Throwing money at the problem is not the solution. But somehow, when members of our venture capital community, academics and government officials got together earlier this week to discuss the problems faced by local start-ups organised by the Entrepreneurship Review Committee (ERC), they figured getting some money from the government was a great idea.
However, the problems faced by our start-ups are not limited to funding.
The Independent has spoken to several start-up founders and their major concerns are:
1. A crowded market in Singapore for their products/services;
2. Lack of knowledge/know-how on expanding to overseas markets;
3. Inability to monetise their products or execute their business plans effectively;
4. Lack of access to talent who are willing to take risk with start-ups businesses; and lastly;
5. Inability to raise money from local financial institutions
Our take: learn to walk before you start to run. Provide adequate training and support for the start-ups, take them on overseas missions (don’t just limit these to the usual suspects) and start by awarding some contracts to home-grown companies first.
Give them a chance to succeed in Singapore, the money will follow.
Trickle-down effect – Really?
What singaporeans, foreigners need to do
Singapore is not perfect, but it is still a good place to call home. Augustine Low writes about the need to instil love and loyalty for our country like how the Americans love their own. And he does not condone bashing in our backyard.
By Augustine Low
On Singapore’s 48th birthday month, let’s take stock and count the ways we can stand up for Singapore.
I can start with three.
Don’t condone bashing in our backyard: I have many foreign friends. I have no problems with them competing for jobs, jostling for MRT seats and clamouring for homes. But for them to rant and rave in our own backyard is plain rude and disgusting. A few months back, I was at a gathering where this foreigner who has been working here for several years kept going on and on about how sick he was about things here, from NEWater and taxis to public hygiene and public libraries. I could not stomach it. I told him to go back to his country if he felt that way . . . just don’t make a mockery of everything while making a living here. He looked surprised and walked off sheepishly. Chances are he would think twice about doing the same thing again. But we need to speak out.
Speak out for a better Singapore: Singaporeans making their voices heard in good faith is another matter altogether. We should not bash for no reason. And we certainly must banish the notion that when we are critical of leaders and institutions, we are anti-Singapore. We may not speak with one voice because views differ, but we speak with one heart – the yearning for a better Singapore. And let’s give credit where credit is due. Singapore is not perfect, but it is a good place to call home. We only wish for it to get better.
Instil love of country: I envy the earnest love that ordinary Americans show for their country. American patriotism is sharp and sure, anchored on the promise of individual freedom. Nearer home, I like the spirit of the Filipinos and Vietnamese in their love of country. We have some way to go. For a start, let’s instil that love in our children. Get them to respect the flag, the pledge and the anthem. And if we keep at the back of our minds the idea that we could always migrate for greener pastures and cooler climates and a less stressful education system, then our affinity to home is not sharp and sure. Let’s also not condone our sons shirking National Service responsibilities. It is a good rite of passage. Defence is integral to love of country.
Augustine Low is a former journalist with The New Paper and now owns a business in the PR industry.
Lee Lilian: I have only half a term to prove myself
In an exclusive interview with The Independent, MP Lee Lilian speaks about local issues and why she had to quit her job as a financial trainer to focus on her constituency.
By Kumaran Pillai
Managing Editor
She made a big splash when she was elected to Parliament in January when even international media like the Wall Street Journal and The Economist sat up and took notice. “Singapore’s voters show an increased appetite for change,” proclaimed the Journal.
The opposition Workers’ Party’s Lee Lilian’s victory in the Punggol East by-election was significant not only as a vote against the ruling party but for another reason, too. It marked the triumph of the grassroots worker over the para-dropped highflyer. The voters preferred a familiar face, someone they could relate to, to a successful outsider. Koh Poh Koon, the colorectal surgeon fielded by the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP), had the potential to become a minister, according to the PM, but that did not impress the voters – they preferred someone they knew.
Lee Lilian is determined to live up to her trust. She quit her job as a financial trainer to serve the people, she told The Independent. The international attention she received on her election victory has not distracted her from keeping her eye firmly on local issues. She spoke to The Independent about what she has been doing to reduce noise from the nearby temples and the need for more childcare centres, eateries and bus services in Punggol East. Mundane matters, everyday issues that directly affect the lives of local residents.
