National University of Singapore's growing body of research in materials science and medical procedures. Its climb up the research ladder in the past decade has been remarkable. Research-intensive foreign companies doing business here, like Motorola, are also patenting their work. Collaboration between industry and academia has to be stepped up. In 2002 Motorola's Singapore patent office filed 57 registrations from its Asia-Pacific operations, against its world total of 1,500. What Singapore should strive for are indigenous creations, so more power to the likes of NUS and Nanyang Technological University.

This story was printed from TODAYonline

Monday • May 17, 2004

Diana Neo
diana@newstoday.com.sg

THE competition was designed as a platform for young entrepreneurs to showcase their innovative business ideas. That was just what it did — in a fun, American Idol-like format — but even the judges admitted the ideas were not all that original.

The contest was modelled on the popular television show and the three judges — MP S Iswaran, founder and CEO of 77th Street Elim Chew, and Netball Singapore president Ivy Singh-Lim — gave their comments after each presentation. The audience's vote also counted for 15 per cent of each team's score.

Ten teams from junior colleges, polytechnics and Institutes of Technical Education in the Southwest district had two minutes to pitch their business ideas at "IDEApolis 2004" held on Friday. These ideas had to be creative, have commercial potential and benefit the community.

The Nanyang Technological University Student Initiatives for Technopreneurship, the Southwest Community Development Council and the National University of Singapore Entrepreneurship Centre were the organisers of the contest.

A team from Pioneer JC proposed a one-stop pet service, a concept similar to what Pet Safari at Eastpoint Shopping Centre has been offering for about five years. Mrs Singh-Lim pointed this out.

The team later admitted to Today they had not conducted any market research, but stressed they had modified the idea by introducing burial services for deceased pets. They clinched third place.

In second place was a team from Millenia Institute, with its idea of personalising items such as mugs and pillows with photographs. Again such services are already available here.

The top prize went to a Singapore Polytechnic team for its idea of building Singaporeans' cultural heritage with a place for family members or business associates to learn pottery and the art of making tea.

One of the ideas proposed suggested using a café as an alternative dating venue where couples could be given counselling and support services. While Mr Iswaran felt these were "needed in every HDB void deck", Mrs Singh-Lim said the idea was "not loving enough" and did not see how it could attract couples to choose it as a dating venue.

When asked what she thought of the ideas, Ms Chew said: "Although the ideas are not original, it is important for us to recognise that every bit of the effort adds to the creativity and value of the idea."

She said students today were "not made to think", but added: "This step, however small it is, is a good start to begin churning out young entrepreneurs."

Copyright MediaCorp Press Ltd. All rights reserved.

MAY 20, 2004

By Alvin Pang

TALK about innovation is all well and good, but it is not enough these days just to have a bright idea, nor even to protect that idea from competition with a patent. It's Business 101 that commercialising an invention depends on a savvy business plan, a credible track record, a keen sense of the market, and no small amount of luck.

Large corporations like Chartered Semiconductors - recently in the news for its impressive portfolio of patents cited in the United States - invest heavily in research and development to consolidate their market positions and fuel future growth.

With 79 applications, Chartered Semiconductors was the seventh-ranked filer of patents in Singapore last year, and the only local firm in the top 10, alongside Intel, IBM and Sony, and other familiar giants of invention.

Innovations developed in corporate environments enjoy more than the usual benefits of a well-heeled and extensive parent infrastructure, such as manpower, financing, operations, marketing and distribution. The fruits of such research also find a ready internal and external market, as part of an extended global family of established products and services.

Another advantage is more subtle. Innovations take time to mature in the marketplace; many enhancements are made after a product's initial launch, taking into account aesthetic design, customer feedback or unforeseen issues that crop up only over time in real-world use.

The devil is as usual in the details. In a hotly contested, fast-moving and sophisticated market, the difference between make or break for a new idea could rest on its developer's attention to spit and polish rather than sheer technical genius.

Such refinements take up time and resources and require a margin of error that start-ups cannot always afford, whereas bigger players have the clout to tide over the learning curve. Microsoft's software products famously require patch after patch to iron out residual flaws, but few would stop using Windows as a result. A lesser-known developer would have had its buggy software mercilessly struck off the list by now.

In a tiny playing field like Singapore, start-ups may not receive enough market exposure to even get the necessary learning process going.

Director Goh Kheng Wee of NexLabs, which holds patents for its TrackEngine business intelligence software, thinks that Singapore, for all its infrastructure and acumen, may simply 'not have the size to sustain products' developed locally.

It could be a question of business culture. NexLabs is based in Singapore but its award-winning products are much more well-received overseas. Mr Goh believes that conservative attitudes towards local innovation have to change. 'Our purchasing officers cannot always play it safe by thinking 'one can't go wrong by buying IBM',' he argues.

A preference for the tried and tested is of course understandable. Still, it results in a vicious circle: Young companies with promising but raw innovations do not get the chance to prove their worth in the market, or build up the track record and experience needed for growth.

Which is why many local entrepreneurs like ASG executive director Tai Shih Chau feel they need to pick up the ropes early in overseas markets. 'Singapore lacks the economy of scale to nurture the stages in most companies' growth,' he feels. 'Most companies will need to venture out to grow.' His company has taken its mobile content portal Iguana Mobile to Malaysia, Indonesia and Taiwan.

Ironically, start-ups may stay put in Singapore not because of the daunting prospect of venturing abroad, but to stake out a potentially rich hunting ground: the public sector.

The Singapore Government has a legendary appetite for new technology - witness the recently announced $5 million upgrade to the One.motoring website. Yet it is more than just a rich prospect. Many public sector systems are leading-edge, and built on technologies developed by inhouse research organisations such as the Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA).

Since the public sector has no natural mandate to commercialise its inventions, entrepreneurs are keen to license and market some of these home-brewed innovations - provided of course that they can be made available without compromising national security, and at affordable rates. Several e-government technologies, such as DSTA's GeBIZ portal, certainly suggest broader market potential. And there are healthy precedents for public-private sector technology transfer: Take the Internet, the most important military spin-off of our time.

Since the public sector absorbs a generous proportion of our best minds each year, might our most promising innovations not emerge from there as well?

Well-funded and talent-rich public sector institutes could be the ideal idea partners for independent start-ups. Instead of trying to be good innovators and good businessmen at once, entrepreneurs can play to their strengths. They can pick the brains of research agencies for fresh finds to turn into the Next Big Singaporean Export. Or, private inventors can get help in incubating their ideas without having to set up costly research labs.

Singapore might even specialise in creating and exporting ideas directly, and let players in bigger markets deal with production issues we are too small to handle efficiently.

It wouldn't be the first time inventors lived solely off their wits. The leading patent applicant in Australia is a company named Silverbrook Research. Last year, it filed an astonishing 189 patents in Singapore - far more than anyone else except Intel. Little is known about this secretive Australian company, except that it makes its living not from taking innovative products to market, but by selling the rights to its inventions globally.

Could the next Microsoft Windows or Apple iPod feature uniquely Singaporean technology under slick packaging? It is worth further research.


The writer works in the communication, design and IT sectors.

Copyright @ 2004 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved.

所谓“重赏之下必有勇夫” (roughly mean there will always be a courageous man when there are good rewards), do you think monetary rewards will necessary foster a growth of creativity in Singapore??

Time is GMT + 8 hours
Posted: 25 May 2004 2129 hrs

By Asha Popatlal, Channel NewsAsia

SINGAPORE: It's not a new idea but it has worked before, so the Government is once again prepared to pay for some good ideas, on arts, design and media.

The creative industries contribute about 3.2% to Singapore's GDP, but the Government wants to double this by 2012.

To achieve this, however, Singapore needs ideas and sometimes ideas need an incentive.

So, the Government has launched a competition to seek ideas on arts, design and media, from youth under 30.

The ideas are supposed to be about what Asia will be like in 25 years.

"Let's look at the humble chopsticks. What will the simple chopsticks be in the future? Will there be linkages in terms of accessing information while we eat, the calorie content of food. If this is an idea from the competition, an electronics company might be interested to commercialise it," said Baey Yam Keng, director of Creative Industries, MITA.

Ideas are not meant to be static.

That's why the competition will culminate in the Arts House where the top 20 shortlisted participants will engage in a fiery debate and exchange of ideas, among themselves, and with the judges, people like legendary film director Francis Ford Coppola and hip hop guru Russell Simmons.

To get those creative juices flowing, there's also a $20,000 top prize.

Entries for the competition close on 17 July. - CNA

Copyright © 2004 MCN International Pte Ltd

JUNE 8, 2004

Selected Singapore Polytechnic students will get guidance from entrepreneurs, funding from Government and college

SINGAPORE Polytechnic will introduce a hands-on programme next year that offers selected students a chance to set up and run a business in 15 weeks.

The programme to encourage entrepreneurship will be offered to, at most, 20 final-year students doing business administration.

Working in teams of four, they will be given up to $50,000 from the Government's entrepreneurial talent development fund.

However, the polytechnic and the diploma students are expected to contribute 20 per cent each of the total capital required.

Mr John Foo, section head at the polytechnic's school of business, said the programme intends to give students a mix of real-world experience and guidance from entrepreneurs in Singapore.

'We try to give the students some guidance so their learning curve will not be as steep as someone who plunges into business on his own,' he said.

Students will be graded on how they evaluate and implement their business idea, communication and negotiation skills, and profit or loss statement at the end of the programme.

Each year, six to eight polytechnic graduates start their own business and Mr Foo hopes, with the programme, 'these student entrepreneurs will surface'.

The polytechnic has also organised the Young Entrepreneurship Challenge for the past six years.

This is an annual competition in which secondary school students from Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam pitch their business innovations before a panel of judges.

This year, a team of five students from a Malaysian school took home the top prize of $2,000 and a trophy.

The team from Sultan Ibrahim Girls' School in Johor Baru beat five other finalists - all teams from Singapore - with their business idea of a mobile phone that also functions as a health monitoring device to check blood pressure, measure body fat and act as a massager.

Almost 300 participants from 58 schools took part in this year's Young Entrepreneurship Challenge.

Copyright @ 2004 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved.

Time is GMT + 8 hours
Posted: 08 June 2004 2202 hrs

Up to half of scholars should be encouraged to become entrepreneurs: SM Lee
By Debra Soon, Channel NewsAsia

SINGAPORE: Singapore needs to let up to half of its best scholars become entrepreneurs, says Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew.

He feels there is too much concentration of talent and drive in the public sector.

While getting the best into public service was needed in the past to get the system right, he says, Singapore now needs more entrepreneurs.

SM Lee was speaking in an interview with Channel NewsAsia ahead of his visit to the Suzhou Industrial Park (SIP) for its 10th anniversary celebrations.

He noted that the SIP is a success and today stands as an icon of Singapore.

While the project had initial difficulties, it has all worked out for the better, said SM Lee.

Referring to the recent meetings between Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi, SM Lee noted that the Suzhou experience has allowed officials from both sides to engage each other.

He said: "If we have not had Suzhou, they would not have understood or they would not have been so convinced that we have something to offer. Just think of it, I mean we're three, four million with the workers from abroad, and they're 1,300 million."

He laughed and added: "So why should they meet us at that high level?"

SM Lee feels Singapore businessmen in China can leverage on this success.

He said: "They're known to be straightforward, honest, not shysters. I mean not people who pull tricks on them. In fact, too honest maybe. And they have got to learn to pin their contracts down and make sure that the other party gets to understand that at each stage there's an alignment of interest."

When asked if Singaporean businessmen have been too cautious, honest and modest in their dealings in China, SM Lee replied that Singapore's problem is not that businessmen are too honest.

The problem, he said, is that there are not enough entrepreneurs.

He noted that Singapore ranks highly in international competitive rankings for the quality of the public sector.

But it scores low for the private sector in areas like entrepreneurship and venture capital.

SM Lee said: "That means too much concentration of talent and drive, of energy, in the public sector."

He feels the lack of entrepreneurs is also because the best talents chose to become professionals, accountants, managers and engineers.

In the past, Singapore needed to set up strong systems, but now that the system is 'right', he said, it's time to move on.

SM Lee said: "The government has the best range of every year's crop. I think over the next phase of our development, we ought to get those in government, having had, say 6, 7, 8, 9 years, to go out into the private sector and become entrepreneurs. Then, they will have not only the knowledge on how the government works, the integrity, the systems, but also the brain power and the drive."

This way, he said the private sector can eventually be built up to equal the public sector.

SM Lee is not against scholarships for the public sector.

Instead he said the government should still provide scholarships for the best students.

But after a few years, they should be let go.

He said :"Let half go, let one third go, and get them to be entrepreneurs, not just managers."

SM Lee's comments may generate some controversy.

After all, not long ago, former EDB chairman Philip Yeo had called for scholarship bond breakers to be named and shamed.

But SM Lee is looking at the big picture.

Ultimately, the best are needed to generate more growth for Singapore, and in the next phase of economic development, Singapore needs the best brains to be entrepreneurs. - CNA

Copyright © 2004 MCN International Pte Ltd

Muahahaa!!! The government thinks they can say those things like magical spells and entrepreneurs will sprout up overnight...again! :D

Muahahaa!!! The government thinks they can say those things like magical spells and entrepreneurs will sprout up overnight...again! :D

And they are looking at half the numbers of scholars, who in the right mind would take the risk of losing everything when there is a high paying and stable job waiting for them??? :bash:

It's the mindset of the people. If it doesn't want to get out of that comfy zone, it simply won't.

And they are looking at half the numbers of scholars, who in the right mind would take the risk of losing everything when there is a high paying and stable job waiting for them??? :bash:

It's the mindset of the people. If it doesn't want to get out of that comfy zone, it simply won't.
Precisely.....if the government wished to micro-manage everything, sometimes I wondered if they realise they can have policies which conflict with another of their own?

Precisely.....if the government wished to micro-manage everything, sometimes I wondered if they realise they can have policies which conflict with another of their own?

I sure they didn't.....remember the change of 2nd lang rule for Uni??? And the govt insist that 2nd lang is still important???? :bash:

I sure they didn't.....remember the change of 2nd lang rule for Uni??? And the govt insist that 2nd lang is still important???? :bash:
Hahaha....Chinese language again. :D

Here...they created a sort of society which became risk-averse, and now they want people to be willing to take risks. If they dont tweak the way they make society, then how do the later come about unless forced to do so?

Hahaha....Chinese language again. :D

Of course, it's the biggest "joke" i ever heard..... :bash:

Here...they created a sort of society which became risk-averse, and now they want people to be willing to take risks. If they dont tweak the way they make society, then how do the later come about unless forced to do so?

I think giving ppl freedom of choice is a good way to start......if not, how to create a creative environment with all those rules??? Why censor even for R21 movies?? I'm sure we can think for ourselves......If we ain't even free to think, how could we possibly develop any sense of creativity??

This story was printed from TODAYonline

Scholars and the spirit of enterprise

Will releasing Govt scholars to the private sector work?

Thursday • June 10, 2004

Tor Ching Li
chingli@newstoday.com.sg

Will Singapore's brightest also prove to be our boldest? Can academic prowess translate into entrepreneurial success?

Leading entrepreneurs whom Today spoke to following Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew's suggestion that public sector talent be released to boost private enterprise welcomed the general idea but said that running a business might call for different attributes and skills.

In an interview published yesterday, Mr Lee said too much talent and drive was concentrated in the public sector and suggested that up to half of Singapore's Government-bonded scholars should be encouraged to leave for the private sector after a number of years.

One entrepreneur who thinks scholars can bring value to business is Ms Elim Chew, founder of 77th Street fashion line, who recently expanded her homegrown business to China.

"I would find a scholar, who knows how to strategise and structure globally, an asset to help the company grow," she said.

This initiative to push bureaucrats into enterprise could also forge closer links between the public and private sector, something which Ms Chew thinks is "vital to Singapore's global competitiveness".

But Mr Kenny Yap, executive chairman of Qian Hu Corporation, was doubtful.

The "ornamental fish king" told Today: "Not all good scholars will make good entrepreneurs. A scholar may be good at maintaining systems, not creating new things."

Mr Yap disagreed that the private sector was lacking in talent while the public sector was packed with it.

"It depends on your definition of 'talent'. In terms of academic talent, yes, the public sector has it. But in terms of high emotional quotient or artistic talent — it's everywhere! So, you can't say whether it's concentrated in the public or private sector," he said.

Ironically, it may have been Singapore's global outlook in its developing stages which stunted the growth of local enterprise, said Ms Olivia Lum, the founder and chief executive of water-treatment company Hyflux.

"In the past, people were fearful of passing over golden job opportunities in say, multi-national companies. But now that such opportunities are not as good as before, we should be creating our own," she said.

"We have many educated and talented people in Singapore, they just have to be given a suitable environment and encouragement to take the leap."

Which is why this move to push government scholars into private business, regardless of results, is significant for local enterprise, agree the entrepreneurs.

Said Mr Ho Kwon Ping, founder of luxury resort chain Banyan Tree and Singapore Management University board chairman: "The pattern of societal advancement here used to be pretty linear: You become a President's scholar, join the elite administration service and so on. Now, the government is encouraging diverse models of success, which is good."

However, the current estimated potential of a government scholar does not necessarily equate to his current entrepreneurial talent.

Said Mr Ho: "Using the same criterion for determining so called talent in the public sector and diverting them to the private sector is not going to work."

Instead, he recommends a "multi-track" system that picks and grooms people with different attributes associated with entrepreneurship, not necessarily academic prowess.

These include one's emotional quotient and adversity quotient.

Mr Roderick Chia, president of the Nanyang Technological University's Technopreneurship and Innovation Program Alumni, agrees: "Some scholars may be bright but have the wrong attitude. If the Government has to provide incentives and support for them to enter the private sector, then it's money down the drain. But if the scholar shows initiative and really wants to go out there, then the Government should facilitate this move and not prevent them from doing so."

Mr Choo Chee Kong, chief executive officer of corporate finance firm SBI E2-Capital, lists passion and derring-do as the chief criterions for entrepreneurial talent.

Said the "IPO king": "It's not about whether you are a scholar or a school drop-out, it's about being able to see an opportunity in less than five seconds, and taking the risks involved."

Copyright MediaCorp Press Ltd. All rights reserved.

Time is GMT + 8 hours
Posted: 09 June 2004 2138 hrs

SME association to set up attachment scheme for government scholars
By Hwee Goh, Channel NewsAsia

SINGAPORE : The Association of Small And Medium Enterprises is setting up a "surrogate scheme" that will allow government scholars to do attachments at one of its 1,000 member companies here.

Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew's radical idea to release up to half the Government's scholars to become entrepreneurs has found support.

The Association of Small and Medium Enterprises, which is made up mostly of entrepreneurs, says it is a good idea, especially since scholars are bright, can add value and know how the government works.

"These scholars should then be taught entrepreneurial skills to enable them to move into entrepreneurship, to transit smoothly into entrepreneurship. This takes time and it's a challenge for scholars as most of them are actually fresh from university into the public sector and the mechanics of the private sector needs to be made known to the scholars," said ASME's Aloysius Tan.

So the group will set up a "surrogate scheme" in about a year for government-sponsored scholars to spend time at blue-chip SMEs.

Other entrepreneurs Channel NewsAsia spoke to feel that the irony is that a high paying position of a top scholar is a deterrent to entrepreneurship.

They feel that if a scholar is already making good money, there is less incentive to take the risk, come out and make his own money.

Multi-award winning entrepreneur Kenny Yap says a scholar first needs to have the passion and drive to make it on his own.

He is no scholar, but now heads Qian Hu, a multi-million dollar, publicly-listed ornamental fish firm.

"I think you have to ask those scholars who want to become businessmen, do you really want to become businessmen, rather than the question of, hey it's time for you to become an entrepreneur, let you become an entrepreneur," said Mr Yap.

"II think for entrepreneurship, you cannot further structure it; you should provide the environment, you should provide the freedom for people to act, to think, to choose." - CNA

Copyright © 2004 MCN International Pte Ltd

Time is GMT + 8 hours
Posted: 10 June 2004 2317 hrs

Ex-scholars say cutting bond time will encourage entrepreneurship
By Hwee Goh, Channel NewsAsia

SINGAPORE: Reduce the length of the bond or get rid of it completely, suggest two former government scholars on ways to entice scholars to venture out on their own and become entrepreneurs.

They were giving their views on a recent suggestion by Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew that the government release up to half of its scholars to start their own business.

Former admininistrative service scholar Ng Soon Nam left the civil service after four-and-a-half years to become a fund manager.

He thinks the selection process for government scholars does not necessarily pick good entrepreneurs.

He feels that if there's a scholar itching to strike out on his own, the government should help by reducing his bond or making it easier for him to break his bond.

