Calling all social entrepreneurs ...
Talent drought prompts SYA to cast net wider in quest for young businessmen
Nazry Bahrawi, Today Online 2 Jul 08;
IT HAS been an area of focus in recent years, but entrepreneurial achievement among the youth still seems elusive, if the annual Singapore Youth Awards (SYA) is anything to go by.
There were no winners in the category this year, although businessman Douglas Foo of Sakae Sushi will receive a commendation medal — an award that recognises past honorees.
So, to widen the pool, the SYA now wants to open its doors to social entrepreneurs as well, for the Entrepreneurship award.
“We are looking for someone below 35 who runs not just a profitable business, but who also contributes to society in some way,” said Mr Kenny Yap, the chairman of SYA’s Entrepreneurship Advisory Committee. “But this is like finding God.”
Since the SYA Entrepreneurship category was introduced some 15 years ago, there have only been 12 winners. One reason could be that businessmen below 35 years of age are still in the process of building up their businesses and thus spend less time doing community service, he explained.
“So, including social entrepreneurs would be like killing two birds with one stone, since that person would already be doing community service through his business,” he said.
For Mr Tan Yam Pin, chairman of SYA’s panel of judges, this also means including those who organise business activities around religious purposes, so long as these are for good causes.
How would the inclusion of social entrepreneurs in the business category differ from the award for Community and Youth Services?
Explained Mr Yap: “Entrepreneurship is about starting a business. (Fund-raising), like the Citibank-YMCA Youth for Causes, which won in the Community and Youth Services category, is different.”
Meanwhile, Sakae Sushi’s Mr Fooadvises SYA aspirants to consider initiatives that have continuity. That “multiplier effect” can be found in the Citibank-YMCA Youth for Causes, according to its spokesperson Steven Chia.
The programme — a competition where teams are given a seed fund to raise more for charities — has given birth to a volunteer service management programme jointly run by the NUS Business School and the YMCA — one that is not only open to its participants, but also the public.
Other SYA winners included theatre group The Finger Players and waterresearcher Ng How Yong from NUS.
The awards will be conferred at the Istana on Sunday by Professor S Jayakumar, the Deputy Prime Minister.