Lee, 35, may be a new face in Parliament, but she is already canny enough to know elections are won and lost on local issues, that you have to keep your customers – sorry, constituents – satisfied.
And her work is cut out, she says, because she has only half a term to prove herself.
It has been about six months since the Punggol by-elections. How has life been since you have been elected as a Member of Parliament?
I quit my job on the 30th of April 2013 so that I can focus on serving the people because I have only half a term to prove myself. My priority was to focus on the residents and their issues, the problems that they were facing and if I could resolve them quickly. I mean, there are new issues and problems that I need to tackle every day.
Besides looking at the municipality issues, I also need to fulfil my duties as a parliamentarian. I have to look into national issues, get myself ready for Budget debate, the White paper on population as well as table Parliamentary questions. My philosophy is simple, I entered politics to serve the people and I want to keep it that way.
The Independent understands that there have been complaints about the excessive noise levels from the temples nearby. How did you go about handing this very delicate long standing issue?
As a nation, we need to live together harmoniously. So, I lost no time when this issue was first raised after the BE.
I picked on a block that is most affected to conduct my weekly house visits. I wanted to experience firsthand the kind of noise levels that they were experiencing.
At the same time, I met up with the temple management committee to discuss about the issues and I must say that I am convinced that they are already doing their best. Till today, I have yet to receive any feedback on this. And if I do, I am ready to explain to the residents what the temple have done to minimize noise pollution.
I am also aware that this is a very sensitive issue and residents understand that this is a religious organisation and they are free to practise their faith.
Are there any new amenities or improvements that are coming up in Punggol East? What are your plans?
We need to do more for the young working parents, especially if both of them are working. We need more child care centres, not just in Punggol East, but in other estates as well. The key is to keep the costs affordable for the average Singaporean who is starting a family.
I have spoken to ECDA (Early Childhood Development Agency) on this and I look forward to more centres in the short to medium term. This is one of the things that I have planned for. Other pertinent issues are the lack of eating establishments and lack of bus services along Rivervale Crescent. I have brought both issues up in Parliament.
What is you key message to your constituents?
I am here to serve and I want to thank them for putting their trust in me. My task is to look after the welfare of the residents and create the necessary conditions for them to raise their families in Punggol East. Everybody, including those who didn’t vote for me is under my care and I will do my very best to ensure that their needs are taken care of.
Iskandar hit or hype?
New projects are springing up in Iskandar, Johor but where are the tenants? Buyers are concerned about high crime rates in JB.
By Mathew Yap
“
What do you think of Johor-Iskandar as an investment?” I casually asked Delvin, a director of a well-known Singapore-based property consultancy firm. He paused momentarily, then retorted: “Where are the tenants? I have yet to see tenants flocking in and meanwhile the projects are springing up very quickly.”
Excitement on Iskandar seemed to hit fever pitch six months ago after the prime ministers of Malaysia and Singapore officiated at the signing ceremony for Danga Bay Marina on Feb 19, 2013.
According to press reports, the two giants, Khazanah Nasional Bhd and Temasek Holdings, will develop a $3.2 billion township with another private Malaysian firm, Iskandar Waterfront Holdings, in the once swampy Danga Bay. The 71.4- acre site will be turned into a waterfront marina city by 2018 overlooking Sinagpore’s Sungei Buloh shore .
But just as new marketing brochures for Iskandar rolled out, a word of caution flew out of the pages of Lee Kuan Yew’s book, One Man’s View Of The World. “Let’s wait and see how Iskandar develops. This is an economic field of cooperation in which, you must remember, we are putting investments on Malaysian soil… And at the stroke of a pen, they can take it over. They are not likely to because they want more investments… When we go there, we must understand that any real estate or building that you plant on the ground belongs to the owner of the ground.” Mr Lee said in his book.
In response, Malaysia’s Johor’s former chief minister Abdul Ghani said Iskandar had been rapidly progressing in the past five years and therefore negative views were unwarranted.