He said:"When I had to get out of the civil service, I took a very big pay cut. In fact, after the big pay revision 10 years ago in the civil service, the pay I was getting was less than half of what my peers were getting. On top of that, I had to pay to break my bond. So, I think for people who have a strong desire to get out to the private sector, they would get out anyway, with or without the government managing this process."

Former POSB scholar Chan Siew Ling says there should be no bonds at all.

She was the beneficiary of such a scholarship and went on to set up ad agency Red Square.

She said: "You allow people to make their own decisions and decide on their own career choices, basically do what they want and trust them to do it. In the end, they have to make their own decisions."

Ms Chan also said: "You cannot turn on entrepreneurial flair like a tap, it's not magic. But, if you are really serious about it, then you must set your minds on it and you must change your mindset, make it work!"

But, both scholars agree that Singapore still needs some of the best brains in the public service to run the country. - CNA

Copyright © 2004 MCN International Pte Ltd

JUNE 11, 2004
From provision shop helper to i-Econ boss

MR WILLIAM Ng started out in the business as a teenager helping out at his father's provision shop in the 1960s.

He took over in 1979 and, four years later, 'even though my father objected', decided to convert it into an Econ minimart. 'People's buying patterns were changing. They wanted to choose their own goods, rather than tell you what they wanted and you go to the back to get it.'

Last year, he converted his Ang Mo Kio shop into an i-Econ store. 'I knew I had to update my store, when my children were buying things from 7-Eleven. Although I have a lot of regular customers, it is the young people who have the buying power these days,' said Mr Ng.

He wed in 1983, the year his Econ minimart opened, and runs the shop with his wife. They have two daughters aged 17 and 20, and a 13-year-old son.

The new store is more brightly lit, looks cleaner and less cluttered. That's why the number of young people in his store has doubled, he said. The first conversion cost him $20,000, the second, about $40,000, but he thinks it's money well spent.

He used to sell between $3,000 and $4,000 worth of goods a day, he said, but business had been so poor in the last few years that it was about $1,000 a day. 'After I renovated the shop last August, my daily takings have gone up to more than $2,000 a day,' said Mr Ng, now 52.

His image has also had a makeover.

'Last time, if you told people you own a provision shop, they would look down on you. It was even hard to find a girl to go out with, especially since I wore a singlet, shorts and slippers all the time,' he joked.

As an i-Econ franchisee, he wears an i-Econ polo T-shirt and trousers. 'Now, people say 'Hi', and refer to me as the minimart lao ban or owner,' he said, handing out a name card. -- Glenys Sim

Copyright @ 2004 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved.

Business Times - 11 Jun 2004

Singapore's self-employed rake in less than 3% of GDP

The 'informal' economy is puny compared to those in the Asia-Pacific

By ANNA TEO

(SINGAPORE) The 'informal' sector of the Singapore economy - comprising own-account or self-employed people like hawkers, insurance and property agents, remisiers and taxi drivers - account for less than 3 per cent of GDP.

That's miniscule compared with countries like the Philippines where the sector contributes as much as 44 per cent of GDP, or peninsula Malaysia, where 35 per cent of firms and 22 per cent of employees in non-agriculture trades can be attributed to informal activities.

But the scope of the informal sector is much broader in these countries because of the prevalence of, for example, street vendors, backyard farming, and small-scale manufacturing of food or clothing.

According to the Department of Statistics, Singapore's informal sector is 'not as significant as (in) other Asia-Pacific economies'.

The value-added as a share of nominal GDP is estimated at just 2.3 per cent in 2000.

Others in the informal sector here - which covers unincorporated businesses that are exempted from the Business Registration Act - include driving instructors, tourist guides, private tutors, domestic craftsmen and other freelance agents.

The informal sector is just one part of what's called the 'non-observed' economy or NOE - which refers to all productive activities that may not be captured in the basic data sources used for compiling the national accounts.

While there is as yet no universal consensus on the definition of the NOE, the activities generally fall under five categories: informal production; household production for own use; underground (or 'shadow') production; illegal activities; and omissions due to data collection deficiencies.

A workshop was jointly organised by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific and the Asian Development Bank in Bangkok last month to establish best practices in measuring the NOE, as improved measurement will lead to better quality GDP estimates.

In Singapore, the DOS has estimates of the size of only the informal and household sectors, both of which are included in GDP, directly or indirectly, via various data sources.

The work of remisiers, for instance, would be captured in the financial services output, while private tutors come under education in business services.

While the household sector in other countries includes the production of crops and livestock for personal consumption, and the construction of own homes, in Singapore it comprises mainly the imputed rents of property owner-occupiers - on the premise that one 'produced' the housing for own use.

Reflecting the high home ownership rate among Singaporeans (92 per cent in 2000), the value of owner-occupied dwellings is estimated at S$5.3 billion in 2000, or 3.3 per cent of GDP, according to the DOS in a paper presented at the workshop.

The other part of the household sector is the services of paid domestic servants such as baby-sitters, family drivers, home gardeners and washerwomen, who account for 0.2 per cent of GDP in 2000.

But there are no official estimates of the size of Singapore's underground and illegal sectors.

The underground economy refers to legal, productive activities that are deliberately concealed - usually by mis-reporting or understating income so as to avoid tax.

But efforts are being made to account for the shadow economy. 'For listed enterprises, counter-checks are frequently made with the audited accounts of the companies to ensure accurate reporting by the companies,' says the DOS paper.

As for illegal economic activities, such as the production of illegal drugs, fake medicines, counterfeit goods; the unlicensed practice of professional services and illegal prostitution, DOS has no 'explicit estimates' but does not expect the sector to be significant in Singapore.

A DOS officer said the department will attempt to estimate the size of the sector, but added that it is not a priority at the moment.

Overall, the size of Singapore's non-observed economy would probably be more similar to the developed countries like Australia and the United Kingdom, at around 10 per cent or less.

To better track the informal, small-scale businesses, DOS is looking into using information from the Goods and Services Tax returns to compile data.

The department also conducts ad hoc censuses to collect information for industries that have undergone major changes.

A census of the legal profession, for example, was conducted in 2001. Early this year, a census of the agriculture and fishing industry was also launched, in view of changes which have seen the development of high-tech modern farms in recent years.

Copyright © 2004 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

JUNE 12, 2004
Harder to clinch top scholarship? Here's why
Awards by civil service have been halved to 50 to 60 a year since 2002

By Rebecca Lee

THE civil service has halved the number of top-notch scholarships it gives out each year, to 50 to 60, to ensure that it does not cream off all the top young minds.

In any case, at least half of each cohort of scholars eventually leave for the private sector, the Public Service Division (PSD) told The Straits Times.

It disclosed this when asked if a review was being planned after Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew said earlier this week that the public sector was too talent-heavy.

In a media interview, Mr Lee had proposed that up to half of each cohort of public sector scholars should be released into the private sector after six or seven years to become entrepreneurs.

The service had taken steps several years ago to make its scholars more savvy about the private sector by giving them attachments and stints in companies.

It has also trimmed down the numbers. 'This will ensure that the civil service will not take in more than its fair share of talent,' said a PSD spokesman.

'The public service needs good leaders, both scholars and non-scholars. But scholars will continue to make up a good proportion of the top leadership of the public sector in future,' she added.

Before 2002, the Public Service Commission (PSC) awarded between 250 and 300 scholarships annually.

About 120 of these are in the top five schemes. These are the President's Scholarship, the Singapore Armed Forces and Singapore Police Force overseas scholarships, the Overseas Merit and Local-Overseas Merit scholarships.

After the 2002 revamp of the scholarship scheme, the awards for these top scholarships are down to 50 to 60 a year.

'This is so that we can focus on a smaller group who will be groomed for leadership positions,' said the spokesman.

The selected scholars are placed in a Management Associates Programme, which was introduced in 2002 and is aimed at training and developing them to become leaders in the public sector.

As part of the revamp, the PSC also devolved the selection and administration of scholarship schemes to the various ministries, such as the Education, Home Affairs and Foreign Affairs ministries.

Students have felt the impact of the more stringent selection process.

Said Ms Nicola Cheong, 19, who applied for a PSC scholarship this year but was rejected: 'It has become more competitive because the number of perfect scorers has gone up and most have perfect CCA records as well, so it is getting harder for PSC to eliminate the candidates.'

She has since taken up a local Ministry of Education Teaching Scholarship.

Since 1999, the bond period for scholars has also been shortened to about six years from eight years for overseas scholarships to allow more scholars to consider their career options earlier.

Based on statistics, the PSD said about half of those awarded scholarships in the early 1990s have since left the service.

Of each cohort of recruits into the public sector, scholars make up 5 to 6 per cent - a proportion that has remained fairly constant over the past few years.

Overall, about 2 to 3 per cent of the entire civil service, Singapore's largest employer with 60,000 workers, is made up of scholars.

Copyright @ 2004 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved.

JUNE 12, 2004
Yes, free scholars for private sector
But don't create a system to make them entrepreneurs, say those in ST poll; shorten bonds as encouragement

By Rebecca Lee and Soh Wen Lin

THE public sector should release more scholars into the private sector, but do not expect or even plan for these top brains to become businessmen overnight.

Overwhelmingly, business people, civil servants-turned-businessmen and current scholarship holders are opposed to the idea of creating a system to turn scholars into entrepreneurs.

So, do not even entertain any plans to provide seed capital for scholars or a scheme to force them to start businesses.

Such comments came thick and fast when The Straits Times polled 25 people in the public and private sectors about Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew's comments earlier about the public sector.

In a media interview, Mr Lee had lamented that the public sector had too much concentration of talent.

He suggested up to half of each cohort of public sector scholarship holders be released into the private sector after six or seven years to become, not just managers, but entrepreneurs.

Most of those interviewed welcomed the idea of letting the private sector have more brains. However, speaking for many, Member of Parliament and entrepreneur Inderjit Singh said getting scholars to become entrepreneurs would not redress the lack of entrepreneurs.

'I can understand why SM Lee has identified the solution of using scholars as potential entrepreneurs, because it is a known and proven method the SM has taken in solving Singapore's past problems,' said Mr Singh.

'While this worked well in Government and, to a certain extent, in some government-linked companies, because of the strong financial and other support given by the Government, it may not necessarily work in the private sector,' he added.

Several business veterans also pointed out that scholars may be good at writing policy papers and proposing solutions, but they may pale at executing operational details.

'Scholars may get a rude shock when they realise that in the real world, people don't care whether you're a scholar or not,' said Mr Lim Der Shing, a scholar-turned-founder of Jobs Factory, a career service firm.

Elaborating on this, Mr Joe Sim, a former government scholar who left and is now back in the public sector, said: 'When you want to earn a cent from the customer, you have to bow down and serve humbly.

'No comparison to the privileges you enjoyed and, in a way, took for granted in the civil service.'

Mr Sim left the civil service in 2000 to start a dot.com business but now does corporate development work with the National Healthcare Group.

The founder of listed ornamental fish company Qian Hu, Mr Kenny Yap, said scholars should not be herded en masse down the entrepreneurial road.

'You should ask the scholars what they want to do, not just ask the Government what it wants and then tell them to do it. Let all the flowers bloom instead of trying to engineer the different shades of colours,' said Mr Yap.

Similarly, the founder of listed massage chair and health product company Osim, Mr Ron Sim, advocates a 'do less, not more' approach.

'If you give them easy access to capital and it's all gain and no risk, you can launch this programme of more scholarship holders starting businesses, but it can't be sustained,' he said.

What then will entice the scholars to strike out on their own? Seven suggested shortening bonds.

The interest component of the money the Government spent on their studies could be erased after several years of work. Also, part of the bond could be converted to a loan with a monthly payment plan. Alternatively, hand out smaller awards.

MP and businessman Ahmad Mohamed Magad suggested expanding the current private-sector attachment schemes by posting scholarship holders immediately to work in the private sector. Others suggested a more fundamental overhaul of Singapore's talent-nurturing system.

Said the founder of leisure group Banyan Tree, Mr Ho Kwon Ping: 'Perhaps by giving 'Scholarships of Excellence' to anyone who has shown passion and ability in any chosen field, we can create the kind of diversity of talents which will produce the entrepreneurs we need.'

Copyright @ 2004 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved.

JUNE 12, 2004
Scholars 'too comfortable to go into business'
ONCE a civil servant crosses the five-year mark in the administrative service, quitting and going into business can be very hard.

The handsome pay and the comfort of a stable job while probably paying for his first home mortgage are realities that will make him stay put, said entrepreneurs, scholars and scholars-turned-businessmen.

Another hurdle is their lack of knowledge of work outside the service. The thrust and parry of the business world will be alien to them and they will not be able to spot trends and opportunities.

MP and businessman Ahmad Mohamed Magad is convinced the pay will hold them back: 'It will be quite difficult for a public sector scholar after five to six years to adjust to the private sector, especially those who have made it to superscale grade.'

The pay of an administrative officer (AO) is pegged to private-sector salaries. Benchmark pay is pegged to the annual income of the top 15th earner, aged 32, from six professions in the private sector.

Those who cross this benchmark, set at superscale grade nine, which the most promising AOs do at 32, will take home $277,000 a year, based on the latest available figures.

However, not all AOs rise so quickly. The Public Service Division declined to give any indication, but a Straits Times report last June showed the median salary of AOs at age 32 is $160,000.

That is better than what is given to top performers in the private sector.

According to a March survey by human resource consultant The Hay Group, outstanding 32-year-olds earn $120,000 to $140,000 a year.

Such people will be at mid-management level and earmarked for senior management positions across industries such as finance, IT, engineering, corporate services and law, said its senior consultant Christine Kho.

Mr Alex Thian, founder of Research Biolabs, a life-science service provider, pinpoints the mortgage as a millstone hard to throw off in Singapore, where real estate is costly.

No less significant is the fact that most business ideas spring from people who, having been in the market, spot a need or a niche they can exploit.

It is therefore more realistic to expect government scholars to make a two-step move into business: First work for a company in the private sector, then become their own boss.

As a scholar in the Ministry of Trade and Industry put it: 'Say I've been working for HP and there's this deal I can do cheaper. I persuade HP to outsource it to me.'

Beyond identifying business opportunities, they also have to change their mindset, said Mr Ron Sim, founder of massage chair and health product firm Osim.

'They have to shift from thinking administration to execution. You can't calculate everything, unlike writing a policy paper.

'By the time you calculate an opportunity until the risk is gone, the opportunity is gone as well,' he said.

Copyright @ 2004 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved.

JUNE 12, 2004
Making the leap from public to private sector

They had made it to the civil service elite administrative corps, but chose to strike out on their own in the private sector. Two former government scholarship holders talk about the rewards of making that big leap, and how the scholar system can be tweaked to get others to do the same.

Designing a path from civil service to MTV

SCHOLAR: Mr K.K. Ong, 32, Oxford graduate in politics, philosophy and economics. Former administrative service officer.

THE BIG MOVE: Mr Ong's office hours in the administrative service were spent doing research and writing policy papers, but he had always loved art and poetry.

So friends were not surprised when he told them after four years in the service he was leaving to pursue interests in communication, design and advertising.

'I had a strong feeling that if I were to switch to the creative sector, I had to do it then, at age 27, or never,' he said.

He paid off the rest of his bond with some savings and loans, and headed to New York in 1998 to get a basic degree in graphic design and advertising.

After graduating in 2000 with double honours, he was headhunted and signed up in a very different work environment from the buttoned-down civil service - MTV's New York headquarters.

Two years later, he co-founded branding and advertising design firm Mindwasabi, setting up shop in Singapore in chic Club Street.

Mindwasabi turned a profit in the first year, and made $510,000 in revenue last year. Clients include multinationals such as MTV and Singapore-based dance company Ah Hock and Peng Yu.

Even when starting out, Mr Ong said he never looked back.

'I am very grateful for the exposure in the civil service. I picked up people and project management skills that are valued everywhere.'

BEST PART ABOUT MOVE: 'Results in the private sector are often more immediate and measurable. I like having more flexibility in allocating time and resources to a project. And the best thing is seeing a client succeed as a direct result of my work.'

WORST PART: 'Learning how to set directions for myself. I also had to learn how to adapt quickly and be less afraid to make mistakes.'

LESSONS LEARNT: 'To produce the best results for one's client, you have to base creative work on a deep understanding of the market.'

TO GET MORE SCHOLARS INTO PRIVATE SECTOR: 'Give them a wider range of options in postings and work attachments, to show them what's out there. Good administrators can benefit tremendously from private sector exposure.'



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dot.bombed, but he has no regrets

SCHOLAR: Mr Cheong Kwok Leong, 33, Cambridge graduate in physics. Former administrative service officer.

THE BIG MOVE: At age 28 in 2000, the dot.com revolution was hard to ignore and Mr Cheong decided he needed to break out of his comfort zone to take part in the new economy.

'Whatever churning there is going to be in the civil service is still going to be in a teacup,' he told friends back then.

He declined the safety net option of taking no-pay leave. He felt it would be unfair to his business partners if he had an easy exit plan, and cobbled together funds to pay off the rest of his bond.

Then with fellow scholarship holder Joe Sim, he started Globalport.com, an e-portal to provide commercial services, starting with maintenance services for golf courses.

A few million dollars later, the venture flopped. It stung, but he and Mr Sim had known there would be only one success for every million attempts in the arena.

Still hungry for private-sector experience, Mr Cheong joined another technology start-up for a year, then did a three-month stint at consulting firm Accenture.

In 2002, he took a job at the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC). He is currently the general manager of NTUC Link, the rewards programme for union members, and he also does corporate planning at group level. He now works 12- to 13-hour days, shorter than his 18-hour days at Globalport, but longer than his work days in the civil service, he said.

BEST PART ABOUT MOVE: 'Money wasn't the Holy Grail. It was the satisfaction of being able to influence decisions and the taste of freedom. I would do it again.'

WORST PART: 'You don't have that wealth of resources to back up everything you want to try anymore. You have to do everything yourself.'

LESSONS LEARNT: 'It became important to stock away money, so I could survive being jobless for six months. I'm not afraid of losing a job anymore.'

TO GET MORE SCHOLARS INTO PRIVATE SECTOR: 'Restructure the bond so after, say, four or five years, the remaining amount can be converted to a loan if the person wants to leave.'

Copyright @ 2004 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved.

This story was printed from TODAYonline

Why scholars will prefer govt jobs

Good pay, culture and downturns will see them shun entrepreneurship

Weekend • June 12, 2004

I refer to the recent calls for Government scholars to be pushed to become business people.

Firstly, does this not go against the very Asian culture we have promoted for 30 years?

Throughout the history of China (where the mass examination system began), parents prayed for their child to be a scholar, to become an official, a magistrate and — finally — someone high up in administration, so he could provide comfortably for his family.

Many businessmen lament that had they studied harder and secured a government job or a bank job, life would not have been so difficult. It will take some time to wipe out 4,000 years of this kind of thinking.

If the Government and its quasi-related bodies offer remuneration comparable to the private sector, why should a well-paid scholar move?

In the last economic downturn and during the Sars episode, it was the private businessmen who perished first — and they are still reeling.

Another factor is the scholar-bond system. Not too long ago, bond-breakers were shamed in public and denounced as almost treacherous and unfilial.

Business opportunities do not wait for a bond to be completed. It is the young ones who are primed to be energetic enough to move and impulsive enough to spark new ideas — not the jaded career bureaucrat. Would the bond system be dismantled? If so, hats off to the pioneer bond-breakers who followed their hearts rather than their heads — or is it the other way around?

Michael Loh Yik Ming

Copyright MediaCorp Press Ltd. All rights reserved.

JUNE 13, 2004
Empires of the rising sons - and daughters

As first- and second-generation entrepreneurs reach retirement years, their children and grandchildren are stepping up to the rostrum. These young and restless makeover merchants are now taking venerable old brands to cool new places.
By Susan Long

A GENERATIONAL sea change is washing over Singapore's industries today. Heirs of family businesses are breathing new life into old, often faded firms - from kaya toast chains, water heater companies, beauty salons and coffee merchants to furniture makers, property developers and Chinese restaurants.

Many - like family-run Lee Hwa Holdings, which three years ago gave itself the more exportable name of Aspial Corporation after a Latin word meaning 'the pathway to inspiration' - have splurged on international branding consultants such as Interbrand to spruce up their image.

The listed jewellery company's scion and CEO, Mr Koh Wee Seng, 35, who took over his mother's traditional goldsmith chain 10 years ago, is busy modernising its business model, upping its marketing ante and wooing younger buyers.

He has ploughed 10 per cent of annual sales into advertising - previously unheard of in the gem trade - shot advertisements in New Zealand, hired brand mascots like British supermodel Jodie Kidd and fitted his stores with swish Philippe Starck furnishings.

