SPEECH BY MR THARMAN SHANMUGARATNAM, MINISTER FOR EDUCATION, AT THE SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP FORUM 2005 AT THE NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE, UNIVERSITY CULTURAL CENTRE ON SATURDAY, 13 AUGUST 2005, AT 1.05 PM.

Mrs Yu-Foo Yee Shoon,

Minister of State, Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports

Professor Shih Choon Fong,

President, National University of Singapore

Ms Pamela Hartigan,

Managing Director of the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship

Mr Anil Chitrakar,

Ashoka Fellow from Nepal

Associate Professor Quek Ser Aik,

Vice Dean, Undergraduate Studies, NUS Business School

Distinguished Guests

Ladies and gentlemen.

I am happy to be here today to open the NUS Business School’s second Social Entrepreneurship Forum. It is wonderful to see so many student participants from our various tertiary institutions, as well as people from both the public and private sectors.

2. I am heartened also by the commitment and efforts of the NUS Business School undergraduates in bringing together people to promote the cause of social entrepreneurship in Singapore.

STARTING SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP YOUNG

3. The forum is part of the broader spirit that we see unfolding in Singapore. More people are being attracted to causes, especially causes that help improve the lives of those with disadvantages. It is a spirit of caring and of inclusiveness - wanting to look out for those in need, and bring in anyone who is at risk of being marginalized. There is also greater interest in improving the environment that we all share, and avoiding wanton destruction of the natural environment.

4. It is a spirit that starts from young, and has to start from young. From primary schools up to our tertiary institutions, we are increasing our emphasis on learning outside the classroom, and encouraging students to do something meaningful to make a difference to the community or the environment.

5. At Gongshang Primary School, students from as young as Primary Two were involved in a year-long project which sought to enhance awareness of the plight of wild tigers in Southeast Asia. Primary Three and Four students conducted research on any animal they chose and wrote poems inspired by their findings. The poems, accompanied with colourful illustrations by Primary Two students, were then compiled and published into an anthology. Primary Five students designed mineral water bottle labels to raise environmental awareness while the Primary Six students raised funds at the school’s annual Entrepreneurz Bazaar by selling handicrafts, goods and services to their fellow schoolmates. They managed to raise more than $4,000 for the ‘Save the Tigers’ fund, which would be used among things to educate the public against purchasing tiger parts for consumption. The students and teachers who participated in the project felt a real sense of pride for having played a meaningful role in the effort to save endangered species.

STUDENT-INITIATED PROJECTS AT JUNIOR COLLEGES

6. We are also encouraging students to take the initiative and design their own programmes of community involvement. We want them to take ownership of their programmes, because it is ownership that sustains the passion to do something to make a difference and never give up till its achieved. With the recent removal of the minimum 6-hour requirement for the Community Involvement Programme in junior colleges, we have seen more student-initiated projects and more ownership of activities.

7. At Hwa Chong Institution, JC2 students initiated a ‘Hair for Hope’ project to raise funds for the Children’s Cancer Foundation and to raise awareness of the stigma sometimes associated with cancer therapy. The project was led by four students. To raise funds, the team got the Discipline Master to pledge to shave his hair if they managed to raise $5000 within a week. They rallied other students to pledge to shave their hair to become Ambassadors for ‘Hair for Hope’. These ‘ambassadors’ would invite donations from friends and family. About 100 students responded to become ambassadors while the rest of the students gave donations.

8. After managing to raise $5000 within a week, a Physics teacher volunteered to shave his hair if the students could raise another $1000 within 45 minutes after the National Day celebrations. The Deputy Principal upped the ante and volunteered his hair if they hit $2000. All in all, $7,000 was raised for the Children’s Cancer Foundation. It was fun way to raise funds for a good cause, and at very little cost.

9. Some of out student-initiated projects involve students coming together from different institutions. An interesting example is the recent anti-drug awareness project that was initiated by a Raffles Junior College student. He got together four friends from Hwa Chong Institution and many student volunteers from both JCs. Together, they put together an anti-drug abuse awareness project that was organised by students for students, and gained the support of organisations such as the Central Narcotics Bureau, the National Youth Council, National Council Against Drug Abuse, Singapore Prison Service and Hong Leong Foundation. The students organised an event called “ ‘Get High on Life Without Drugs’ Youth Awareness” on 24 July at the Youth Park. It was a day filled with activities such as LAN gaming, street soccer and amateur rock band performances. Students distributed anti-drug abuse collar pins and brochures along Orchard Road, and gave out goodies bags containing products with anti-drug abuse messages to those who attended the event.

10. These are just a few of the many examples of what our schools are doing to promote social entrepreneurship in our young, and what students are capable of achieving when they challenge themselves to think independently, and take the initiative.

SOCIAL ENTERPRISE AT WORK

11. I enjoyed meeting before this session with the people behind the many social enterprises taking part in today’s exhibition. They are a inspiring group of individuals, each wanting to do something beyond themselves, to make a difference to the community or the environment, and to bring more people into their cause.

12. For example, one of the enterprises was Digital Arts Social Enterprise, or DASE, for short. DASE is the creation of Adam’s Apple Multimedia, a multi-faceted graphic design, multimedia and music company. DASE not only aims to raise public awareness of digital art and to provide a platform to source, showcase and sell digital art, but to benefit the physically disabled by creating jobs for them in the field of digital art. Members of the Society for the Physically Disabled receive training at DASE in creating commercially-viable digital art, and are given opportunities to showcase and sell their digital art pieces.

CONCLUSION

13. I encourage all of you who are not yet involved in community action and social entrepreneurship to take the plunge. Challenge yourself to do something out of the ordinary. Question what exists, and ask yourself how it can be improved. Look out for people in need, and work out a way to help them. And gather a group of friends to do something to make things better. I hope this forum will spark off in you this desire, and even propel some of you into becoming full-fledged social entrepreneurs.

14. I wish you all a productive exchange and valuable networking experience, and am pleased to declare the Social Entrepreneurship Forum 2005 open.