And, as if to help prove Ghani’s point, one of China’s top developers, Country Garden, on August 11, chartered several buses to bring in hundreds of Singapore residents and Chinese nationals to the carnival-like sale launch ceremony for its $300 -400 per sq foot Danga Bay Country Garden condominium . The event was even graced by the Johor Sultan. Half the buyers were from China, 30 per cent Malaysians, and the remaining 20 per cent Singapore-based residents.
The Iskandar fervor is understandable having seemingly reached a tipping point last year – with the apparent successful completion of LEGOLAND, Puteri Harbour Family Theme Park and several education institutions, coupled with the announcement of the High-Speed Rail Singapore-KL line.
This led one major Malaysian bank to proclaim: “We remain bullish on this growth corridor and advise investors to position for the longer term.”
The main lure of Iskandar for property buyers, especially those from Singapore, is the price and, by implication, more space. Singapore property prices are now at new peak levels – 45-50% up from 2008 – which has prompted the government to introduce stringent measures to curtail investment demand. While average prices at Johor-Iskandar have also more than doubled since 2008, current house prices remain 5-10 times lower than in Singapore. As one Singaporean, Jonathan, in his 40s, puts it : “Sadly prices of HDB may be even higher than that of some properties in Iskandar, JB. But, rather than gripe about the situation, it might be better to take advantage of it and invest.”
Many analysts have given the thumbs up for Iskandar, often citing the buy-in of top political leaders and direct investment from the GLCs like Khazanah Nasional and Temasek Holdings as the key reason for optimism.
But not all is rosy for Iskandar. Crime remains a serious concern for many residents and investors – only 10 per cent of the 112,000-strong police force is actually “field-deployed” in fighting crime, according to one UMNO Vice-President source, and with the recent spate of high-profile killings in Malaysia, though not in Johor itself, many Singaporeans are understandably spooked.
Another potential source of discomfort is the regulatory and governance framework on contracts and investment issues which may be subject to changes depending on the Johor state and federal capital policy directions. For example, there is talk that the foreign ownership consent levy will be raised from the current RM10,500 RM (including RM500 administrative fee) to RM30,000.
In June, Johor Menteri Besar Datuk Mohamed Khaled Nordin said the state government would impose higher taxes on properties owned by foreigners by year’s end.
Currently, Malaysia allows foreigners to buy residential and commercial properties above RM500,000 in value. Industrial properties, agriculture and development land have other requirements to comply with. But recent press reports suggest that the Government may increase the threshold figure to RM1 million to curb rising prices and keep them affordable for the average Malaysian households.
Such changing political winds dictated by local needs may be the single greatest worry for new investors getting into new ventures in Iskandar.
Medisave, Adrian Tan and luck
Ordinary Singaporean Adrian Tan, 52, has questions for Leong Sze Hian on the proposed changes to health-care financing:
What are the proposed changes in Medisave?
Allow Medisave money to be used for more treatments, especially for the elderly, such as for health screening.
What do these mean for me and my family? I have a wife and two children, 24 and 26.
Just in case you can’t afford to pay for the Medishield premiums, your coverage may not lapse as future Medisave top-ups from the government may go directly into paying your premiums.
I read in the papers about restrictions on people using their Medisave money for their families. This worries me. Doesn’t government want to encourage filial piety?
This is to restrict the unlimited use of your Medisave to pay for family members. If not, one day you may find your Medisave has very little money and you might not have enough when you are much older.
In the Medishield segment, there is a mention of getting people to pay more in premiums when they are young? Will these have an affect on a person like me?
You may pay less and your children will have to pay higher premiums.
There is a proposal that tells the government to guarantee Medishield coverage for those who cannot afford premiums. Is this for real?
Yes, the government may pay the premiums for those who cannot afford it.
I have stopped paying premiums. Anything for me here?
You can try to re-apply for Medishield, but acceptance may be subject to your health condition and history.
You told me earlier about the element of luck? What is that all about?
The recommendation on higher Medishield coverage and coverage of more non-standard drugs will mean that Singaporeans may have fewer concerns about very high medical costs.
But that is all a matter of luck because it may still cost you a bomb if you or your family members are affected by an uncommon ailment.
If the government accepts these changes, what does it tell?