His entry into the business was a case of Confucian filial piety meeting commercial pressures: 'My mother needed a rest after 10 years without a single day off. I couldn't let her hard work go to waste and just close it down.'

He and others - like pewter company Royal Selangor, now into its fourth generation of family management - are looking far beyond Singapore shores.

Not content with regionalisation, they are aggressively penetrating Western markets. Royal Selangor now has more than 80 outlets and 7,500 sales points in 20 countries, including Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia.

Both have no desire to be another Tiffany's, but want to build international powerhouse brands that shout 'We are Asia'.

Once roped on board, most of these new-generation entrepreneurs have also brought more modern management practices into their companies.

To avoid the emotive pitfalls of mixing family with business, many, like Tiong Aik Group's executive director Neo Tiam Boon, 41, have brought in professional managers, given them equity and put in place performance appraisals and bell curves to weed out non-performers.

Quite unlike during his father's time, Mr Neo is planning ahead for merit-based successions, regardless of parentage or birth order.

He has a management trainee programme and two current trainees are outsiders with MBAs.

Intent on keeping out freeloaders and proving wrong the adage that family businesses cannot outlast three generations, he has also demanded that family members seeking jobs prove themselves 'as capable or better' than existing staff.

Dr Randel Carlock, Fontainebleau-based director of Insead business school's international family enterprises unit, says the chief challenge of inheriting a business, as opposed to building something from scratch yourself, is that 'it belongs to your family socially and psychologically'.

'You have to negotiate your role and struggle with whether you are a trustee or an entrepreneur,' he says.

A trustee's role is geared towards asset protection, ensuring stability and encashing dividends to fund family retirement plans.

But an entrepreneur's end-game is asset expansion, promoting regeneration and investing to grow the business.

Both roles are diametrically opposite, presenting yet another daunting dilemma - to shake things up or maintain the status quo - to hard-pressed second- and third-generation entrepreneurs.

OKP Holdings' managing director Or Toh Wat is a case in point.

As a teenager, envisioning a lifetime of sacrifices, he swore off his family business of building roads and resolved never to follow in his father's mud-caked contractor boots.

He had to be dragged kicking and screaming into the Or company after graduation.

He relates: 'As the Chinese saying goes, chuang ye nan, shou ye geng nan. (It's tough to start a business, even tougher to keep it going.)

'There are constant comparisons between father and son. You can't relax even for one minute. You've to be up to the mark on everything to prove that you're worthy of the position.'

Perhaps that is why all of the five successors The Sunday Times interviewed - without exception - categorically state that they have no dynastic ambitions and will never 'impose the burden of succession' on their own children.

Entrepreneurship cannot be passed down like a family heirloom.

Copyright @ 2004 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved.

JUNE 13, 2004
Mr No Frills

Man behind the Sheng Siong success story lives life like he runs his business - thriftily
By Arti Mulchand and Tanya Fong

HE LIVES in a warehouse in Marsiling, and drives an old lorry.

For this interview, the 43-year-old wore a white short-sleeved shirt, a blue ink blotch showing just above where his plastic pen sat in his pocket.

Who would have guessed that Mr Lim Hock Chee is the man behind the multi-billion-dollar supermarket chain Sheng Siong?

http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/mnt/media/image/launched/2004-06-13/news8.jpg

'People ask me why I still wear the shirt, but there's nothing wrong with it. It's still wearable. I'm being practical,' he said in Mandarin, grinning.

He gives the same reason for sporting a super-short crop - it made washing his hair easier and saves shampoo.

This is also why he and his wife, also 43, and their four children, aged nine to 18, live in a 1,500 sq ft space above the warehouse, not in the Hougang Housing Board flat they own: so that he can keep watch after dark.

Why, three years ago, a factory across the road caught fire, he recalled. With the security guards, they armed themselves with fire hydrants to help douse the flames.

He is all thrift.

'I don't believe in luxury. Why have two beds when I can sleep only on one? Or have two coffins when I can be buried only in one?'

No fancy PDAs for him either. He relies instead on two little notebooks. One is for jotting down ideas; the other holds important phone numbers.

Behind his lengthy philosophical ramblings is the sharp, entrepreneurial mind of the man who made Sheng Siong a household name. It has grown from a provision store in Ang Mo Kio to a 12-outlet chain nipping at the heels of NTUC FairPrice as the next most popular grocery place.

In less than 20 years, Sheng Siong has garnered 11 per cent of the market share, according ACNielsen Research Singapore.

According to general manager Lim Gek Heng, 45, the company had a turnover of some $3 billion last year.

And all this despite the family behind it consistently shunning publicity and declining interviews about the brand they built, and relying mainly on word-of-mouth to draw customers.

'I just want to live simply,' said the man who, despite his wealth, has never left Singapore's borders, but insists that his senior managers be given company cars.

In fact, until a few years ago, he would often be barefoot, unloading and stacking boxes alongside his staff, those under him relate.

'You would probably have seen him working in the stores before. You just didn't know that he was the boss,' said area manager William Teo, 41, of his employer.

Mr Lim's nickname 'Te Bak' Lim (te bak is Hokkien for pork) gives a clue to his beginnings.

The son of pig farmer Lim Kim Siong long ago displayed his entrepreneurial flair when their farm was stuck with excess meat.

Then just 24, he took the excess to a Savewell provision store in Ang Mo Kio, and agreed to give owner Aw Chwee Seng a 20 per cent cut from the sales in exchange for some space to sell it.

The closure of pig farms that year forced the nine Lim children - Mr Lim is the middle child - to strike out on their own.

Coincidentally, Savewell folded at the same time, and Mr Aw offered it to Mr Lim for $20,000.

His father poured in his life savings of $30,000, and, joined by his two brothers and six sisters, Mr Lim opened the very first Sheng Siong Supermarket.

Knowing that Mr Lim knew little about the line, Mr Aw recommended Savewell staff member Lim Gek Heng, who showed his new boss the ropes.

Now general manager, he said: 'Even at that time, my boss had no problems with learning from staff below him. He started with stacking boxes. He's very intelligent and a fast learner.'

Competition was stiff - there were five other provision shops within walking distance.

Their strategy: no frills, accepting slim profit margins to push volume, and diversifying the range. Today, just one those five provision shops are left, related the general manager proudly.

But Sheng Siong's growth beyond that first shop seemed to surprise even the people that fuelled it. In 1987, Mr Aw offered them a second store at Bedok North. Eight years later, a third store opened in Woodlands.

'We all just worked, and when there was a chance to grow, and space, we did, one outlet at a time,' said the general manager.

Most of the places were usually sites 'other people did not want', added Mr Teo.

'They were quiet, quiet places, because we didn't want to fight in the crowded areas. So most of them were cheap because other people did not see the potential in them. So we just went and tried,' he explained.

Try they did. From 1999, nine more Sheng Siong outlets sprang to life - almost all in the heartlands, with the same casual feel, effectively capturing the budget-conscious market segment.

Another 7,000 sq ft outlet opens in Teban Gardens next month, and there is already talk of yet another by the end of the year.

Mr Lim now has 1,400 staff working for him, including many former heartlander housewives - they job hop less and customers relate better to them, he said.

'They also apologise readily when a customer is unhappy. They have understood that it doesn't matter who is wrong or right. I think a youngster would probably be too hard-headed to apologise.'

And he keeps them very happy.

'The cashiers wear Rolex watches,' some say of Sheng Siong - not an impossibility with the staff bonus payouts, which can be as much as 10 months' pay, staff reveal.

Mr Kang Chen Sing, 30, a store executive at the Tekka Mall outlet and a Malaysian who has been with the company for five years, said: 'The boss treats us really well. When the company does well, we do too.

'I don't think I will be leaving for a long time.'

With his emphasis on prompt payments and openness to new products, he has made fans of his suppliers as well.

Ms Gina Chan, 31, sales manager for bargain product supplier Radha Exports, said: 'It's like being a part of a family business. The boss takes care of us suppliers too. It's like how business was done a long time ago.'

Mr Lim lives each day with a very keen eye on the future. The man, who stopped school at Secondary 3, said his strategy on preparing for the future is to train each staff member to be capable of becoming Sheng Siong's boss.

Does he intend to leave his business to his children?

He said: 'No. My vision is to let outsiders have more control and see how the company grows. I'll let my children fend for themselves.' Just like he did.




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rise and rise of an empire

1985: The first Sheng Siong outlet (1,650 sq ft) opens at Block 122, Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3, taking over a folding provision store of the Savewell chain.


1987: A second outlet, called Shing Siong, also spanning 1,650 sq ft, opens at Block 539, Bedok North Street 3. It moves to a larger 18,000 sq ft site at Block 539A in 1999.


1995: The 4,500 sq ft Shng Siong Supermarket opens at Block 301, Woodlands Street 31.


1999: The 5,500 sq ft Sheng Siong Supermarket opens at Loyang Point.


2000: The 10,000 sq ft Sheng Siong 1 Station Market opens at 739A, Bedok Reservoir Road. The staff's image is spruced up with uniforms - a company T-shirt and matching maroon vest. And 6A, Woodlands Centre Road gets a two-storey, 40,000 sq ft Sheng Siong Supermarket.


2001: The seventh Sheng Siong, spanning 4,500sq ft, opens at 52, Chin Swee Road.


2003: Bumper expansion year as Sheng Siong opens its biggest outlet yet - the 60,000 sq ft three-in-one wet/dry market, supermarket and food court at Tekka Mall.

A 2,000 sq ft store opens at Block 544, Jurong West; Sheng Siong takes over the 10,000 sq ft defunct Hollywood Theatre at 57, Tanjong Katong Road; another three-in-one opens at No 3, Jurong Leisure Complex (Jurong Superbowl) with 16,000 sq ft.


2004: Block 233, Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3 (3,000 sq ft); a 7,000 sq ft three-in-one outlet will open next month at Block 61, Teban Gardens.

There are rumours that there will be yet another larger store at the end of the year.

Copyright @ 2004 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved.

JUNE 15, 2004
Entrepreneurs from public sector: Quality, not quantity

SENIOR Minister Lee Kuan Yew recently brought up the issue of releasing civil service scholars into the workforce as entrepreneurs.

I was awarded a bond-free bank scholarship and am now an entrepreneur. I also spent six years in government service, with two of these at a statutory board.

As I was not a scholar in the civil service, it was easier for me to leave the board and set up a technology start-up.

Scholars who do well will find it extremely hard after six years to move out of their comfort zone into the risky world of entrepreneurship.

Their methods of management are also very much tied to the civil service way. It is efficient, structured but bureaucratic. The ways of the private world, especially in an entrepreneurial setting, are totally different and only the flexible can survive.

I had set out with a goal of being an entrepreneur one day, so I was ready to make sacrifices. Even so, I was not prepared for my experiences as a new entrepreneur.

Competitors with funding 10 to 50 times greater than mine offered free services. Players with established products controlled the market well. However, my firm has survived.

My fear is that in its enthusiasm to meet SM Lee's objective of sending up to half of its scholars into the private sector as entrepreneurs, the public sector will create mini government-linked companies.

Reluctant scholars may be pushed into starting businesses tied to the apron strings of these organisations and be given easy contracts to get their businesses started.

Singapore would have created many entrepreneurs but of the wrong type. They would not succeed outside Singapore, or even in Singapore without support.

Because I had no such privileges and came close to running out of funds several times, the business had to succeed or I would have been bankrupt. There is no greater motivation to succeed.

The move to encourage scholars to become entrepreneurs is a positive one. Singapore needs entrepreneurs, the type that helped Hong Kong and Taiwan succeed, and the type that China and India are churning out daily.

However, I recommend that it be done this way:

-Encourage the younger scholars to become entrepreneurs, particularly those with around two years' experience. They would have enough exposure to government operations but not have the fear of losing their high salaries

-Award some bond-free government scholarships. Give the graduating scholars the choice of joining statutory boards that deal with private sector, such as the Economic Development Board. But limit their contract to two years.

-Do not count how many scholars become entrepreneurs. This may start a trend of creating reluctant entrepreneurs.

-Do not create artificial incentives for them to leave. If they want to become entrepreneurs, wish them luck and leave them alone.

-If they fail, there should not be a government job waiting. Never mind that this may prompt only 10 per cent of the scholars to become entrepreneurs. It is quality we want, not quantity.


YEE JENN JONG

Copyright @ 2004 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved.

June 16, 2004
"I failed, so what?"
One.99 Shop founder says she can now speak with authority on enterprise

By Janice Wong

MORE than a year after the much-publicised closure of budget retail chain One.99 Shop, its effervescent founder Nanz Chong is still as driven and hopeful as ever.

The business failure has not dampened her spirit one jot. Enterprise still courses through her veins. She feels much can be gained from her fiasco and she intends to share with others the do's and don'ts of starting and running a retail business.

Her advice will be dispensed in a book she is working on. But for now, her immediate preoccupation is motherhood.

She is pregnant again, barely three months after giving birth to her first child, daughter Zara, last October.

She thinks it's a boy this time, but she is as nonchalant about the gender as she is about her ignominious business failure.

Ms Chong, 36, recalls her business failure: "I didn't shed a tear or brood. The reaction from the public was more extreme and emotional than mine.

"Business failure is not glorious, of course, but it is also not the end of the world."

At its peak, One.99 Shop had 14 outlets with $14 million in annual revenue and won Ms Chong the Woman Entrepreneur of the Year award in 2000.

But in April last year, it owed $3 million and folded.

Ms Chong, who attributes the debts largely to high business costs, was declared a bankrupt because she stood as personal guarantor for loans that her company took.

Her husband is Japanese-American investment banker Larry Komo, 46, now a Singapore permanent resident. The couple live in Serangoon Gardens.

Far from being a tai-tai wannabe, Ms Chong's timetable nowadays is filled with speaking engagements – about four times a week – which she gives for free to government bodies and churches about entrepreneurship.

Ms Chong, a Christian, said: "Having failed, I can speak with even more authority. I can help fledgling SMEs (small and medium enterprises) because I understand the problems they face.

"I can spot signs of failing business such as poor cashflow projection or the loss of focus on core business.

"After a talk, people come to me and share their failures. It is touching."

Now in her second trimester, Ms Chong is also nurturing another baby of sorts – a 200-page practical guide for entrepreneurs. It will be ready by year-end.

"You can easily get management theory books, like from Prentice Hall, but few deal with real-life stories in a local context..

"Last night, as part of my research, I typed my name in the Internet search engines and went into a chatroom that discusses One.99 Shop.

"Someone said I didn't do the maths and blamed external factors instead.

"I am not hurt. Singaporeans tend to operate in a defensive mode. The negativity spurs me to want to write the book well."

Ms Chong will be featured on the book jacket, a concept worked out by her fashion-industry friends – hairstylist David Gan, make-up artist Andy Lee and photographer Wee Khim.

If she can find the time, Ms Chong, who quit polytechnic to model, hopes to study and start a new business.

Chairman of Creative Technology Sim Wong Hoo's private investment start-up, Cruxible, bought over the One.99 Shop trademark in October last year, but Ms Chong is unlikely to continue with the trade.

"I'd like to start something I am personally interested in, like education or health, that does not require me to be there full-time and hands-on.

I am a mother now."

How many children does she want?

She smiled: "Three or four. I had a minor operation last year to remove a cyst in my womb. Having Zara was a miracle. Maybe when I prayed to God for children, I didn't add a full-stop.

Copyright © 2003 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

This story was printed from TODAYonline

That entrepreneurial flame

Passion is like a 'fire in the belly' that overcomes stress and burnout

Friday • June 18, 2004

KS Chow's poignant letter, "Entrepreneurs: Old kamikaze type vs new scholar ones" (Weekend Today, June 12) struck a chord in me.

I do not think you can plan the career of an entrepreneur as you can plan that of a scholar in the public service, or the private sector. You either have it, or you don't.

In 1985, when I started my business, as a one-man show, I was following my heart, despite having a cushy job.

Betting on my future with my life's savings of $10,000, I decided against my soon-to-be-ready five-room HDB flat and, instead, opted for a cheaper four-room unit that could be paid fully with my CPF savings. My rationale was that at the very least, I was assured of a shelter to go home to should everything else fail.

The year in which I started my business was one of the worst that Singapore's economy had experienced and companies were falling like nine-pins.

Sometimes, when I reflect on those days, I think I must have been out of my mind.

So, what made me tread the treacherous path of business?

•It's that irresistible urge to call the shots come what may. I had been dreaming about running my own business since I was a teenager. I had idolised successful businessmen.

•It's the willingness to give up everything. And I mean everything — including sleep. I never fail to be amazed by people who get into business and before long, buy that spanking new car and entertain at karaoke lounges.

•It's the ability to eat humble pie — to get down from your ivory tower and the warm cocoon of a job to the harsh and cold reality of the business world where customers don't care two hoots whether you are a top or lousy scholar. Where emotional intelligence is better than your intelligence quotient. Roll up your sleeves, tie your shoelaces and deliver the goods.

•It's about knowing that your next pay cheque will come from your own pocket.

•It's about "passion". I call it "fire in the belly". You will know when you have it — when you do not get tired working 18-hour days, seven days a week, when taking a holiday is a waste of time and when you can't wait to get back to work every day.

Stress and burnout? Never heard of them. You are the happiest when working. Time passes so fast before the day is over. The "9-to-5" concept is obscene.

I am amazed by people who say that they go into business to have more control of their time! The reality is that time belongs solely to your customers.

Cut that umbilical cord!

Welcome to the world of entrepreneurship.


Sim Kah Choon

Mr Sim, 49, owns his sofa workshop. Today, his group, Abitex Designs, has an annual turnover of $8 million. He heads a team of 40 employees and has a showroom at Paragon Shopping Centre.

Copyright MediaCorp Press Ltd. All rights reserved.

Business Times - 18 Jun 2004

EDITORIAL
Tinker, tailor, soldier, scholar?

PEOPLE with good minds to be scholars should also become inventors, innovators, venture capitalists and entrepreneurs, Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew said recently.

The economy is driven by new knowledge and discoveries in science and technology, and the nation's top minds should apply themselves to not so much studying great books but helping bring new products and services to the market, he said. Mr Lee was addressing a forum on humanities in Beijing in April, and was referring to 'scholars' in the Confucian context of learned intellectuals, or supposedly a country's best minds. And back home earlier this month, he followed up the point, more or less, when he said Singapore's public sector should release up to half its scholars to the private sector after six or seven years - for them to become entrepreneurs, not just managers.

The idea raised eyebrows on a few counts, if not so much for revisiting the old issue of the talent tussle between the public and private sectors. The playing field has actually been levelled a little in the last several years, ever since a growing number of private corporations joined the civil service and statutory boards in wooing university-bound students with scholarships - strings attached. And the civil service has, since 2002, halved the number of top-tier scholarships it awards each year, to between 50 and 60, to ensure it 'will not take in more than its fair share of talent', a spokesman said. Still, including the few hundred scholarships disbursed by the statutory boards and government-linked companies every year, few would dispute the notion of the public sector being 'talent-heavy', even if most would agree that scholars do not have the monopoly on talent.

No, the question mark, rather, is whether scholars can in fact become entrepreneurs. Particularly in the Singapore context, it is far from evident that the people who clinch government scholarships - those who ace exams, garner a string of S-Paper distinctions, and basically succeed top of the crop in a highly structured, strait-laced academic system - typically become 'inventors, innovators, venture capitalists' and, perhaps least of all, entrepreneurs. They have mostly proven to be competent policy makers, bureaucrats and administrators - and Singapore has been the better for it. No doubt, Singapore needs to raise a new breed of entrepreneurs to fill the gaps in its economy. Efforts towards that end include the appointment of a minister for entrepreneurship to fly the flag and, through initiatives and a supportive climate and culture, sow the seeds of enterprise. And to underscore the growing 'social acceptance' of entrepreneurs in Singapore (but why did business people have a bad name to begin with?) a plethora of awards now celebrate enterprise, from the Phoenix Awards - for those who failed and rose again - to 'Most Creative Entrepreneur'.

Business needs

By all means, set free any pent-up entrepreneur in any civil service scholar. But chances are, entrepreneurs are born, or at least so fired up about pursuing their own business goals, come hell or high water; they typically call themselves serial entrepreneurs. Unless one is so inclined and inspired, no amount of aid or support is going to turn a pen-pushing policy maker into a Kenny Yap or Olivia Lum. Far better, and more important, to ensure that all civil servants and statutory board employees - particularly those in direct daily contact with entrepreneurs and business people - are savvy enough about the ways and needs of business to smoothen the path for entrepreneurs in their policymaking. Or at least clued-in enough not to impede the efforts of those who seek to innovate and create value in Singapore.

