Speeches
Speech by RAdm (NS) Lui Tuck Yew, Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Education and Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts, at the Action Community for Entrepreneurship’s ‘Enterprise Day’ on Friday, 18 July 2008 at Hwa Chong Institution at 2.30pm
Miss Elim Chew and Dr Antony Ng, Co-Chairs of Action Community for Entrepreneurship (ACE) Culture and Education Action Crucible
Mr Ang Wee Hiong, Principal of Hwa Chong Institution
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen
Good afternoon
It is my pleasure to be here at the fifth BlueSky Festival’s ‘Enterprise Day’ co-organised by the Action Community for Entrepreneurship, or ACE in short, and The Youth Entrepreneur Mastery.
The Importance of Innovation & Enterprise
The theme of this afternoon’s event, “Nurturing enterprise amongst our students”, is apt in today’s innovation-driven world where entrepreneurship is becoming increasingly critical. As Singapore competes on the global stage, facing challenges from the knowledge-driven and innovation powered economies on the one hand and the lower cost, more labour intensive economies on the other hand, entrepreneurial skills and mindsets will become ever more vital for our continued progress. Hence, it is important that our young people be creative, innovative, exposed to global trends and go beyond books in search of ideas and knowledge.
The BlueSky Festival—a ground-up celebration to showcase the achievements of our home-grown entrepreneurs and the spirit of enterprise—is one way in which ACE reaches out to youths to nurture a spirit of entrepreneurship and innovation. I understand that since its launch in 2003, the BlueSky Festival’s ‘Enterprise Day’ has aimed to engage our youth in an interactive and fun way to allow them to better appreciate entrepreneurship and innovation as well as develop their appetite for risk-taking.
To that end, the organisers have put together an exciting and interactive programme, including visits to companies such as Microsoft Innovation Centre and Alpha Synovate as well as a series of fun and engaging workshops and game sessions focused on the spirit of Innovation & Enterprise. Today’s event also marks the culmination of the “Enterprise Day Challenge”, a 2-month long online competition to which students island-wide were invited to test their instincts and business acumen by selling merchandise on Ebay, the online marketplace. More than 400 students have taken up the challenge this year, generating almost $18,000 in sales over the past two months. Kudos to the students involved and congratulations on a job well done!
The Impact of Social Entrepreneurship
Today’s “Enterprise Day Challenge” is especially meaningful as students teamed up with local charities and social enterprises to sell merchandise made by their beneficiaries. I am glad that that while embarking on their entrepreneurial journey, our students have had the opportunity to do something worthwhile for the less fortunate. Indeed, this serves as a reminder to us that the entrepreneurial spirit is critical not just for economic reasons. Singapore will benefit greatly when our young people apply their minds not only to further their own career prospects but also to contribute to help solve some of the problems that we are facing as a society. This is social entrepreneurship and it is indeed an extremely beneficial form of entrepreneurship when done well—leveraging on the tools of business and using innovative market solutions to create positive results for society at every level and in doing so, improve our communities and the world in which we live.
At this point, allow me to encourage all of you who are not yet involved in entrepreneurship, social or otherwise, to consider it seriously. Challenge yourself to do something out of the ordinary or venture into something new; often it is deviating from the well-trodden path that brings the greatest satisfaction and reward. And for some, these first steps could well become the journey of a life-time. Larry Page and Sergey Brin founded Google when they were in their early 20s. Mark Zuckerberg—Facebook—before he turned 20. Our own Stanley Han, whom you met at today’s Exhibition, founded Personal E-Motion when he was 23, tapping on support from SPRING Singapore’s Entrepreneurial Talent Development Fund. If they can do it and succeed despite the odds, it gives us comfort that some among us can do likewise.
In closing, I hope that the activities lined up for you today will spark off in you this desire, and even propel some of you into becoming full-fledged entrepreneurs. I wish all participants a productive and enjoyable time at today’s event.
Thank you.