That we are paying more attention to addressing the concerns on the affordability of healthcare, particularly for the lower-income.
Serious, this gap
The government has admitted a new divide in Singapore: the knowledge divide.
It is the gap between what the government is doing and what the public thinks it is doing.
The candid admission came from the point man for the Our Singapore Conversation, Heng Swee Keat.
Two examples:
1. In education, it is the 40-year gap where parents who left school many years ago are out of touch with what happens there now.
“Unless we bridge that gap we will always have a problem in terms of how parents perceive education,” he said.
2. In health-care, the public just don’t know there are schemes to help them reduce their cost burden.
“The one take-away I have is that the same things have to be repeated over and over again and we really need to do a better job of reaching out to fellow Singaporeans whenever we have important policy changes,” he said.
What happened to all your spin doctors, Mr Heng?
I have a bone to pick with LKY
By Augustine Low
As a child of the Sixties, I grew up in an era when Mr Lee Kuan Yew was larger than life. He was revered, he was feared.
Today’s generation knows of Mr Lee as a paternal figure, venerated for his wisdom and remarkable contributions to Singapore. His latest book, One Man’s View Of The World, once again assures us of his undoubted and undiminished intellect.
Reading the book, however, gives me great discomfort. I have long craved for some inkling of his sentiments and frailties because he is, after all, just a man.
But the book, like the others preceding it in recent years, shows Mr Lee to be pragmatic to the core. His pragmatism is so unbending it is chilling. For example, espousing his belief that there is no afterlife, he says:
“I wish I can meet my wife in the hereafter, but I don’t think I will. I just cease to exist just as she has ceased to exist – otherwise the other world would be overpopulated. Is heaven such a large and limitless space that you can keep all the people of the world over the thousands of years past? I have a question mark on that . . . it goes against logic. Supposing we all have life after death, where is that place?”
Yes, logic is all or nothing to Mr Lee, even in the twilight of his years.
Here is a quote which could well serve as a summary of his entire perspective and philosophy:
“Between being loved and being feared, I have always believed Machiavelli was right. If nobody is afraid of me, I’m meaningless.” – Mr Lee Kuan Yew, 1997, South China Morning Post
I think of Nelson Mandela who is universally beloved, never feared. His life is well documented, so his triumphs and his faults are there for all to see. He has become an everyday hero, a beacon of hope, forgiveness and conciliation.
Mandela is reassuringly human. We cherish and love him – even from afar – because he represents the notion of a greater good.
As a proud Singaporean, I would dearly love to love Mr Lee.
After all that he has done, why is it so difficult – almost impossible even – to connect “beloved” with Mr Lee?
My thoughts turn to a novel which I first read 15 years ago, The Remains Of The Day by the Japanese-born British writer Kazuo Ishiguro. The novel’s narrator, Stevens, is the perfect English butler. Snobbish and humourless, Stevens has devoted his life to the concept of duty and responsibility, hoping to reach the pinnacle of his profession through totally selfless dedication and ruthless suppression of sentiment.
Having made a virtue of stoic dignity, he is proud of his impassive response to his father’s death and his unflinching attention to detail in the face of adversity. There is irony towards the end as the butler unwittingly reveals his pathetic self-deception. Stevens poignantly and belatedly realizes that he has wasted his life in blind service to a man discredited for seeking peace with the Nazis and that he has never discovered the “key to human warmth.”
Logic says that it is just a novel and Stevens is just a fictional character.
Whilst Mr Lee carved his own path and can equally be said to have devoted his life to the concept of duty and responsibility, and certainly reached the pinnacle of leadership, sentiment tells me that fiction mirrors truth and knowing the key to human warmth can mean absolutely everything.
Where is the referee?
SingTel may come across as being the bad one in the latest public spat between it and StarHub over allowing the latter’s customers to watch EPL matches.
The red team has gone to the wire in sending its cross-carriage provision to the green team even though SingTel started selling its EPL package on Aug 1.
SingTel says the deadline was on — Aug 12 — and it has played by the rules by sending the details to its rival two hours after StarHub’s complaint was made.