Copyright © 2004 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

JUNE 20, 2004
I can never be an Olivia Lum
With entrepreneurs being so lauded, why am I content with just being a corporate cubicle rat?

By Sumiko Tan

GROWING up, whenever I had to describe my late father's occupation, I'd say 'landscape designer'.

That was what he did, though a more accurate term would be 'businessman'.

He had a company which supplied plants and ikebana arrangements (which my mother created in the kitchen) to offices. He also designed waterfalls and other landscaping works for people's homes.

There were a lot of wealthy Chinese Indonesians here back in the 1970s, and some of them were his clients.

One time, I followed him to a garden he was working on.

The house sat on a sprawling tract of land and overlooked a massive swimming pool, glass pavilion and tennis court. It took my breath away.

But the landscaping business was just one of the things my father did.

He dabbled in many other ventures, all the time dreaming of striking it rich.

Once, he got a chemist friend to teach him how to make vapour rubs. Armed with wax and what-not, he worked from home and filled little tins with his creation.

He actually sold some, even exporting them to Japan, before shutting down the business.

Another time, he thought he'd create a uniquely Singaporean perfume. Out came the chemistry books and bottles. Weird smells filled the house and gave us headaches.

He went into the second-hand car business. He cross-bred orchids, hoping for a hybrid winner.

And there was also his bonsai period.

Then he was seized by how he would import pre-fabricated building materials. We told him it was a crazy idea.

He was also convinced there was money to be made in bringing in automated carpark machines. Again, we discouraged him. Singapore didn't even have coupon parking in those days.

He registered several sole proprietorships. Only once did he hold down a 'proper' job. He was a manager in a cement plant, earning $600 a month.

But he so hated having to answer to a boss that he carried a resignation letter every day he went to work. He submitted it two months later.

I suppose if he had been born in a different era - that is, today - he would be lauded for having an entrepreneurial spirit.

He was full of ideas, he took risks and he was an optimist. Some of his ventures - like the second-hand car and landscaping businesses - fared fairly well. Financially, we were not uncomfortable. But he never made it 'big'.

So, alas, my father was not what you'd call an entrepreneur. He was just another businessman struggling to cobble a decent living from the 1950s to the early 1980s.

It was a hard life.

There were so many uncertainties. Could an idea take off? Could he persuade others to see the brilliance of it? Could he stay the course to see the venture through? Did he have the ability to make it grow?

There were money problems - late payments from clients; money needed to pay his workers; money for raw materials and other start-up necessities.

And people woes - inefficient workers, unreasonable clients.

And unceasing worries - would he get the new contract; would the old one be renewed?

Most times, he ran a one-man show with our home as the office. I helped him type out bills to clients and wrote out cheques.

And witnessing all this first-hand, I vowed: Never ever would I go into business. Never ever would I want to be my own boss.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP has been in the news for several years now, and measures have been unleashed to foster a more business-friendly culture.

Recently, Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew suggested that public sector scholarship holders be released into the private sector after six or seven years to become entrepreneurs.

I understand the need to quick-start the creation of entrepreneurs. Singapore just doesn't have enough of them.

As journalists, we are constantly in search of 'fresh' people to write up. But whenever we need a quote from self-made names in business, the usual suspects crop up: Sim Wong Hoo, Ron Sim, Tommie Goh and poster girl Olivia Lum.

But how does one cultivate more Olivia Lums?

Are entrepreneurs born, or made? What makes one person an entrepreneur, another a mere business owner, and a third an office drone?

Those who believe that entrepreneurs are born say these people display similar traits, namely: restlessness, independence, high self confidence and a tendency to be a loner.

Others believe that external factors can create entrepreneurs, such as a conducive environment to do business in, and the existence of viable business ideas.

I suppose it is a mix of the two.

For someone like my father, who had ideas and energy but lacked a big-picture view of the needs of the economy, a formal support system to nurture entrepreneurship would have helped him.

But for someone like me with zero appetite for being my own boss, no carrot will drag me out of my cubicle chair.

All I've ever aimed for has been to work for a big, successful company that can give me job security. I'm perfectly happy being a corporate trooper and doing as my bosses tell me, drawing a salary and being alloted a certain number of leave days a year.

Of course I will never earn a lot of money and be Olivia Lum-rich. Then again, so long as I have my job, I won't starve either.

When I retire, I won't be able to look back at a legacy, as Ms Lum can with her highly successful water treatment company, Hyflux. I don't deserve that kind of satisfaction either. Unlike her, I didn't build a company from scratch, or worked my guts out for it.

It takes all kinds to make the economy tick, the daring entrepreneurs and the obedient office drones.

But I think anyone planning to leave a secure job for the risky world of entrepreneurship will do well to remember: For one successful Olivia Lum, how many hundred, or thousand, others will fail?

Then again, this is the sort of defeatist, pessimistic talk from a true non-entrepreneur.

My father would have shaken his head.

Copyright @ 2004 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved.

June 22, 2004
Night market draws young entrepreneurs

By Lee Choo Kiong

THE idea of opening an avant-garde fashion shop in the form of a roadside stall in Chinatown might not be the ideal strategy for some hard-nosed business people.

But Ms Cass Choong, 30, thinks that this can work.

She has opened a tiny stall in Pagoda Street, selling quirky bags made with recycled drink cartons from the Philippines and T-shirts she designed herself.

She is among the 215 stall operators at the Chinatown night market, which opened last Friday.

Her business plan is to attract the young crowd with her unusual products.

She pays a rent of $1,500 per month for the stall, which has a one-year lease. Her start-up capital was $15,000 and she says that she needs at least $150 in sales each day to break even.

Things have got off to a promising start. She grossed about $500 on opening day.

She has a day-time sales job at a pharmaceutical firm and intends to keep working there even if her business picks up.

She said: “Starting a business is my dream, but I also enjoy my job now.”

Another young entrepreneur who has dared to venture forth is Ms Lina Ng, 24.

After quitting a job as a business development officer at a bank, she went into the fashion line with a schoolmate.

They pooled $16,000 and peddled their products at fairs more than a year ago, selling self-designed ethnic clothes and fashion accessories featuring semi-precious stones.

Then they set up a pushcart stall at HDB Hub in Toa Payoh.

They decided to open their second outlet in the Chinatown night market because they knew it would attract the crowds since it is the first night bazaar of its kind here.

The new Chinatown stall raked in first-day sales of about $300, more than Ms Ng had expected.

She hopes to collect about $200 on weekdays and $500 on weekends.

Copyright © 2003 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

The New Paper - 26 Jun 2004

Why you must BEE an entrepreneur
Create jobs this way rather than rely on civil service, multinational companies

By Eugene Wee

THE life of an employee can be comfortable. You go to the office, do your work, go home, and at the end of the month, your paycheck appears.

Singapore's rapid economic growth was built on a nation of educated and skilled employees working for multinational corporations (MNCs) who set up shop here.

So why has the Government been pushing Singaporeans to ditch their jobs and become entrepreneurs instead?

Simple. If we don't churn out more entrepreneurs, and if we continue to be a nation of employees, we could work ourselves and our children out of a job in the future.

Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew recently upped the ante when he suggested that the public sector release its best and brightest to become entrepreneurs.

EMPLOYING LESS


Singapore employers fall into three broad categories - MNCs, the civil service, and small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

While the unemployment rate is projected to drop to 4 per cent by year end, and the job situation is picking up in the short term, it may not be as rosy 10 to 15 years down the road, according to economists.

As manufacturing activities here go high-tech, MNC investments in Singapore are creating fewer jobs per dollar, and rarely in labour-intensive manufacturing operations. In fact, these new high-tech jobs created will not alleviate the problem of structural unemployment as many Singaporeans lack the skills to take them up.

Many MNCs are also moving production activities to countries where labour and land costs are lower, like China and India.

The civil service, Singapore's biggest employer, has also been shedding weight.

According to statistics, the civil service employed 60,240 staff in 2002, down from 63,316 staff in 2000.

This leaves the SMEs.

While SMEs contribute only about one-third of Singapore's GDP, they employ about half of our two-million strong workforce.

SMEs TO THE RESCUE


Experts The New Paper spoke to said that in the long term, SMEs will have a bigger part to play in picking up the slack left by disappearing jobs in the civil service and MNCs.

'MNCs are getting more selective about the kind of jobs they bring here,' said OCBC Bank economist Suan Teck Kin.

'So the job choices are getting fewer. The only way out is for the entrepreneurs and SMEs to provide the jobs.'

It's not enough to constantly retrain our workforce and hope for higher value-added jobs to fall into our laps.

'If we retrain our workers, our neighbours can retrain theirs as well,' said Mr Suan.

'And at the same time, they can produce things faster, cheaper and in bigger quantities. How will we compete with that?'

United Overseas Bank economist Low Ping Yee agreed that Singapore had to churn out more entrepreneurs and increase the SME base.

When entrepreneurs decide to strike out on their own, there is a multiplier effect in terms of the employment generated, she explained. They have to employ staff to run their business.

Even if none of the entrepreneurs can make it to the big league like Creative Technologies, every one of them would have contributed at least one job to the economy, a job that would not have been available if they had remained employees.

DON'T GET COMPLACENT


But that doesn't mean Singaporeans can sit back, relax, and be confident that if MNCs don't hire them, a Singaporean firm will.

Singapore Management University economist Prof Pang Eng Fong points out that jobs created by the new entrepreneurs need not stay in Singapore.

If labour costs here become too expensive, firms, whether they are local or not, will look for cheaper countries.

According to a recent survey done by consulting firm Grant Thornton International, 30 per cent of the roughly 150 Singapore SMEs polled have either already moved operations abroad or are planning to do so due to lower manufacturing costs.

'A firm's interests may not be the same as the country's interest,' said Prof Pang.

'Firms will do whatever they can to maximise shareholder's interests.'

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Some who struck out on their won
By Grace Ng

THEY were once employees in the civil service or with large private corporations. Now, as bosses of their own companies, Mr Lim Der Shing and Mr Yee Jenn Jong provide jobs for dozens of Singaporeans.

Mr Lim, 29, had worked with SembCorp Industries for eight months before quitting to set up a campus recruiting company in 1999.

Jobsfactory, started with his girlfriend (now his wife) Huang Shao Ning, now employs 11.

Mr Yee, 39, who spent six years in government service, two of these at a statutory board he wouldn't name, founded e-learning courses and education technology provider AsknLearn in 2000. It currently employs 50.

Mr Yee sees more benefits than just job creation for Singaporeans when entrepreneurial start-ups like AsknLearn spring up.

'The call for entrepreneurship by the Government is not just for job creation, but to enable Singapore to plug in quickly to opportunities in the new global economy,' said Mr Yee.

'Without a vibrant group of entrepreneurs, it will be hard for Singapore to regionalise quickly. Hopefully, some of these new SMEs run by savvy entrepreneurs will develop into big global names, like Creative, Informatics or Hyflux.'

While smaller IT companies may provide jobs mostly for skilled workers, unskilled workers are not left out in the cold either, thanks to people like Mr George Quek, the man behind Food Junction and the bakery chain BreadTalk.

Mr Quek, who quit his job as a craftsman in a handicrafts store to venture out into the food business, has contributed over 700 jobs to Singaporeans since he struck out in 1982.


Copyright © 2004 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

JUNE 26, 2004
Budding success for NUS start-up scheme
Four students in scheme to grow businessmen start global tech firms

By Sandra Davie

MISS Goh Yiping, 22, is in the third year of her real-estate course, but she has already set up a company that will allow airlines around the world to offer text messaging and e-mail services on board, cheaply.

Mr Heng Eu Jin, 25, who is pursuing a master's degree in engineering, has teamed up with a university professor and entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley to set up a DNA testing venture company. He hopes it will be able to grab a slice of the global $2 billion market.

Undergraduates Simranjit Singh and Chua Teck Hiong are currently realising an idea that won them one of the top prizes in the Start-up@Singapore business plan competition.

All four young people's entrepreneurial involvement did not happen by chance. It is the result of a three-year-old programme at the National University of Singapore (NUS) to 'grow' businessmen.

They are nurtured in two overseas colleges NUS has set up in the last two years. These are in Silicon Valley in California and Philadelphia's 'Bio Valley', so called because of its concentration of pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.

To date, 75 students have spent a year in one of the colleges. There, they attend courses on how to run a business and work in high-tech start-ups. Currently, another 76 students are there, as well as at a third college in Shanghai which was launched in January.

The university is banking on the project producing people like Mr Sim Wong Hoo, the man who set up Singapore's digital entertainment company, Creative Technology, and the poster boy for entrepreneurship here.

The NUS don heading the programme, Professor Jacob Phang, said the signs have been promising.

For one, graduates on the scheme have dominated business competitions like Start-up@Singapore and the Lee Kuan Yew Global Business Plan Competition.

At Start-up@Singapore this year, for instance, 14 of the 245 teams comprised students who had attended NUS' overseas colleges.

Another, and more promising, sign is that high-technology, global businesses have been started, viz Miss Goh's World Indigo, Mr Heng's QuantaGen and Mr Singh and Mr Chua's HelpToScreen.

Prof Phang stressed that NUS is not aiming to produce businessmen who will start local companies.

'Our sights are set higher; we want graduates who will start high-technology, global businesses.

'It is businesses such as these that'll bring about the next wave of growth for Singapore.'

Like the three cited, which are considered 'global' because they involve partners from overseas and their products or services are aimed at world markets.

For example, Miss Goh's business partner is American Juan Carlos Garcia, who set up a communications company in Philadelphia.

Her e-mail/text messaging technology is being developed in Russia by engineering company Cien. She intends to launch it in Asia and Europe before offering it to the rest of the world.

All four say that they had always wanted to venture out on their own, and the NUS programme not only encouraged them but also made them think 'high-tech' and global.

Mr Heng said the idea for setting up a DNA testing company came to him while he was in Silicon Valley and that he met his business partners there too.

Miss Goh said she was inspired by the many successful technopreneurs she met in Philadelphia.

'I was able to see success is not just a fallacy; these people really do exist. It made me realise I could be one of them too.'

Copyright @ 2004 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved.

JUNE 26, 2004
ingisht: CONNECTING WITH INDONESIANS, MALAYSIANS
When saying 'yes' can mean 'no'
By Azrin Asmani

IN polite company, Indonesians prize subtlety above all else and often end up giving mixed signals of their true intentions.

They would say nggak (no), when they mean 'yes', and ee-ya (yes) when they mean 'no'. In business negotiations, when they say bisa diatur (can be arranged), don't bet on it being a done deal.

Malay Singaporean businessmen say that these are some cultural idiosyncrasies that need to be understood and appreciated to do business, and survive, in both Indonesia and Malaysia.

'We tend to take them for granted, thinking that we know them so well. In fact, we don't,' says Mr Umar Abdul Hamid, group chairman and chief executive officer of Singapore-listed Reed Group Holdings.

Mr Umar adds that to succeed in these two markets, facility with Bahasa Indonesia or Malay is essential but not sufficient.

Reacting to Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew's recent comments on the need to have a 'bicultural' elite to engage China, Malay community and business leaders say such a group is also needed for the Malay/Muslim community to better understand and foster closer ties with Singapore's neighbours.

While China is a bigger market than both Malaysia and Indonesia combined, the potential of these traditional trading partners can still grow, they say. Both markets make up 20 per cent of Singapore's annual trade.

'And they're two of our key markets apart from the US,' says Ideaglobal's economist Nizam Idris. Malaysia provides the hinterland for many businesses here, he points out. And Indonesia, with its 220 million people, still has huge business potential despite the recent years of political instability.

An elite group plugged into business and other networks in the two countries will be useful for business and foster better understanding, those interviewed say.

By having such links, any 'disparity in perception' that Malaysians may still have of Malays here can also be corrected, some add.

'The Malaysians had traditionally seen themselves as a 'big brother' to the Malays here, thinking that we are second-class when that's not the case anymore,' said Mr Amin Ibrahim, general manager of Ampro, the business arm of the Association of Muslim Professionals (AMP).

Community leaders should pay close attention to creating this 'bicultural' group for not just bilateral purposes, but also cultural rejuvenation, those interviewed say.

'It is crucial for the community's own cultural renewal and continuity,' said Mr Wan Hussein Zoohri, president of the Prophet Muhammad's Birthday Memorial Scholarship Fund Board.

Ampro's Amin Ibrahim suggested that Malay/Muslim bodies pull their resources together towards creating this core group.

Ultimately, he said, having a 'bicultural' elite among the Malays will solve one problem plaguing the community: finding new icons as the old stalwarts pass on.

Copyright @ 2004 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved.

JUNE 26, 2004
insight: CONNECTING WITH INDIANS
Behind that sari is a modern perspective
By M Nirmala

YES, English is widely spoken in India. But Singaporean businessmen would be wrong to believe that just because they can speak the same language, they can cross the wide cultural divisions there.

With 28 states each about the size of Malaysia and a population of over a billion who speak 19 official languages and more than 300 languages and dialects, India the unwieldy giant can be a bewildering place for Singaporean businessmen who come from a tiny, well-regulated island.

If that does not make it complex enough, Associate Professor Rachel Davis, with the National University of Singapore's (NUS') Business School, points out too that even as India is rich in tradition, it is modern as well.

She cites, for example, how Indian women professionals wearing traditional saris to the office may give outsiders the impression they are conservative in their outlook. But they can hold their own against others in looking after their clients in the West.

'Wearing traditional clothes does not mean the women are not modern in their minds,' she says.

'Those who want to do business in India must spend time understanding these issues and figure out how and why things work differently in India.

'Textbooks only just begin to get at these complexities and have to be complemented with experience,' she notes.

Academics, businessmen and Members of Parliament Insight spoke to said understanding India will need to start with figuring out the country's cultural, linguistic and religious diversity. Only then can they try navigating the terrain of business and government.

MP R. Ravindran (Marine Parade GRC) suggests that bright Singaporean students and undergraduates can build up strong Indian networks by studying or going on study exchanges at India's top academic institutions.

Reflecting the growing interest in India, NUS set up the South Asian Studies Programme in 1999 with the long-term aim of grooming a group of graduates who will engage India as scholars and investors.

Later this year, NUS is setting up the South Asian Institute to track economic and political developments in the sub-continent and collaborate with key institutes in India and elsewhere.

Some players also say that the best way to connect with India is to also tap on Indian professionals who are already here and have connections back home.

SingTel, which has a 28.5 per cent stake in the Bharti Group, India's second-largest mobile operator, adds that turning to professionals already there also helps the company access the Indian market better.

'The business community in India is closely knit especially among the dominant players. In this respect, a foreigner, even one who shares a similar language or cultural background, will not easily assimilate into the business community,' says a SingTel spokesman.

Mr Manoj Gidwani, a senior executive in Mumbai-based consultancy firm SKP Crossborder Consulting, tells Insight that among the list of don'ts for businessmen: don't sew up a business deal with the first person you meet and who tells you he has contacts in the government.

'Don't try and do too much, too early.'

Copyright @ 2004 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved.

JUNE 26, 2004
Be an entrepreneur - get married

COUPLES tend to start off fine in their initial 'honeymoon' period of courtship.

It is in this period that both sides enjoy unrestricted conversation, showing honest feelings and playing.

However, after they get closer, there is a tendency to secure the relationship by becoming less open with each other. The effect of such security consciousness: The relationship becomes stifling, a matter of routine and no fun.

Human beings do not only seek security in relationships; they also need adventure and novelty.

If they do not get these things in a marriage, they may seek them elsewhere.

The challenge for couples is that both parties' needs exist in some form of tension.

People need to feel attached to each other for a sense of safety.

At the same time, there is a constant need for room to grow as a couple through constant play and adventure.

Institutionalising the relationship through constant reminders of couples' obligation and duty to society or appealing to religious or traditional values to maintain the marital relationship can backfire.

Couples today need to convince themselves that entering and staying in a marriage does meet their needs. Marriage and other kinds of committed relationships are wonderful vehicles for personal growth and fulfilment.

But we need to stop thinking of marriage as essentially a duty or convention meant to serve the larger purpose of the country or society.

I support the notion that happy marriages strengthen a country's social fabric.

But this is a wonderful by-product and not a rationale for getting married in today's world.

More couples are calling it quits in Singapore. This is also a global phenomenon. However, I believe it is an inevitable one because we are seeking alternative ways to look at marriage.

I propose that we see it as a form of entrepreneurship. Like entrepreneurs, those in long-term relationships seek security and also the kick of adventure and growth.

This always entails risks because an adventure is an exploration that comes with few guarantees.

But it is exactly in this uncertainty that relationships will have novelty and excitement.

True entrepreneurs do not give up easily. Struggling through hard times, collaborating with creativity and being single-minded about forging a shared future are all ingredients of a lifelong partnership.

Let me add that divorce is painful for all those involved so let us be more empathetic towards those struggling through it.

It is time to consider alternative ways of viewing marriage and I hope more will discuss this openly.


RICHARD LIM SAY TECK

Copyright @ 2004 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved.

JULY 1, 2004
He has 3 O-levels, 31 shops and a $20m-a-year business
By Arti Mulchand

IF MR Charles Wong looks down on you, he's probably just checking out what shoes you're wearing.

This is the Charles of Charles and Keith, the shoe chain. Keith is chief designer.

http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/mnt/media/image/launched/2004-07-01/p1.jpg
He eats, sleeps, dreams shoes, admits Mr Charles Wong, seen here at his Parkway Parade shop. -- STEPHANIE YEOW

In just eight years, the brothers have built a $20 million-a-year business, with 11 stores here and 20 overseas on stylish shoes, mainly strappy sandals, starting at about $20 a pair.

On Sunday, Mr Charles Wong, 30, will receive the Singapore Youth Award for Entrepreneurship at the Istana.

Charles, who now spends three weeks in a month overseas exploring new markets and tracking design trends, confesses: 'When I'm walking down the street, I always look down to see what shoes people are wearing.'

In the course of the interview, he accurately identified the brand, size, heel height, and price of the black shoes this reporter was wearing.

It all started in his mother's shoe shop, L&A Trading, in Ang Mo Kio Central, where the brothers have worked since they were old enough to help out.

She, a single mother, wore sandals, never fancy shoes, he said. 'She was more worried about making enough money to support me and my two younger brothers,' he said.

Mum, now 53, has retired, and spends her time doing charity work and volunteering at a Buddhist temple.

She, Keith and youngest son Kelvin, now live in a terrace house in Yio Chu Kang. Charles is married and lives with his wife, Ivy, 32, in an apartment in Katong.

Of the family, who once lived in a three-room HDB flat in Kallang, only Kelvin, 25, went to university. Charles hopes Kelvin will one day steer the company's expanding export arm.

But it is Charles who gets the award celebrating his 'spirit of daring enterprise and inspirational achievements'. Not bad for one who never got past O levels and passed only mathematics, history and bible study.

'There was no point in continuing. I was not interested. When I was in class, all I could think about was the shop,'he recalled.

Except for a national service break from 1992 to 1994, the shop was his life. By 1996, they'd boosted sales from $10,000 to $40,000, by 'listening to what customers wanted' and realising that the market existed for inexpensive shoes for Asian feet.

With $100,000 in savings, Charles' business acumen and Keith's design flair, they went to Hong Kong to track trends, understand design and merchandising, check out the competition; then to Malaysia to find a factory.

The very first Charles and Keith was born at the Amara Hotel in 1996. Four more were added within two years.

Now, 10 factories supply 31 stores. They'll add eight more stores in Dubai and six in Saudi Arabia by year's end. Then it's on to India.

The next target: 100 shops within the next three years.

But it's still about 'watching women and what shoes they pick up', says Charles.

He even dreams of shoes, he said, with a laugh.

'Just because you don't do well at your studies does not mean you are a failure. I couldn't learn in school, but I learnt elsewhere. All you need is focus, and to work hard like I did.'

Copyright @ 2004 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved.

JULY 2, 2004
Business acumen needed but degree optional
YOU don't need a business degree to come up with a good business model.

That seems to be the moral of the second Lee Kuan Yew Global Business Plan Competition, the finalists of which were announced yesterday.

Of the 20 members in the six teams that made it to the final, only one is an economics major.

The rest are engineering, arts, science and medicine students.

But Miss Karen Chua, 22, the sole economics student, believes that her background in economics brings a different perspective to her team.

'I think anybody can write a good business plan, but your degree does play a part,' said Miss Chua, who will be entering her fourth year at the National University of Singapore (NUS) next month.

'My teammates are mechanical engineers and they focus a lot more on the product. They're always questioning its technical viability and things like that. But you need people focusing on different areas too, like how you're going to market this product,' she added.

Her team came up with a product that incorporates chicken feather fibres into commodity plastics to produce cheaper, stronger plastic for car parts.

Another team, from Purdue University in the United States, developed a device that increases the speed of Web servers by 10 times while reducing the cost of Web hosting by 25 per cent.

The other four teams, two from NUS and two from Britain's Imperial College, submitted business plans involving the use of biotechnology.

Their products included a handheld drug-testing device, a baby monitor, a platform for drug delivery to animals as well as a patent-pending technology that increases the rate of screening microplates for drug candidates.

Organised by the Singapore Management University, the competition aims to encourage students from tertiary institutions around the world to deve- lop their entrepreneurial inclinations.

The six teams in the final will compete for a total of US$60,000 (S$103,560) in cash prizes when they present their plans to a panel of international judges on July 22.

Copyright @ 2004 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved.

Time is GMT + 8 hours
Posted: 05 July 2004 0832 hrs

New SMU course gives students the option to go into business: dean
By Jason Chong, TODAY

To groom social scientists who are comfortable working in a global, business environment. This is the objective of the new broad-based Bachelor of Social Science programme offered by the Singapore Management University's (SMU) two-year-old School of Economics and Social Sciences.

The programme, to be launched on Aug 16, allows students to specialise in psychology, political science and eventually sociology, and integrate these with the disciplines of business and management.

According to its dean, Professor Roberto Mariano, this kind of diverse environment helps broaden the perspectives of the students.

"They will have the option to go into business," said Prof Mariano, adding that it is the mission of SMU in general to groom business leaders and entrepreneurs.

"The idea is to develop students in the social sciences who will be in tandem in this management expertise."

The school is offering 80 places for its first batch of politics and psychology students this year but the intake will increase over the years, as the school begins to take in sociology students from next year onwards.

For the past two years, the school has been offering only the Bachelor of Science in Economics programme.

In their senior years of study in the Bachelors in Social Science programme, students are required to undergo an internship programme consisting of a 10-week business attachment at a public sector or business organisation and a two-week attachment at a voluntary welfare organisation.

Senior students also have to attend a Capstone Seminar, which serves to synthesise the interdisciplinary analytical framework in the programme through important practical applications.

This involves writing papers and presenting them in front of other social science students, who may not be taking the same subject.

Another distinguishing feature of the programme is the infusion of an Asian perspective to develop "graduates who are responsive to this changing, global environment but in the Asian context", Prof Mariano added.

He also pointed out that "the programme echoes the PPE (politics, philosophy and economics) programme in Oxford and the University of Pennsylvania", and added that dons in top business schools such as Wharton of the University of Pennsylvania hail from a social sciences background.

In addition, SMU also allows students to take double-majors and even double-degrees, which means they can graduate in social science together with another degree offered by SMU, such as accounting, business or economics.

But, Professor Mariano denied that any dilution of content matter would occur.

"The situation of 'jack of all trades and master of none', is avoided because there is depth and breadth," he said.

This is because students have to take subjects from a core group of social science subjects which includes political science, psychology and sociology, as well as those subjects in their chosen major.

Response has been very encouraging with some 1,000 applicants vying for the 80 available places for the August intake, said Prof Mariano.

Many of the applicants also have at least 3As and their median SAT1 scores (Scholastic Aptitude Test) are higher than that of some of those in top universities in the United States", he added. - TODAY

Copyright © 2004 MCN International Pte Ltd

Time is GMT + 8 hours
Posted: 21 July 2004 2001 hrs

PSC scholars groomed to lead public service, not become entrepreneurs: PM Goh
By Hasnita A. Majid, Channel NewsAsia

SINGAPORE : The government should not provide incentives, support or fall back on job guarantees to encourage Public Service Commission (PSC) scholars to go into business or to the private sector.

In a written answer to MP for West Coast GRC Ho Geok Choo, Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong said PSC scholars were groomed to become potential public service leaders, not entrepreneurs.

But the government will not deter scholars who wish to leave after a few years if they do not see themselves making the civil service a long-term career.

About half of each cohort's scholars eventually leaves the public sector.

Mr Goh said the government would only take the number of scholars needed. This year, it was just 30.

Madam Ho had wanted to know how the government ensure that some of the scholars picked by PSC can be groomed to become entrepreneurs. - CNA

Copyright © 2004 MCN International Pte Ltd

You may laugh, but scholars can become entrepreneurs

By Susan Long

'SEEN as an attempt to overhaul an education system geared towards turning out bureaucrats.' So said a Financial Times article on Wednesday, discussing Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew's recent suggestion that Singapore's public sector should release up to half its scholars to the private sector after six or seven years to become entrepreneurs.

It was one of the kinder takes on the issue. Just about everyone else - including Singapore's most prominent entrepreneurs - have dismissed it out of hand.

Even the Singapore Parliament's sole entrepreneur who is also an elected Member, the intrepid Mr Inderjit Singh, has written an article in the People's Action Party magazine Petir stating why SM Lee's approach is doomed.

It will fail, he argues, because entrepreneurs are not measured by raw intelligence, much less academic excellence, which is what the scholar system is based on.

Also, scholars - once used to a planned, comfortable career path - will adapt poorly to the obstacle-ridden, uncertain world of entrepreneurship.

Mr Ning de Guzman, adjunct professor on entrepreneurship at the Manila-based Asian Institute of Management, adds that after seven years in the civil service, most scholars will have an entrenched mindset that is difficult to change.

'For one, they have worked in an environment where systems are already in place, staff are fairly competent, a monthly salary is assured, results are easy to predict. Think the opposite for start-ups,' he says.

'For another, to be an entrepreneur means eating humble pie, waiting for hours to see a prospective client who may be much younger and lower in educational qualifications than them, without being tempted to lecture them.'

Successful Singapore entrepreneur, Dr Y. Y. Wong, of the WyWy Group, identifies that the main challenge for any scholar-turned-entrepreneur would be to 'resist the temptation to tell himself that he is above pecuniary gains and walk away from it all and return to an environment in which they enjoy respect, esteem and admiration'.

As he puts it: 'I have no doubt that our scholars are intelligent and are quick learners. But what I do not know is whether they have the natural flair and the determination to be rejected by customers they meet, week after week, month after month, yet bounce back again.

'Are they ready to be measured at the end of each day? Do they have the courage to face failure? Or persist, without losing confidence, in dealing with the unexplainable and demeaning mystery of how another with much lower credentials, intellect and qualifications succeed when they are struggling?'

But job-fit aside, he and others who have pondered entrepreneurship long and hard think Mr Lee's is not a bad idea, if a few points are put in perspective:

Anyone can become an entrepreneur though not everyone becomes one

WORLDWIDE trends these days indicate more entrepreneurs with more formal education.

A 1998 report of Europe's 500 fastest growing entrepreneurial companies showed that more than 67 per cent of their managing directors and CEOs had graduate degrees or higher. The notion that the seeds of entrepreneurship are sown in those who drop out of school at 14, or who started out peddling provisions or cleaning stys at Dad's pig farm, is fast becoming urban myth.

These are 'received ideas', says Insead's adjunct professor of entrepreneurship Patrick Turner, conveniently backed up by the fact that some of Singapore's iconic entrepreneurs, such as Osim's Ron Sim, Tee Yih Jia's Sam Goi and Hyflux's Olivia Lum, started out that humble way.

But increasingly, academic brilliance is an asset rather than a liability, with technology resetting the playing field.

Dr Wong points out numerous examples of US technology firms driven by entrepreneurs working with brilliant engineers, such as Hewlett-Packard, Apple, Microsoft, Dell and America Online.

'These people have brilliant minds. They know what they are best at, and what they are mediocre in which calls for others to contribute,' he notes.

To sum up, Prof Turner says: 'Yes, nothing predisposes scholars to be entrepreneurs, but there is no reason why they shouldn't be. The question is: Can they? Yes. Will they all? Of course not. Expecting everyone to come out of the civil service and become good entrepreneurs is like believing in Father Christmas.

'The same rules apply to everybody. It depends whether they get the right experience. But that some of them will certainly make good ones is spot on.'

You can - gasp - learn how to be an entrepreneur

SO FAR, the debate has revolved around whether scholarly skill-sets and dispositions are interchangeable with that of entrepreneurs, inventors, innovators - betraying somewhat rustic and romantic notions that entrepreneurs are somehow 'set apart' from everyone else at birth.

But Prof Turner argues that you can actually learn to be an entrepreneur.

'If you could not learn it, it would be the only field of human activity that could not be taught, and that can't be.

'Of course it's true in most fields that some people are naturally gifted, like David Beckham, Michael Schumacher, Pablo Picasso, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. But the other 99 per cent can be trained to become competent, useful people as well,' he says.

He points to statistics which show that in top business schools like Insead - which takes in only high-powered scholars - more than 40 per cent of recent MBA graduates go on to run their own businesses, either through buy-outs or start-ups.

In the four short years that Insead has set up in Singapore, at least 10 graduates have chosen to stay here to run their own companies, from a nanotechnology simulation software outfit to an ice-cream chain.

Entrepreneurship is really a boring managerial job too

MUCH ado has been made about the inherent differences between managers, who work for money, and entrepreneurs, who make money work for them.

But a 1998 pan-European study comparing the managing directors of management buy-outs and salaried corporate executives, done by Insead, revealed there are less differences in personality profile or risk-taking appetite, than previously thought.

It also showed that managing is an intrinsic part of what an entrepreneur has to do.

From Day One, he is the all-in-one office manager, cleaning up spilled coffee, serving as receptionist, technician, human resource recruiter, accounts clerk, delivery man.

Yes, part of entrepreneurship - and perhaps the most-hyped - is to be the genius visionary who spots and grasps the opportunity. But once the company gets off the ground, it becomes a question of, well, managing it.

What is clear, says Prof Turner, is that in a start-up, the entrepreneur is pretty much 'all of what is making the company tick'. This is why venture capitalists scouring for projects to fund look less at the idea and more at the team proposing it.

Hence, any prior experience managing people - in the public service or otherwise - and an immaculate curriculum vitae (CV) has immeasurable commercial value.

Government intervention helps, if not to breed more entrepreneurs, at least to nurture a more entrepreneurial environment

MANY weird and wonderful studies have been done over the years on what makes an entrepreneur, with some concluding, for example, that second sons of immigrant parents who were divorced before they turned 14 are most likely to strike out on their own.

But one factor that business school dons and entrepreneurs agree on is that someone in the immediate family is/was an entrepreneur.

That also works if one lives in a community where entrepreneurship is a perfectly ordinary, acceptable career.

And that is where Prof Turner says Singapore's Entrepass scheme, which allows foreign entrepreneurs to enter on the basis of their business plan instead of salary and educational qualifications, is particularly inspired.

In time, increasing the number of entrepreneurs in our midst - whether imports or locals - will add to the normalcy of going it alone.

He notes there were 'a lot of giggles' when Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Trade and Industry, Mr Raymond Lim, was appointed entrepreneurship czar last year, prompted by doubt that a minister alone could 'grow' entrepreneurship in Singapore.

The fact, however, is that the European Union named an entrepreneurship commissioner some three years before Singapore did.

And in spite of its infancy, the Action Community for Entrepreneurship (ACE) - Mr Lim's brainchild - has already come up with initiatives such as a loan securitisation programme to help SMEs tap funds from the capital markets, and tax incentives for start-ups. Few are giggling now.

If just 10 per cent of the scholars released into the commercial world make a success of their ventures, says Prof Turner, no one will be laughing anymore.

Susan Long is the author of Grit Success: Stories Of Millionaires In Our Neighbourhood and Grit Success II: The Guts Behind Singapore's Top Entrepreneurs.

More home brands

QUICKLY - name three Singaporean brands that travel well abroad, but leave out Singapore Airlines and Creative and/or the SoundBlaster. It would be only recently when this businessmen's cocktail quiz would pull down only venerable names like Shangri-La and Raffles Hotel. Not any more - Tiger Balm, Tiger Beer, DBS and SingTel now have almost instant recall across the region. At a pinch one could manage Osim and Banyan Tree, both of which are doing decently on consumer reach. This week, an article in The Straits Times reminded brand-conscious Singaporean consumers that such newish names as BreakTalk, the women's shoe chain Charles & Keith and Ms Elim Chew's 77th Street clothier are getting themselves noticed in China and over in the Middle East.

Constructing brand league tables is assuredly cliched, a hobby of the business press. But it is for Singapore an indicative measure of how well its external economy is growing, since the call went out from the Government to industrialists and businessmen to do what small nations like Holland and Switzerland have done so well in internationalising their products and services. In terms of brand value and brand strength, Singaporean trademarks - excepting the world-class SIA and Raffles - are wannabes even on the Asia scale. If Japan's world-beaters are excluded, a best-of-Asia list will have old reliables Samsung, Tata and Cathay Pacific listed, or even San Miguel the Philippine beer. But few local ones. Just as a matter of interest and taking wide latitude with the subject, BusinessWeek's 2003 list of the world's top 100 brands (ranked by brand value of US$1 billion, or S$1.7 billion, and upwards) had only two names among the top 10, Nokia and Mercedes-Benz, that were not American. Coca-Cola was No 1. Non-American brands popular with Singaporeans (BMW, Nestle, Rolex, Sony, Ikea) ranked from BMW's 19th to Rolex's 68th.

While all that shows what a struggle it is to make one's way in the world of commercial cachet, two points should be noted. One is acceptance by home consumers. Singaporeans who buy on reputation and the label are probably entrepreneurs' worst enemy. The point has been made often by businessmen that local consumers are unadventurous and picky in taste. They seem biased against home-grown products and tend to go for pricey foreign equivalents. But seeing how well Osim health-care products are selling gives hope that customer preferences can be changed, if quality is assured and the pricing is right. It would be jingoistic to start a buy-Singaporean campaign. It would be hard anyway. Average shoppers at a supermarket, say, would have a hard time picking out many home-made items. But consumers help the cause if they make a conscious effort to support local industry and start-up businesses, as the Japanese do.

Secondly, having more Singapore-owned enterprises make their mark overseas better protects the country against excessive reliance on multinationals. This is not about economic nationalism, but a matter of owning productive assets to the greatest extent possible. The foreign companies will ship out to new foreign locations for the most unsentimental of reasons. South Korean industry and finance houses which are believed to be heavily indigenous are, in many instances, foreign-owned after the disposals that followed the 1997 financial crash. Foreigners now control 44 per cent of listed market assets of US$360 billion. Singapore will remain a haven for foreign firms, but local businesses can only keep growing.

From risk-averse to risk-taking

The mission to remake Singaporeans into more entrepreneurial people began in earnest about five years ago. How far has the situation changed and what else needs to be fixed? Insight reports.

By Soh Wen Lin

BACK in 1998, when Baker's Inn was a newborn, founder Daniel Tay would slave before a giant hot oven for 10 to 12 hours daily, baking designer cakes, tarts and pies.

But it was no sweat.

In fact, the 34-year-old founder of the cafe chain gets more hot and bothered when he ventures into the air-conditioned offices of a bank or government agency.

His application to bring in an Indonesian to come here for a six-month training stint, before returning to man a Jakarta branch of the chain, was denied. The wait for a response to his appeal has stretched to two months with no word. 'If they explain the rejection I can plan my next move. The mindset at the top of the Government is changing, yes, but it will take longer to filter down to the rest of the staff.'

No less daunting were some of the local banks back then.

Four years ago, a bank had insisted on a personal guarantee for an overdraft, even after Mr Tay had offered his $50,000 fixed deposit, dollar-for-dollar, as collateral.

'The bank wanted a more than 100-per-cent guarantee!'

Worse, venture capitalists had no time for him: 'They wanted technopreneurs. I'm just a baker.'

The irony is that Baker's Inn made a profit in its third year and had $5 million in sales last year - a better showing than many technology start-ups, he says.

Although he now laughs off these trying times, Mr Tay is one of many local businessmen who maintains that the Government's well-thought-out efforts in the past five years just laid the foundation, but has yet to achieve a breakthrough in transforming risk-averse Singaporeans into risk-taking entrepreneurs.

'Since entrepreneurship involves a mindset change towards seizing opportunities and embracing changes, it is a long-term journey,' said Dr Loo Choon Yong, deputy chairman of the year-old Action Community for Entrepreneurship (ACE), which aims to pave the long road and nudge Singaporeans along it.

Paramount is a change in the attitude towards education, so that schools and parents celebrate the successes achieved other than through the paper chase.

'The current generation of parents came from a more deprived background, so naturally they want more stability for their kids, through a steady job,' said Professor Cham Tao Soon, director of Nanyang Technological University's (NTU) Centre for Research on Small Enterprise Development, explaining why changing culture could take a generation.

Meanwhile, Singapore businessmen believe the country is heading the right way in easing the business-starter's financial burden and regulations. One big step was taken in 1999 when the $2.2-billion Technopreneurship Investment Fund was introduced to draw venture capital here.

The pain of losing jobs to low-cost China and India became especially unbearable last year when, amid Sars and the Iraq war, unemployment hit levels not seen in about 20 years.

The need for Singapore to look to its own for an answer boiled over. Swiftly, a series of pro-enterprise initiatives came - tax cuts, augmented grants, audit exemptions and new groups to nurture entrepreneurs. Mr Raymond Lim, Minister of State (Trade and Industry and Foreign Affairs) was appointed to steer the movement.

Since then, figures have been rising. The number of businesses set up hit a record last year: 13,544. Membership in the Association of SMEs has almost tripled since 1999 to 948.

More Singaporeans aged 18 to 64 are starting ventures than in 2000, according to studies by the National University of Singapore (NUS) with the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM).

The doubling to 5 per cent in the total entrepreneurial activity rate lifted Singapore to the 21st spot out of 31 economies last year - above Hong Kong, despite its closer proximity to mainland China's booming market.

What is more encouraging is that the share of those who started businesses 'by choice', not because they couldn't find jobs, held steady from last year, says Professor Wong Poh Kam, who heads the NUS Entrepreneurship Centre.

However, most of the 20 businessmen, academics and regulators interviewed tell Insight that small and medium enterprises (SMEs) here can still be frustrated sometimes by three obstacles: red tape, avenues for funds, and a culture steeped in defining success with exam grades and a job in a large company.

CUTTING RED TAPE

SITTING in his executive flat in Sengkang, print and Web designer James Tan, 28, was full of praise for the scheme that allows homes to be used as offices. 'I save about $2,000 to $3,000 a month in office rent, not counting utilities and transport costs,' he says.

This year, some 11,400 fellow home-based businessmen got another surprise: Their applications to the Housing Board and Urban Redevelopment Authority need not be renewed yearly, but every three years.

That change was the result of public feedback and is an indication that the authorities are listening and open-minded about changing procedures where need be.

Indeed, a pro-enterprise panel to cut business red tape, set up in 2000, has accepted about half of the over 1,200 suggestions from the public, giving Singapore its first 24-hour nightclubs and more shophouse hostels.

What has hastened the change is that officials have to convince a high-level team of businessmen and bureaucrats - chaired by no less than Mr Lim Siong Guan, head of the civil service - each time they say 'no' to a suggestion.

Says Mr Inderjit Singh, a veteran entrepreneur and Member of Parliament who used to sit on the panel: 'Civil servants started getting into a mindset of asking the 'why nots' themselves, before someone else asks them the same questions.'

Another check: Government agencies will be surveyed annually to see how enterprise-friendly they are. The first was done in May.

Companies that dealt with them were asked to rate their compliance costs, review of rules, transparency and customer responsiveness.

Baker's Inn's Mr Tay believes the survey will help realise policies more swiftly. 'Good policies still need execution. It's the same here, with my bakers and waiters.'

FIXING FUND(AMENTALS)

AT A glance, the six or so schemes that SMEs can turn to for assistance at Spring Singapore alone are generous. However, identifying what is most relevant and how to qualify can be daunting for SMEs.

Which is why Unisteel's executive chairman Bernard Toh was impressed when the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*Star) came knocking last year, toured his plant and narrowed down grant options.

'Approaching us made us feel comfortable. Many small firms feel nervous about whether government agencies will bother dealing with them if they call,' says the maker of high-tech screws.

Even as businessmen stumble over the mound of schemes, Mr Inderjit Singh highlights yet another.

Expected by year-end is a scheme to pool SMEs' borrowing needs to tap capital markets, like the big boys.

'If successful, we would have answered the call to create a bank for small businesses without a physical bank being set up,' he says.

Next on the to-do list: restructure intellectual property (IP) research grants, says Prof Wong.

Currently, the grants cannot be used for market research or building prototypes - vital processes for turning a patent into a commercial product.

'Unless it is done, venture capitalists won't invest because the technology is still too raw,' says Prof Wong.

IP ownership also needs fixing, says Mr Alex Thian, chairman and director of Research Biolabs Group, which provides life science equipment and services.

'If you let the inventor own the IP, rather than the institute he works for, he's more likely to be more motivated to take risks to commercialise his invention, since it'll be his name and his profits,' says Mr Thian, adding that the institute will have a better chance of recovering its grant costs from the profit of the business as well.

Deputy Prime Minister Tony Tan said recently that Singapore could look to the more liberal United States grant system as a model for improvement.

FOSTERING A NEW CULTURE

THE numbers augur well for Singapore. The GEM-NUS studies show entrepreneurs with degrees and diplomas doubled to 8 per cent last year from 4.1 per cent in 2002.

These are healthy signs, says Prof Wong: 'It's these groups that have a higher potential to yield high-growth companies such as Starbucks.'

However, this more-educated group is also victim to a Singaporean anti-enterprise tradition.

Typically, parents would be unrelenting in instilling in them their belief that the road to success is to ace exams to get a good job, not dabble in cooking or drawing.

Ms Serene Tan, chief operating officer of Global Active which brought GNC health supplements to this region, remembers her conditioning and believes changing aspects of the education system can help update this thinking.

'Our young spend their time going from school to tuition, from tuition to enrichment classes, from enrichment classes to home. There is little time to think, to imagine, to create. And to be an entrepreneur, you need to look at things from a different perspective,' she says.

Policymakers have noted the need, and are indeed offering more schooling options now and tweaking class projects to encourage different perspectives.

Teachers are being trained to get students thinking of ways to, for example, sell a new-found technology, or fix a current problem the school is facing, says Prof Wong.

Beyond the classroom, The Young Entrepreneur Mastery programme lets youths meet entrepreneurs at seminars, camps and games, said ACE's Dr Loo.

Hopefully, ideas will spark and a little derring-do will rub off on the youths. 'A lot of what we want is intangible,' adds Dr Loo, who is also executive chairman of Raffles Medical Group.

But 'intangible' might be a hardsell to the average Singaporean parent, whose hopes for his children would more likely be a tangibly comfortable lifestyle.

But turning that argument on its head, it may be that the intangibles are the key to maintaining one's lifestyle, as there are no safe jobs any more, says NTU's Prof Cham.

'You have to excel at whatever you do to survive. If you follow everyone else and end up a mediocre doctor or lawyer, life will be difficult as well,' he says.

Appealing to the Singapore parent's pragmatism, the former NTU president says: 'Children stand a better chance if parents let them pursue what they are good at and interested in.

'But, of course, convincing parents will take a while. So the growing signals to celebrate entrepreneurs - awards, media reports and TV shows on them - will all aid the change. Eventually, we'll get there.'

User-centred design can give S'pore edge in IT race

By Alvin Pang

IT IS not often that a Singaporean engineer gets to dictate terms with Microsoft.

A product engineer with Hewlett-Packard for 14 years, Mr Alex Kang led a Singapore-based team that designed the first Windows CE palm-size PCs, developing the form factors and user interfaces that are now ubiquitous in the personal digital assistant market.

Getting Microsoft to agree to certain features that would make its devices more user-friendly was like 'trying to push an elephant', recalls Mr Kang.

His team was also responsible for ground-breaking handheld products such as the HP Jornada and the HP Omnigo, the first palm-top to use the Graffiti handwriting recognition system that is still standard on Palm devices today.

That's right: Some of the IT industry's pioneering products were designed right here in Singapore, by local talent.

Mr Kang, who has five United States patents to his name, is an expert in Human Factors - the science of designing products, services and processes based on users' needs and behaviour. This broad-based field takes into account both hard and soft factors, including ergonomics, user psychology, aesthetics and ease of use. As a discipline, Human Factors is taught in engineering schools here but hardly ever applied systematically by local firms - in sharp contrast to multi-national companies from the US and Europe, where user-centred design is big business.

It is a situation Mr Kang hopes to address with Designius, perhaps the region's first independent Human Factors consultancy. As manufacturing moves to China and IT hubs like Taiwan and South Korea surge ahead with technological innovation, good design suited to users could well be the key differentiator for local products. But local firms have been slow to factor design into new product development.

Reservations are understandable: Technology products, in particular, are notoriously time-sensitive and based on novelty, so they have to reach the market as quickly as possible. Who has time to fiddle with the niceties while the competitors are catching up? And with profit margins tightening, is the additional cost of user-testing and design justifiable?

But the old mentality of 'invent first, design later' may be obsolete. Experts such as management dean Roger Martin, who considers design the 'new competitive weapon and key driver of innovation', see design and business skills converging. A British study published earlier this year even links design explicitly to commercial performance. It found that companies known for their effective designs have outperformed their peers by more than 200 per cent over the past 10 years.

Adding the human touch to technology works - and Apple, maker of iMacs and iPods, is a prime example. Sure, it has a great technological base to begin with, but look at how a soft touch, artistic flair and an intimate, painstakingly researched understanding of its users have transformed its brand and market position.

Even home-grown Creative Technologies is getting on the designer bandwagon, with its new device Zen Touch - a dead ringer for the iPod, (with better batteries and a lower price). But incremental, me-too design changes are not going to cut it. Retooling existing assembly lines or fixing code to iron out bugs simply add to the hidden costs behind badly designed products, without addressing fundamental shortcomings. As different functions converge into singular Swiss Army Knife devices, it becomes even more important that these are thoughtfully designed right from the start.

It is clear we have the talent in Singapore to make world-class products. So instead of jostling with products at the low end, perhaps local manufacturers could invest in putting a human touch to technology for the Asian market - after all, we have the technical knowledge and cultural know-how to start with. Add to that our strong ties to global industry and brands, we could be looking at a significant new competitive edge plus a vibrant design industry.

At the very least, our own products and services might become more attractive and accessible. And surely, if we do not make things we would love to use, we cannot expect the world to buy them.

Singapore's tolerance for failure rising

Social respect for those starting a business is going up, says Tharman; risk-taking culture crucial for Singapore

By Sandra Davie

A COMMUNITY that respects risk-taking and views failure as a stage to success is critical for Singapore to sustain an innovative economic system.

The presence of these social values is what distinguishes pro-enterprise cultures in countries like the United States from anti- enterprise cultures of Japan and even Britain, said Acting Education Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam yesterday.

'We know the tolerance for failure here has been low. But from most accounts, it is now rising. And social respect for those who start a business is going up,' he added.

One indicator is the number of students who enrolled at the National University of Singapore's Entrepreneurship Centre. Five years ago, the centre, which runs entrepreneurship courses, had fewer than 200 students. In the last academic year, which ended in May this year, there were some 1,100 students.

Mr Tharman was addressing the Inaugural Roundtable On Entrepreneurship Education Asia 2004 at the NUS Guild House yesterday. The two-day conference has brought together professors from leading universities around the world to exchange ideas on teaching entrepreneurship at the NUS campus.

A pro-enterprise culture is one of three dimensions he cited as necessary to sustain a vibrant economy. The other two are skills and research capabilities of its people and competitive markets governed by the rule of law. Lack of any one dimension would stifle innovation, he said.

'Bringing innovation into education and building strong university-business linkages in particular are increasingly important in developing sustained, innovation-driven growth.'

He said it is no coincidence that institutions such as Stanford and University of California, Berkeley, with outstanding records of producing alumni who have succeeded in high-tech fields, stress entrepreneurship education early in their training of engineering students.

Overseas speakers here for the conference include Dr Tina Seelig and Professor Andrew Isaacs. Dr Seelig heads the Stanford Technology Ventures Programme, an entrepreneurship education centre located within Stanford University's School of Engineering, and Prof Isaacs heads a similar programme in UC, Berkeley.

They will speak on technopreneurship education research and how experiential learning can complement classroom teaching in nurturing entrepreneurs.

NUS president Shih Choon Fong, who also spoke at the conference, said that while NUS efforts at entrepreneurship education are still new, it has already seen encouraging signs. To date, 75 students have spent a year in the first two overseas colleges in Silicon Valley and Philadelphia, where students attend courses on how to run a business and work in high-tech start-ups.

The graduates from these overseas colleges have dominated business competitions like Start-up@Singapore and the Lee Kuan Yew Global Business Plan Competition. Another, and more promising, sign is that high-tech, global businesses have been started by some of these graduates.

One example is Miss Goh Yiping, 22, who has just finished her one-year stint in Philadelphia. She has set up a company, World Indigo, that will allow airlines around the world to offer text messaging and e-mail services on board, cheaply.

Stanford students here to network

They are on work stints here to connect with entrepreneurs

By Ho Ka Wei

A SLICE of Silicon Valley landed here last month with a programme called the Stanford Asia Technology Initiative (ATI) .

Run entirely by students from the top American university Stanford in California, the programme is to let them network and connect with entrepreneurs here, through a work stint as well as a conference at the end of next month.

Such a programme has been running in China for five years and India for the last two years.

Six fellows, as the programme's participants are called, are working with biotech and technology firms here, such as stem cell research firm ES Cell International and Green Dot Capital, the strategic information technology arm of the Singapore Technologies group.

It is similar to an internship, but with the broader aim of promoting the sharing of ideas on models of success in entrepreneurship. Five of the fellows are Americans and one is an Indian.

The tech world is dotted with Stanford alumni, including the founders of search engines Yahoo and Google, Hewlett-Packard and networking giant Cisco Systems.

The idea for the Singapore set-up came from Stanford student Tony Hung, 20, who is doing entrepreneurial research in a department within the Economic Development Board. He is the business development director of the Singapore set-up. Working with him is Singaporean Julia Heng, 20, the set-up's marketing director who just graduated from Stanford.

Mr Hung pitched it to his university, citing favourable conditions for entrepreneurship here, such as a pro-business climate and a system for intellectual property protection.

'The students are fellows, not interns. This is to differentiate what they do, since they work closely with CEOs, vice-presidents and upper management,' he said. 'It's 'big-picture' problem-solving rather than nitty-gritty everyday running.'

For example, Mr Tamonath Banerjee, 24, who is working on his master's in management at Stanford, holds the title of financial analyst at Green Dot and makes recommendations on emerging technologies to its senior executives.

Host companies like ES Cell welcome the infusion of talent. Its chief executive, Mr Robert Klupacs, told The Straits Times yesterday: 'I believe young people often add a fresh perspective to our work and workplace... the fellow we have is well-received, both for his ability and enthusiasm.'

He added that a programme like Stanford ATI can encourage 'entrepreneurial creativity' here, a topic that will be explored during a conference next month organised jointly by Stanford ATI and Nanyang Technological University's Technopreneurship Centre.

Associate Professor Yeong Hin Yuen, the NTU centre's deputy director, said: 'Hopefully, through the conference, we can compare and extract from the best models of success for entrepreneurship.'

More details about the Stanford ATI can be found online at ati.stanford.edu

Speeding up risk-taking culture

LAST week's Insight looked at recent initiatives in the civil service, schools and the private sector to develop a more entrepreneurial culture in Singapore. Readers share their views.

'SENIOR Minister Lee Kuan Yew has suggested that the civil service release half of its scholars after their service to become entrepreneurs.

Why not offer some of the scholarships to entrepreneurs instead? This may lead to policy-making at the top which is more in tune with the needs of businesses.'
- Mr Leong Sze Hian

'IT IS often said that parents are partly to blame for forcing children to choose certain courses of study.

However, parents are only doing this because they are aware of the economic realities should their children fail to secure stable careers.

A big challenge facing the Government is to create a balance between gearing the nation to take on the rapidly changing global economic climate and enabling Singaporeans to pursue their passions, regardless of whether they are economically viable or not at present.'
- Mr Bernard Ee

'INVENTIONS and innovations are the untapped wealth within Singapore's engineering pool built up from the 1970s. Instead of inventors running around for assistance, they should be invited to present their ideas. Help must be given fast during the incubation period, before giants like China and India cannibalise it all.'
- Mr Eric Khoo

'EVERYTHING boils down to how much you have to start a business and be an entrepreneur. Forget about leaving a corporate job, becoming an entrepreneur and making it big if you don't have deep pockets.

An entrepreneur who does not make it big and wants to return to the corporate world is a liability. Employers never look at it as experience gained. They see you as a failure.'
- Mr Charles Ho

AUG 8, 2004
More jobs in creative fields by 2012

YOUNG people with the flair for and interest in the arts, media and design can look forward to more jobs in these fields by 2012.

This is a result of a plan by the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts (Mita) to double the creative industries' gross domestic product contribution to 6 per cent over the next eight years.

Mita Minister Lee Boon Yang said this yesterday when speaking at his ministry's National Day observance ceremony at the Mita Building atrium.

Mita's efforts in the creative sectors as well as on heritage programmes, libraries, public communications and infocomms would not only feed the Singapore economy but also 'enhance our social well-being, resilience and cultural roots,' he said.

Speaking to The Sunday Times later, he highlighted the National Arts Council's reorganisation into more specialised performing, visual and literary arts clusters.

Noting the job market recovery amid the economy's upward swing, he added that Mita's initiatives would spark off 'many more opportunities for people with a creative bent and creative capabilities'.

At yesterday's event, in between video clips of two Dick Lee-composed National Day songs, We Will Get There and Home, as well as a dance performance by the Singapore Ballet Academy, Dr Lee spoke of how Singaporeans had overcome trials such as the economic downturn and last year's Sars outbreak.

The events could be regarded as a test of the country's maturity.

Dr Lee also said that one of Mita's responsibilities in today's climate of global terrorism would be to strengthen national resilience and build up Singapore's psychological defence.

Copyright @ 2004 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved.

Balakrishnan to head entrepreneurship drive

Acting Community Development Minister gets extra role and promises no let-up in pro-enterprise movement

By Soh Wen Lin

DR VIVIAN Balakrishnan has been appointed to oversee the government entrepreneurship drive, taking over from Mr Raymond Lim who had held the post from February last year, the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) announced yesterday.

This will be an additional responsibility for Dr Balakrishnan, an eye specialist who was sworn in yesterday as Acting Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS) - a role which includes a key task of reaching out to Singapore's post-Independence generation.

Mr Lim relinquishes the entrepreneurship role now he has moved on to become Acting Second Minister for Finance and Senior Minister of State (Foreign Affairs).

Some businessmen expected Mr Lim to continue to oversee the entrepreneurship drive despite his move to the Finance Ministry because they said there is still synergy and relevance between the two roles.

However, yesterday's announcement indicates that the overseeing role will rest with MTI rather than any individual.

Dr Balakrishnan holds the concurrent post of Senior Minister of State (Trade and Industry).

The MTI statement released yesterday said: 'As Mr Raymond Lim will be leaving MTI, Dr Vivian Balakrishnan will take over from Mr Lim as the Senior Minister of State in charge of entrepreneurship with effect from Aug 13, 2004.'

Dr Balakrishnan said yesterday there will be no let-up in the momentum.

'Mr Lim has done a great job in igniting the entrepreneurship scene in Singapore. I hope to build on the strong foundation he has laid,' he told The Straits Times.

'I will be meeting various members of the business community over the next few weeks to discuss relevant issues in greater detail.'

Businessmen were optimistic that one benefit from this rotation of the role among younger ministers will be that more of them will gain a deeper understanding of the needs and challenges in Singapore's enterprise scene.

Indeed, Mr Lim told The Straits Times one of his greatest pleasures of the past year was to meet all sorts of entrepreneurs and discuss their challenges and opportunities.

He said even though he is leaving the entrepreneurship portfolio, he remains committed to the cause.

'I believe our future lies in fostering a more open, creative and entrepreneurial society,' he said in an e-mail response to questions.

'I have no doubts Dr Balakrishnan will take the entrepreneurship movement to greater heights. MCYS is keen on promoting social entrepreneurship and this will further help in broadening and deepening the entrepreneurship movement.'

Technopreneur Inderjit Singh, who is also a Member of Parliament for Ang Mo Kio GRC, said of the move:

'I think we know Dr Balakrishnan better for running hospitals, but he's smart enough to do what the new job requires. And we in the enterprise community will be happy to help and support him at his new appointment.'

Mr Lawrence Leow, president of the Association of Small and Medium Enterprises, said he believes there will be continuity given that Dr Balakrishnan had been Minister of State at MTI with Mr Lim in the Government of Mr Goh Chok Tong.

'It's good that the job stays with a younger minister. It'll be more vibrant,' he added.

AUG 29, 2004
No-tech is welcome too, as Singapore takes brave new approach on foreign entrepreneurs
Forget qualifications and money, now foreign entrepreneurs just need good business ideas

By Susan Long

IT USED to be that the worth of a business plan was weighed by the paper it was printed on, rather than the quality of the idea it broached.

Entrepreneurial ability was measured - oddly enough - by one's bank balance, capital, staff strength and formal learning.

Foreigners who wanted to set up shop here had to apply for the Approval-in-Principle Employment Pass Scheme. Criteria included a minimum monthly salary of $2,500 and 'acceptable' tertiary or professional qualifications.

From 1999 onwards, they could also apply for the Technopreneur 21 Scheme, which carried the same conditions, except that the scheme catered mainly to technology-based, knowledge- intensive and intellectual property-centric businesses.

Alternatively, if they had at least $1 million to spare, they could sink it into a new start-up here, and apply for permanent residence under the Global Investor Programme.

Unsurprisingly, all the above pro-entrepreneurship initiatives ended up being seen as narrowly focused, rule-bound systems that took too few risks and made too many demands.

Western entrepreneurs found it tough getting in, even riding on the mastheads of family-owned, medium-sized businesses with a significant presence abroad.

Those from emerging economies with clever ideas but no track record, or in obscure sectors where Singapore had no manifested 'hub' aspirations, had even less hope.

That was until a new scheme to encourage foreigners to seed ventures here, called the EntrePass, was launched last October, with two significant differences. One, it dropped the earlier minimum income/education/investment criteria and, two, it hinged entry simply upon a 'sound business plan'.

Since then, the entrepreneurial floodgates have been flung, well, half open. According to the latest figures from its administrator, the Manpower Ministry, at the end of June, nearly 40 per cent of more than 820 EntrePass applications had been approved. The bulk are from China, Malaysia and India.

Although successful applicants hark mainly from the tried-and-tested commerce, finance and business services sectors, the scheme has ventured beyond taking the usual double-hedged, triple-researched risks. It is making serious bets on some way-out business ideas.

For starters, some unorthodox EntrePass entrants include animal psychologists, chocolatiers, glass artists - and even a Telugu film distributor.

Meet Mr Arun Erasmus, 47, who epitomises the new EntrePass holder, with a novel-thick resume, diverse interests and a raft of plucky plans. The serial entrepreneur, who has dabbled in textiles, electronic goods and spices, is currently here to hatch his latest - distributing Telugu movies and marketing aloe vera pulp.

Others like Mr Stefan Hutter, 44, who used to head sales at Swiss textile machinery giant, the Rieter Group, in Taiwan and Kuala Lumpur, are going it alone for the first time. He has chosen Singapore for his ambitious maiden voyage - to recycle polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles into home furnishing fabrics and textiles.

Most of them are highly adaptive global citizens with nomadic backgrounds and can-do attitudes. Mr Hutter hails from Switzerland, is married to a Swede of Thai descent and has 13 years of corporate experience working all over the globe.

Mr Erasmus hails from India, has a Maldivian wife, and has lived in and run companies in the Maldives, Dubai, London and Los Angeles.

Letting people like these in on the merit of their, in many cases, low-tech or even no-tech business plans has marked a brave departure from the Government's proclivity for high-tech ventures.

Almost overnight, the traditional insistence on the Silicon Valley model - boasting high growth, scalability, earnings capacity and intellectual property - seems to have been relaxed.

Industry watchers are still rubbing their eyes in disbelief and asking: Could it be that the Government is - finally - ceasing and desisting from picking winners?

Singapore's former entrepreneurship czar, Mr Raymond Lim, who pushed through most of these changes and was recently named Acting Second Finance Minister and Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, says 'yes'.

'There are two important implications of the change. By moving away from educational qualifications and salary as criteria, we are sending a signal that innovative business ideas can come from people from all walks of life.

'By not selecting winners based on clusters, we recognise that good companies can also emerge in traditional sectors like commerce and services. Global companies like McDonald's and The Body Shop testify to that,' he told Think.

All this makes perfect sense to Insead adjunct professor of entrepreneurship Patrick Turner.

'There is a lot of value to be created in what you would not consider sexy, high-tech businesses like Walmart and Starbucks. Similarly, Thai Express, Sakae Sushi, BreadTalk and Qian Hu are perfectly good businesses which beat their competition flat, meet unsatisfied needs and are doing nicely, thank you,' he notes.

Of course, there is no denying creation of value on a serious world scale is still going to come from high-techs which have the potential to attract venture capital and grow into Microsofts, Ciscos and Oracles.

But putting things into perspective, he says: 'Only 10 to 15 per cent of entrepreneurial start-ups get venture capital funding. That means 85 to 90 per cent don't. But that doesn't mean they don't go on to make nice money and employ a lot of people.'

Indeed, among the first batch of EntrePass holders, three foreign Insead business school graduates - German Paul Vega, 30, Filipino Jose Jamil Zaide, 31, and Taiwanese Wendy Ou, 29 - have gone on to set up CineNow, which operates 24-hour DVD vending machines islandwide. It now employs 12 people and is fast expanding.

But before - if at all - things take off, the reality is that half of all new companies fold within four years of creation.

This begs some questions: What are the larger, or indeed more assured, returns of letting in these EntrePass venturers, since most of them are still largely fledgling, one-man shows? If their outfits take off, won't they promptly take off too, to the next money pot?

Venturing an answer, Prof Turner says that whether they stay or quit Singapore is perhaps of less consequence than what they leave behind.

As Mr Lim puts it: 'Foreign entrepreneurs will bring with them valuable expertise that our enterprises can leverage on and they are potential partners for our local businesses to collaborate with as they venture abroad.'

More important, attracting foreign entrepreneurs also helps 'augment the local pool', while it takes its time to fill up, he says.

Indeed, Prof Turner notes it will probably take a generation or two for a 'critical mass' of local entrepreneurs to be developed. Studies have shown that more people will be prodded into starting their own businesses if they live in a community where entrepreneurship is seen as a perfectly normal and acceptable career.

'This way, you can accelerate the process by getting foreigners to plant businesses here. It's a bit like seeding,' he says, 'but getting people from overseas to do their seeding in your backyard'.

Copyright @ 2004 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved.

An example of foreign entrepreneur.....

AUG 29, 2004
The chocolatier

WHO: Mr Geert Renmans, 33

WHERE FROM: This Belgian always knew he wanted to be a chocolatier. 'The world associates the Swiss with watches, the French with wine, and Belgians with chocolates. I'm a cliche, but I don't mind,' he guffaws.

The cocoa lover munches candy bars for breakfast, goes on truffle buying sprees in Paris and checks out the dessert menu first when ordering in restaurants.

At age 18, he quit high school in Belgium to become a pastry chef. He studied bakery at the renowned polytechnic, Ter Groene Poorte, in Brugge, for three years before undergoing patisserie apprenticeships in Switzerland, France and the United States.

WHY SINGAPORE: In 2001, a US telecommunications company offered him a position here as a customer services officer.

After his belongings were shipped here, the company, then downsizing, abruptly called off the move. But he decided to come anyway since everything was paid for.

Within three weeks, he had landed a job as pastry chef at Jeremy's and later Les Amis restaurant. Then after a year as production manager at local chocolatier Sins, he quit to start his own outfit, Maison Gerard (which means House of Gerard - his first name, in French).

The EntrePass scheme was a godsend. 'Before this, you needed to have a million in your bank account. I don't have that kind of money and no one is going to lend it to me either.

'Also, all this time, it felt very scary working on an employment pass. Somebody had to support you. As a foreigner, the waiting period, wondering whether your visa will go through, is the worst.'

WHAT'S BREWING: From his 2,200 sq ft production facility at Tuas Bay Walk, he handmakes fresh chocolates, infusing them with flavours such as basil, ginger, wasabi, chillies, szechuan pepper, durians, kaya, lemongrass, sesame and crunchy love letters.

Besides exotica, his edge is price and freshness. He sells his chocolates for about $60 a kilo. Other Belgian brand names start at $150 a kilo. He also holds chocolate-making classes on weekends at $40 a head.

WHAT'S AT STAKE: He has spent about $100,000 of his savings on machinery, packaging, ingredients, licences and renovations. He has also bought a Renault Clio and signed a two-year lease for his $2,500-a-month office at Tuas. His overheads come up to about $10,000 a month.

With an equivalent start-up budget in Europe, he reckons he would have double the production floor space plus a shopfront.

Here, if he continues to break even, he will have only his 'own little chocolate shop' some time next year. For now, he takes orders by phone (tel: 92703714).

BUSINESS THUS FAR: He has signed a few deals with local bakery chains, hotels, restaurants and Vietnamese distributors, but refuses to say more. Two part-time employees help out with big orders and he hopes to expand to four full-timers by the end of this year.

Meanwhile, he is a one-man operation, multitasking as CEO, salesman, cleaner, filling maker and delivery boy.

THE GAME PLAN: 'I'm not going anywhere,' says the bachelor, who shares a rented house in the Holland Road area with two Labrador retrievers.

'For me, this move is not about greed. I'm here because I prefer to be a black sheep, rather than a white sheep that just blends into the crowd. I'm taking a huge risk. I believe there's a market in Singapore.'

He knows his chosen profession bucks the stereotype here of the white expatriate in a business suit.

'There are many people here who look down on me because I work with my hands... And I'm only the pastry chef, not even the executive chef, with no hope of earning big bucks.

'But tough - I don't care. I'm making an honest living. For me, it's not about money but passion. My reward is when I give a box of chocolates to people who can't wait to open it. They pop one in their mouths and go 'mmm'. That's like heaven on earth for me.'

Copyright @ 2004 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved.


AUG 29, 2004
The education counsellor

WHO: Ms Kaz Saito, 35

WHERE FROM: She is an oddball in the education business. She does not believe in fancy degrees, recoils against the Japanese obsession with credentials and is an advocate of learning for its own sake.

At 20, armed with just junior college education, the feisty Tokyo native worked her way up in Ricoh, pipping many graduates to become corporate sales manager after about six years.

At 25, she took off for Australia on a 'voyage to discover myself'. After a year, she returned to Tokyo and set up Blanc Bleu, a career-counselling service to help mature Japanese students find the right schools overseas and hopefully themselves in the process. In the past seven years, she has placed over 500 Japanese students in institutions overseas, helping them select programmes, handling admission and visa requirements and even providing counselling support for their parents in Japan.

WHY SINGAPORE: Singapore's efforts to become Asia's knowledge hub and its success in attracting world-class institutions seized her attention.

Determined to see it for herself, she applied for a two-year MBA course at the Management Development Institute of Singapore and relocated here in 2001. She was the oldest, as well as the only one without a bachelor's degree, in her cohort.

Upon graduation, she decided to stay on to develop her business. 'In Japan, entrepreneurs look only to the domestic market. In Singapore, you can target the whole of Asia, even the whole world,' she says.

WHAT'S COOKING: She started The Incubator Institute last month to arrange customised executive programmes at the National University of Singapore and Singapore Management University for her mid-career Japanese clients.

WHAT'S AT STAKE: So far, she has sunk in S$30,000, set up an office in Robinson Road and plans to hire two employees soon. In Tokyo, a staff of three help run Blanc Bleu.

BUSINESS THUS FAR: She estimates a revenue of US$400,000 (S$680,000) this year and US$500,000 next year. Her eventual goal is to turn over US$1 million a year, which she projects will happen in three years.

THE GAMEPLAN: She has given herself 10 years here to make it and come up with a viable, non-government alternative to the moribund, inward-looking Japanese education system.

Copyright @ 2004 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved.

oh wow i was just going to post tthe chocolate guy! i'm quite excited!

How Duck tours nearly ended up a lame duck

Entrepreneur mentioned by PM Lee took two years to register his tours after going through endless rounds of negotiations

By Karl Ho

WHEN Mr James Heng tried to get his Duck tours off the ground in December 2000, he nearly cried in frustration.

He had spent $1 million on buying and rebuilding two American amphibious vehicles to turn into tourist vehicles here, but could not get a licence for them.

'I had to present the vehicles first before we could have serious engagements with the authorities,' he said yesterday.

He went through endless rounds of 'negotiations, discussions, presentations and re-submissions', and had to deal with at least seven agencies.

'Every entity was pulling me from all sides,' said Mr Heng, 43, the chief executive officer of Duck Tours.

Along the way, he was told he had to abide by some strange rules.

One agency said bumpers had to be built round the 13-tonne vehicles, which are popularly known as 'Ducks' in tourism circles.

'This was to protect pedestrians from being pulled under. But we're travelling at a safe speed of 30kmh and are so big,' he said.

Another said the Ducks required 'police escort' because of their size.

It took two years before he got a licence to run his tours.

His plight was highlighted by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong as an example of how policy makers should not put obstacles in the way of entrepreneurs.

Mr Heng said it was sweet vindication to hear Mr Lee talk about his experience.

Trained in architecture and with a master's in business administration from the University of Hull in Britain, he started out as a marketing executive with Neptune Agencies, the marketing agent for Neptune Orient Lines.

He later went into various businesses, including running his own freight-forwarding company.

In 2000, he chanced on the concept of Duck tours on the Internet. He and a silent partner poured $1.5 million into the project.

About 180,000 passengers have taken the tours so far. They are given a ride around the city before making a splash in Marina Park for a harbour tour. Adults pay $33 and children, $17.

Mr Heng said he knows of other businessmen who have faced red tape.

'One thing about the civil service is it is easier for it to say 'no' rather than 'yes',' he said.

'If you approach it the other way round with a 'why not?', we'll have so many more interesting things here.'

In fact, even when the Ducks were finally allowed to operate in May 2002, he was told he could ferry only 12 passengers at a time instead of 31, its full capacity.

'We were bleeding because 12 passengers just isn't viable. And we had to work like dogs, not ducks.'

However, help came from the government-led Pro-Enterprise Panel, set up in 2000 to remove red tape. It facilitated meetings between Mr Heng and government agencies.

In September 2002, the Ducks were allowed to carry 31 people.

Earlier this month, Mr Heng launched Hippo tours. Hippos are open-top buses which ferry tourists for a fee of $23. The concept took six months to get clearance.

His company made a $500,000 loss in its first year but posted a $350,000 profit last year.

'We started off as a lame duck, but now we've taken off pretty well,' he said. 'Hopefully the Duck will be a springboard for many better things.'

Demand soars for local brand Inke's ink refiller

By Natalie Soh

AT COMEX a year ago, homegrown brand Inke was a new name in the printing game.

It took on the giant of the desktop printing world, Hewlett-Packard, by coming up with a no-mess, one-touch system to automatically refill its ink cartridges.

Since then, it has climbed into the commercial stratosphere, with distributors in 35 places, including the United States, Australia, Britain, Germany and Hong Kong. It is also available on Amazon. com.

Not bad for the coffeemaker-sized device dubbed 'The Little Gadget That Could'.

Sales are expected to exceed US$20 million (S$34.4 million) in the first year of operation.

When Inke was first launched in September last year, it sold 5,000 units in the first three weeks. Today, it sells 20,000 units a month.

Now founder Tan Kong Cheok, 28, is taking on more big boys.

He launched three new models yesterday at this year's Comex fair, and the device can now work with printer cartridges from 12 brands, including Lexmark, Samsung, Compaq, Kodak, Sharp, Sony and Apple.

The concept is simple: Simply slot a used cartridge into the Inke machine, pop in an Inke ink tank costing $9.90 each, close the door and press a button.

In less than five minutes, the ink cartridge is refilled and ready to go back into the printer. No mess, no ink-stained fingers and no syringes.

What Mr Tan and a team of engineers did at Inke was to cram the technology of the car-sized industrial machines used to refill the cartridges into a small package.

The machine currently costs $89 with three refills, but the company is selling starter kits comprising the machine and one refill for $55 at Comex.

This compares to forking out up to $60 for a single non-refillable printer cartridge.

There was some resistance at first, admitted Mr Tan.

He surmised that some people at first feared that they would somehow damage their printers.

But they were swayed when he pointed out that the machine reused their original cartridges, and that no holes would be drilled in them.

Now, Mr Tan has a different problem - meeting demand.

He is looking at building a second factory to complement the one in Malaysia, which is already running at full capacity.

This second factory might come in handy because of Inke's ambitions: There are 200 million inkjet printers in homes and offices worldwide 'and we want to reach every one of them', said Mr Tan.

http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/mnt/media/image/launched/2004-08-27/h12.jpg
No ink-stained fingers: Slot a used cartridge into the machine, pop in an Inke ink tank, close the door and press a button. In less than five minutes, the cartridge is refilled and ready to go back into your printer.

SEPT 4, 2004
Singaporean out to rule world of mobile games
Businessman Lian Han sets out in Japan to build what he hopes will become the No.1 developer and distributor of mobile games

By Kwan Weng Kin

TOKYO - Singapore businessman Lian Han knows what it is like to be rejected.

To get his mobile game publishing and distribution company off the ground, he once spent four months in Seoul, together with a childhood friend who provided computing and psychological support, knocking on the doors of game studios.

'Each rejection meant we had another opportunity to repeat our lines and to say them better,' said the 34-year-old.

Perseverance and, above all, a belief in what he was doing finally paid off. Hundreds of cold calls and having a thick skin also helped, he said.

http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/mnt/media/image/launched/2004-09-04/a11.jpg
Going places, Mr Lian has clinched the rights to more than 200 game titles in Seoul, set up in Nanjing what he says is the world's largest mobile game factory, and is in Japan to conquer the world's biggest game market. -- KWAN WENG KIN

'The Koreans told me at first they had seen a lot of fraud cases involving Chinese. I told them I was an overseas Chinese from Singapore. That was very important to them. I was able to establish trust,' he said.

The fact that Mr Lian holds a taekwon-do black belt and can speak a smattering of Korean also went down well with the Koreans.

He left Seoul with the exclusive rights to more than 200 game titles and brought them back to his mobile game factory in Nanjing, China, which he claims is the world's largest right now.

His company, Bbmf Corporation, was established in 2002 in a partnership with Hong Kong-based dot.com entrepreneur Antony Yip.

It has a paid-up capital of US$4.9 million (S$8.3 million). Traded over the counter on Nasdaq, it has an estimated market capitalisation of US$46 million.

At the Nanjing facility, bright young Chinese graduates localise games and in so doing learn to develop their own.

They produce 20 to 30 games a month, including networking titles, porting them to 300 or so different handsets for distribution to 18 countries and economies.

Mr Lian is now in Tokyo for the ultimate challenge - to build a company that he hopes will become the world's largest developer and distributor of mobile games.

'I came here to plant my flag because Japan is the largest single game market in the world,' said Mr Lian, who studied economics and Japanese at the University of Pennsylvania.

'We are making so many games now, we need to distribute them in Japan but we must work with local content providers to do so.'

His first Japanese partner is Mr Naoya Harano of video game-maker Atlus, who reaped a bonanza with his Print Club photo sticker machines.

With the help of Japanese shareholders, Mr Lian plans to acquire content providers.

He is also eyeing Japan's wealth of mobile games and animation characters. He hopes to have mobile versions of Gameboy Advance and PlayStation 2 titles and to license animation characters to turn his generic game engines into branded games for the local and world markets.

Bbmf's Nanjing operations, with its number of developers set to rise from 200 currently to 300 by the end of the year, can produce a game at a fraction of the cost in Japan.

Copyright @ 2004 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved.

SEPT 8, 2004
Govt seeks public input to boost entrepreneurship
Minister spells out five areas in which people can give feedback on how to promote a pro-business environment

By Suryani Omar

THESE days, it seems everyone has an opinion on Singapore's drive to promote entrepreneurship, going by the buzz on chat forums and letters to the media. And now the Government wants your input, too.

Whether you are a budding businessman or already in a start-up, or even someone fed up with the very notion of entrepreneurship, it wants your feedback if you have anything to contribute in five areas it has singled out.

They are culture, rules, finance, market opportunities and business support, the Acting Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports, Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, who is also the Senior Minister of State (Trade and Industry), said last night.

He was addressing the Spirit of Enterprise (SOE) Awards at Shangri-La Hotel.

The feedback exercise, which is being carried out by the Action Community for Entrepreneurship (ACE), a private sector-led body set up to promote entrepreneurship in Singapore, will start today and last for a month.

'We are eager to hear from all of you - entrepreneurs, would-be entrepreneurs and even those who may not desire to be an entrepreneur,' said the minister who also heads the Government's entrepreneurship drive.

He added that ACE wanted 'to take entrepreneurship to greater heights'.

ACE said that its five focus areas are geared towards making the local environment pro-business. For example, suggestions on finance can be aimed at helping small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) increase their access to financing, while input on rules can help the Government improve existing regulations to help SMEs grow.

Dr Balakrishnan presented plaques and a cheque of $1,000 each to 39 recipients of the Spirit of Enterprise Award 2004.

SOE is a non-profit organisation that promotes entrepreneurship. It launched its awards last year to honour dedicated entrepreneurs who overcame the odds and managed to get their business running.

Among the recipients was Mr Chua Beng Hwa, who started Face of Man Skincare Salon in 1992 with his brother Adam and partner James Teo after realising there was a lack of salons offering grooming and skin care for men.

'The award is a wonderful form of recognition for people who have worked hard and endured failure,' said the 39-year-old, who went to Britain to pick up skin-care techniques.

His foresight and ability in carving out a niche for his business was praised by Dr Balakrishnan, who also applauded SOE for its efforts in highlighting the case of entrepreneurs such as Mr Chua.

SOE president Russell Miller, meanwhile, said: 'The determination and fighting spirit displayed by the recipients is amazing, all of them did not give up even when they were hit by bad times.'

The founding chairman of SOE, NTUC Income's chief executive, Mr Tan Kin Lian, said he hoped that the awards 'will be an inspiration to others' and that the recipients would be role models.

Besides honouring the entrepreneurs, the Friend of Enterprise Awards were also given to finance institution Hong Leong Finance and Spring Singapore, the former Productivity and Standards Board, in recognition of their efforts to support entrepreneurship.

Feedback can be sent to ACE via fax at 6271-9905, e-mail at info@ace.org.sg or through the hotline on 6279-3947 or 6279-3753.

Copyright @ 2004 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved.

SEPT 9, 2004
Govt to give leg-up to non-tech start-ups

THOSE with entrepreneurial dreams in non-technology start-ups can now apply for equity funding from SPRING Singapore, which will match, dollar-for-dollar, money put up by the entrepreneur's investor.

The scheme, called SPRING Seeds, will invest up to $300,000 in approved non-technology start-ups meeting three criteria: substantial innovation or intellectual content, good potential for long-term growth and profitability, and scalability of the business for the home market, with potential for the international market.

Funs of $10 million have been set up for the SPRING Seeds programme.

'Seeds' is the acronym for 'Startup EnterprisE Development Scheme. It was launched by the Economic Development Board in 2001 to help technology start-ups through equity financing. The scheme has now been extended to non-technology start-ups as well.

Copyright @ 2004 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved.

SEPT 11, 2004
Female Malay entrepreneur is 8th time lucky
Hard work and perseverance pay off for winners of business awards; they can be role models for Malays, says BG Yeo

By Azhar Khalid

IT TOOK perseverance and pluck.

Malay mother-of-one Alinah Aman endured seven business failures before finding success in the male-dominated maritime industry, with computer software to train crews.

Last night, it paid off for the 41-year-old director of information technology and software solutions company, TNA Solutions.

Ms Alinah was named Malay Woman Entrepreneur of the Year by the Singapore Malay Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SMCCI).

The Malay Entrepreneur of the Year award went to property firm PropNex chief executive Mohamed Ismail Gafoore, 41, while the Malay Young Entrepreneur was cafe owner Zulkarnine Hafiz, 36.

Foreign Minister George Yeo, who presented the awards to the winners at a gala dinner at the Grand Hyatt Hotel last night, said entrepreneurship was the key to success.

'We should encourage more Malays in Singapore to be interested in business, and to take calculated risks... We need role models to encourage and inspire young Malay Singaporeans.

'A successful entrepreneur can contribute much more to Singapore as a whole than a successful professional or civil servant.'

Ms Alinah told The Straits Times that she was eighth time lucky in business after going through seven business failures.

But in 1998, she founded TNA with capital of $300,000 from a friend, and has never looked back since.

TNA's flagship product is computer software called Maritime Learning and Management Solutions, which trains crews how to operate ship equipment.

The company earned $1.1 million in the first eight months of this year and this is expected to grow to $2 million for the full year.

When she was developing the product, Ms Alinah had to spend several days at sea on a ship full of men to learn how maritime equipment works.

She is proud that her clients now include big names such as Neptune Orient Lines, Eagle Ship Management and the Republic of Singapore Navy.

Ms Alinah puts her dogged practicality down to her 13 years in the army. It was there that she honed her IT skills as the head of the computer-aided instruction branch at the Singapore Armed Forces Training Institute.

'My experience in the army has taught me to be comfortable working in a male-dominated industry, and it has also taught me to persevere despite going through several failures,' she said.

Ms Alinah, married with a three-year-old daughter, came from a poor family with eight siblings.

She had to turn down an offer to pursue her studies at the local university because her parents could not afford it.

But she persevered and managed to obtain tertiary qualifications. Now she holds a Masters in Education from the University of Sheffield and also teaches on a part-time basis at the Centre of Educational Development at the Nanyang Technological University.

The army was also the starting point for Malay Entrepreneur award winner Ismail.

But from the outset, he dreamt of becoming an entrepreneur. He had to forego a gratuity of $140,000 when he resigned from the army to start his business.

He formed property consultancy firm Nooris Consultants in 1996. He later founded PropNex this year by merging four property firms. The company has 3,700 agents and rakes in a turnover of about $50 million a year.

Mr Ismail wants to expand into Malaysia and Shanghai and hopes to list the company on the Singapore Exchange.

For cafe owner Zulkarnine, he was the first recipient of the SMCCI's Malay Young Entrepreneur. He now runs three Fig & Olive cafes, which serve Western and Mediterranean food.

With a degree in electrical and electronics engineering, he said he saw a business niche because there were not many eateries serving such food in 'halal' fashion.

His business now generates an annual turnover of about $250,000.

Copyright @ 2004 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved.

Business Times - 17 Sep 2004

Entrepreneurs give a hand to like-minded youth

By DANIEL BUENAS

HAVING built up her fashion retail chain into an recognisable brand, 77th Street founder Elim Chew is now helping young entrepreneurs achieve the same success.

Ms Chew, together with another five entrepreneurs, have come together to form a non-profit organisation aimed at encouraging entrepreneurship among Singapore's youth.

Called The Young Entrepreneur Mastery (Tyem), the group has to date reached out to over 14,000 students and professionals through its workshops, courses, seminars and conferences.

Tyem's latest project is 'Incubator Project', in which eight entrepreneurs have set up three 500 sqft retail stores in China Square Central over the past three months after guidance from the organisation. These shops deal in a range of merchandise, including children's clothing, art and aromatherapy.

'We are nurturing these eight entrepreneurs on a long-term basis,' said Tyem managing director Adrian Lim. 'We help and advise them, based on learnt success and failure experiences, on business plans, strategies and networking, so as to enhance their chances of success, sustainability and growth.'

Mr Lim said that Tyem plans to take more such entrepreneurs into its fold in the future, and is already talking to three other possible candidates.

Formed in April last year, Tyem's programmes focus on entrepreneurship, innovation and creativity.

'Our vision is to empower people and help them envision their future,' said Ms Chew.

'In this aspect, we then have a three-pronged approach intended to enable participants to realise their innate potential: to identify entrepreneurial-minded youth, to inspire and instil entrepreneurship and to develop creativity, innovation and compassion.'

Tyem is targeting 'youths' up to 39 years old, and came about after Ms Chew started spending time giving talks on entrepreneurship in schools and found that there was a lack of follow-up for students.

Tyem has a youth programme that aims to train children as young as 10. 'Many youths think that being an entrepreneur is not that difficult,' he said. 'Tyem seeks to instil in them the correct approach. There's a lot more to being an entrepreneur than just saying that you want to start a business. You have to have the basic understanding of business practices to do that.'

Copyright © 2004 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

SEPT 22, 2004
Effectiveness the magic word at first Effie Singapore Awards
By Nicholas Fang

THE inaugural Effie Singapore Awards, to be held tonight, are unique in the world of advertising awards in that they seek to recognise advertising campaigns first in terms of their effectiveness.

Creativity, usually the No. 1 criterion in such awards, is also considered, but only later in the judging process.

Run in 27 countries worldwide under franchise from the New York American Marketing Association, the original Effie Awards started in 1968 in New York. The Singapore awards are administered by the Institute of Advertising Singapore (IAS).

Unlike traditional creative show awards, the Effie's judging process acknowledges not only creative input, but also the market dimension that all good advertising campaigns must address, said Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts Lee Boon Yang in a speech last year.

Some of the criteria considered are good planning, thorough market research, the appropriate selection of media and effective accounts management that contribute to the success of an ad campaign, he said.

Creativity is also recognised, but only in the second round of judging.

IAS yesterday announced its list of 20 finalists for the awards, which featured the 'biggest and best' of Singapore advertisers which garnered exceptional commercial results from campaigns which ran over the last two years.

The list includes Guinness, Levi Strauss, DBS Amex Black Card, Singapore Airlines and F&N Coca-Cola, IAS said in a statement.

Gold, silver and bronze awards will be handed out at the ceremony tonight, and agencies such as Leo Burnett, Saatchi & Saatchi and Batey Ads are expected to compete for top honours, IAS said. The ceremony will be held at the Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel.

It is being run in conjunction with the 6th Singapore International Advertising Congress, held over two days starting yesterday, which brings together 14 speakers from around the world to talk on different topics in the advertising and marketing industry.

Copyright @ 2004 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved.

2 S'pore scientists among top innovators

MIT's innovation magazine says they are in an elite group of under-35s who look set to change the world through science

By Chang Ai-Lien and Natalie Soh

TWO researchers here - one an expert in the science of small things, the other an electronics whizz-kid - have been listed among the world's top 100 young innovators.

Dr Han Yu, a post-doctoral fellow at the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN), and Dr Zheng Yuankai of the Data Storage Institute join the list.

It is compiled by Technology Review, the innovation magazine of America's renowned Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The names form an elite group of under-35s who look set to change the world.

'Collectively this group provides an eye-opening picture of the future of technology,' the magazine said.

Professor Chong Tow Chong, executive director of the Science and Engineering Research Council of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research, said: 'It is a recognition that the researchers in Singapore are of international standing.'

Dr Zheng, 34, is an expert in spintronics - research into the charge and movements of electrons in devices.

What he is working on could one day contribute to a world of computers which never lose data, laptops which do not need recharging for days, or mobile phones with memory equivalent to a library of books.

In tech speak, it's called magneto-resistive random access memory or MRAM.

Right now, if you suddenly lost power to your computer, the entire letter you were typing would be wiped out - because the memory is volatile.

With MRAM, memory is so fast and stable it is almost automatically stored. Nothing is lost, and computers will not take an age to start up and recover data. They also use less power, extending battery life.

All the major players are in the race to get MRAM going, but it is still proving very expensive and there are problems with capacity.

Dr Zheng has pioneered a new approach - instead of attaching a transistor to each memory cell, he uses a network of external wiring and switches. The approach is making headway into increasing storage capacity, so a 1 cm sq chip could store at least four times more data.

He started his work on MRAM at China's Huazhong University of Science and Technology, but says the breakthroughs happened in Singapore.

Dr Han, 27, is among the youngest on the list. Using revolutionary chemical processes, he made minute particles, while controlling the size of their pores and structure.

These nanoparticles - about 10,000 of them make up the width of a human hair - can be used to speed up chemical and pharmaceutical processes, and are an ideal size for administering drugs.

Dr Han originally planned to do post-doctoral studies at MIT, but chose IBN as its head, Professor Jackie Ying, 37, is world famous in the field.

'The excellent research conditions, facilities and funding here made my success possible,' he added.

Prof Ying was named by Technology Review in 1999 as one of 100 young people expected to be leading 21st-century innovators.

A proud Prof Ying yesterday said: 'He was pitted against top-notch researchers from... all over the world, and he came out on top.'

The New Paper - 19 Oct 2004

NUS student, 22, takes on US telco giant in $1b market

REPORTS & PICTURE By Ian Tan
tanyhi@sph.com.sg

QUALCOMM is a Fortune 500 US company that last year recorded a revenue of more than $6 billion.

World Indigo is a five person company set up by NUS undergraduate Goh Yiping.

They are racing against time, and other competitors, to enter the final handphone-free zones.

Imagine sending an SMS or calling on your phone while out at sea, on a speeding long-distance train, or even on a plane.

World Indigo estimates the worldwide market for this to be worth $1 billion.

Miss Goh wants her company to be a 'telco in the air' with a device that costs just US$2,000 ($3,360) to build.

And she's well on her way to achieving that.

World Indigo has already signed deals with three local ferry operators.

She said the company was also in talks with Korea's biggest telco operator, Korea Telecom, and a local telco, and is planning to put its technology on airplanes by the end of next year.

And how does she do all this?

She has experienced and older technology experts working with her.

People who are not even drawing a salary now.

While she herself is still trying to complete a real-estate course at NUS.

BIG DREAMS

Since she was in Primary 6, Miss Goh said, she hasn't wanted to have an ordinary job.

Now just 22, she wants to take on the world - by being one of the first to offer handphone use on ships, planes and long-distance trains.

Calls on such vehicles are difficult now due to 'blackout periods'.

That's when your phone cannot be connected to a telephone operator's network.

On planes, calls are possible, but only with the built-in phones at very high charges.

Miss Goh's team is taking mobile communication to the next stage - allowing users to make calls or send SMSs from their own handphones on short-haul trips.

According to World Indigo's technology director, Mr Christian Patouraux, air travellers usually have to pay up to US$9 ($15) per minute for a phone call.

He said: 'We hope to offer calls from the plane at US$1.50 per minute.'

Miss Goh said that such calls can be made in the air without compromising airline safety. (See report on facing page.)

Her company is closing deals to raise US$200,000 of funding from the NUS Enterprise Fund and other investors.

It needs another US$2.6 million, a sum which she says the company needs to invest in order to achieve any profits.

PRIZE-WINNING FIRM

The company recently won the top prize of $30,000 at the Fifth Start-Up@Singapore National Business Plan Competition and Forums. As Miss Goh is still studying at NUS, her company was able to represent the university at the finals of the global Start-Up@Singapore Business Plan Competition last week.

A Stanford University team that developed ultra-small water droplets for semiconductor manufacturing took home the trophy in that.

NOT TOO BUSY FOR SCHOOL

Given the demands of her business, she hardly has time to hit the books.

'One hour, that's how much time I spend studying outside of my classes,' admitted Miss Goh.

Classes are often her only chance to see her friends, and naturally, there is no time for a boyfriend.

She was proud to declare that she was from government schools like Bukit View Primary and Bukit Batok Secondary School.

She has worked at a bicycle factory, as a waitress and as a copywriter, and has even sold handphones at SingTel retail shops.

THINKING 'BIG'

Her big break came when she was selected to go to the US as part of the three-year-old NUS entrepreneurship programme.

As of June this year, 75 NUS students have spent a year at colleges in California's Silicon Valley and Philadelphia's 'Bio Valley'.

Working at NRoute Communications, a firm that does digital television similar to MediaCorp's TVMobile, Miss Goh's mind was full of the vast possibilities the world offered.

'One thing I feel about some local entrepreneurs is that they often come up with traditional (business) ideas, like setting up retail shops.

'If I did not get a chance to go overseas, I would have only thought about setting up a local business too.'

Except for fellow Singaporean Tommy Lee, most of the others in her company are years older than Miss Goh.

Said American Carlos Garcia, 37, who runs NRoute and is also World Indigo's chairman: 'Nobody has time to talk about why their boss is so young.

'When you work for World Indigo, Yiping will put you to work immediately, so the issue never comes up.'

NO PROBLEMS NOT BEING PAID

Mr Patouraux, 35, a Belgian, has nine years of experience in satellite technology, but thinks nothing of working with an undergraduate.

He came to Singapore to study at the Insead business school, and heard about Miss Goh's business idea from one of his lecturers.

And why doesn't he or the others get any pay?

Said Miss Goh: 'Our company members are now not paid because we need to conserve cash flow.'

Despite being exhausted from endless presentations at last week's Global Entrepolis, Miss Goh still had enough zest to convince anyone that starting a business was more fun than work.

She said: 'If it wasn't fun or challenging, then there would not be satisfaction, right?'

Soon, we can use phones on planes

DO you know that a handphone on a plane can interfere not only with the navigational systems, but with phone networks on the ground?

According to Wireless Week magazine, this is also a reason to restrict the use of handphones in the air.

When your handphone is far from a base station (that connects it to the phone network), it increases its transmitting power.

In Singapore, there are so many base stations our handphones usually never need to use their full transmitting strength.

But handphone calls from a plane could theoretically use enough power to jam cellular towers on the ground.

The situation is set to change as companies like World Indigo and Qualcomm push to bring a newer technology to airplanes.

Instead of installing expensive onboard satellite phone systems that could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, the idea is to put a mini base station in the aircraft.

As it remains near the passengers, their handphones need to transmit only at low power. The phone signal is sent to a satellite that then beams it back to Earth.

According to Miss Goh, World Indigo's proprietory technology was mostly developed by Mr Garcia, who has experience in military communication and satellite technology.

She said: 'As there is no need to wire up the whole plane with expensive satellite phones, it should cost only about US$5,000 to install our system on an aircraft.'

NO ILL-EFFECTS

Qualcomm completed a successful trial in mid-July, with handphone calls being made from an American Airlines plane without any ill-effects.

Even though the wireless operators may be raring to go, it all depends on whether aviation authorities will give the go ahead.

Until then, companies like World Indigo will have to work on securing partnerships and market share.

Copyright © 2004 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

Bump! :colgate:

22 June 2005

Entrepreneur always on lookout for creative solutions to beat competition
By Valerie Law, TODAY

SINGAPORE: The next time you want to throw something away, stop and think about what you can do with that waste. It may just be the raw material or inspiration for your next product.

This is where Mr Michael Ma, founder of the IndoChine Bar and Restaurant Group, sometimes gets his inspiration for his chain of restaurants and bars.
"It's too easy to throw away things, but it's more challenging to say 'let's see what we can do with this now'," Mr Ma said yesterday at the fifth in the series of SMB Today seminars, which focused on the retail industry.

The entrepreneur and environmental conservationist currently oversees 15 IndoChine food and beverage (F&B) outlets in Singapore, two in Kuala Lumpur and two in Hamburg, Germany.

Having built an empire which reaps in $40 million in annual sales in just four years, Mr Ma never ceases to look out for creative solutions to beat the competition.

"I want to be experimental," he said.

Mr Ma is currently working together with Hewlett-Packard (HP) to develop translucent promotional stickers for his company.

Ms Sulian Tan-Wijaya, director of Tourism Shopping with the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) and the keynote speaker at Tuesday's event, agreed that retailers today need to be more creative in their marketing, given that today's shoppers are spoilt with choices.

"If you own a brand, brand loyalty has declined because shoppers have many choices," she said. "You have to consistently think of how to make your customers stick to your brand."

One way to make shoppers remember your brand could be through creating a "retail-tainment" experience, a term coined by Ms Tan-Wijaya to refer to the shoppers' experience of being entertained as they shop.

Examples of retail-tainment concepts include Esprit at Isetan Wisma, which provides manicure and facial services to its shoppers, and Hermes Flagship Store, which sells handbags but also has an art gallery, she cited.

Export Singapore, Export Asian cultures

Both speakers at the SMB Today conference advocated exporting the Asian brand and identity.

With a Laotian-Chinese ancestry and educated in Australia, Mr Ma is always on the lookout for inspiration from the fusion of Asian cultures.

"I'm trying to export our Asian values westward, and I think we can do really well in terms of design, food and culture. And it (this culture) is very deep - not only in the food, it's also the fashion, the philosophy, and in medicine," he said.

But one has to be aware of the higher taxes and labour costs in western countries, said Mr Ma.

He noted that his experience in setting up IndoChine in Hamburg had sharpened his strategy to make labour more productive.

"For Germany, the costs are extremely high but I never anticipated that we would still continue to pay the "Eastern Unification" tax, and I had no idea of this tax, until one day when I saw this 9 per cent tax," he said.

Despite the high costs, IndoChine's venture into Germany turned out to be successful because it targeted the right market and customers.

"In a sense, it was a strategic move to be in Hamburg, which has the highest number of millionaires per capita in Europe," said Mr Ma.

He revealed that having local partners in overseas ventures would also provide a boost.

"We always do it with local partners, even though we still have majority shareholding. This is because the local guys would know (local issues) best," Mr Ma said.

For Miss Tan-Wijaya, her opportunity to export the Singapore brand came when she helped four talented local designers to launch their Orchid fashion collection during the Singapore Fashion Festival, which was held in April.

"We (the STB) are keen to support uniquely Singapore items," Ms Tan-Wijaya said.

Under the support of the STB, Hybird-O, formed by four local designers, saw most of its collection sold within weeks.

"The STB supported them in terms of media, finance and marketing aspects. They had exposure to over 100 international media organisations. Now, they are looking at prime space along Orchard Road," said Ms Tan-Wijaya. - TODAY

Copyright © 2005 MCN International Pte Ltd

IIM-B to set up campus in Singapore

Piyush Pandey / Ahmedabad June 28, 2005

In a bid to strengthen its international presence, the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore (IIM-B) plans to set up a campus in Singapore, which would function in the form of a research and management education centre.

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