This practically shuts the window for StarHub to sell the EPL programme to its customers as the deadline for them to send in their orders was the day before.
Come on, SingTel. We know you are angry at being forced to sell your content to your rival’s customers.
But why make it so difficult for so many soccer fans as they await the kick-off this Saturday?
There is this thing called the spirit of the rule, you know.
And where is the regulator in all this? Their job is not only to adjudicate but also to make sure the process is smooth.
Referee kayu!
Kuala Lumpur – A city of fear
A personal account by Johnson Fernandez in Kuala Lumpur
I look nervously at my watch, probably for the fifth time in the last five minutes. It’s 10.30 pm.
My wife walks into the living room from the kitchen. “Is she home yet?” she asks.
“No,” I reply. “Didn’t she say what time she’d be back? Why don’t you call her and see where she is.”
I am agitated. My daughter’s a big girl. She’s 23. She was out with a friend for a movie and dinner.
Normally, I would not have been so edgy. She’s been out late before, sometimes even for midnight movies.
But these are hardly normal times.
A string of murders, gangland-style, has gripped the nation. Since April this year, there have been about 40 gun-related incidents, resulting in 25 deaths.
I live in a gated and guarded community. Yet, as I pass the guardhouse, a notice is a grim reminder of how close danger lurks. It reminds residents of two cases:
1.House broken into by four robbers armed with parang along Jalan 2/62C
2. House owner’s Toyota Fortuner was robbed at gun point along Jalan 2/62
That’s just three streets away from where I live.
Mind you, this is a guarded and gated area for which residents pay an annual fee. Yet we are exposed..
Though the authorities have said the recent killings were gang-related, it has created a climate of fear among netizens. They say the repealing of the Emergency Ordinance has unleashed about 2,600 criminals back on the streets. Some of them are exacting revenge on those whom they suspect had snitched on them.
Yet others want to take back control of their turf — the lucrative drug trade, loan sharking, prostitution rackets.
Still, there is cause for worry. The oft-heard “wrong place, wrong time” keeps ringing in the head.
Yes, it may be gang-related. Yes, it may be a turf war. But there would be collateral damage.
And I have no wish for those close and dear to me to be part of that statistic.
Whether it is my daughter, wife, sons or their wives…I remind them to be aware of their surroundings.
Do not be out on the road if you do not need to be. Fuel up during the day,” I remind them. “Do not get out of the car immediately. Look around. Look into the kiosk and see if everything is normal.”
Just last week, a friend walked right into a robbery at a Petronas station and was greeted with a machete at her neck.
She was unharmed but lost her wallet, mobile and some jewellery
“Alfresco dining” at the local mamak stalls are a Malaysian delight. Most of these places operate from dawn to dusk. Such was the business.
But lately these places (shops and stalls) have been deserted. Gangs with machetes have attacked these outlets . Customers have lost their mobiles, jewellery, money and a host of other valuables.
People are opting to stay home, perhaps the instant noodles in the comfort and safety of one’s own home a better option now.
Then, there are the incidental accidents.
“If you are knocked, don’t worry about the dent. Drive straight to a pollice station or if you are closer to home, get back to the house. Just be safe,” I keep pounding, especially into my daughter and wife.
We have lost our freedom. This is not a free country anymore. We live in fear.
We are close to losing a very basic human right — freedom of movement.
And yet while our home is our castle, we remain vulnerable to the shenanigans, the beasts and the desperadoes.
Chill the champagne
In about a month, a Singaporean might just do us proud. Ng Ser Miang’s audacious move to become the Olympics supremo will be decided in a secret ballot in Buenos Aires in September.
If he hits the jackpot, it will not only be a joyous occasion for Singapore but also for Asia as the rising continent has never had somebody to head the International Olympic Committee.
British sports columnist Alan Hubbard, who met the Singaporean in London last week, says in a column: “There is a huge groundswell for Ng, not least because all the eight presidents of the IOC have been either from Europe or America.”
Ser Miang also has the credentials. He is an IOC vice-president, campaigned vigorously to get his committee to choose Singapore as the venue where London was picked as the destination for the 2012 Games and was the prime mover in convincing officials to hold the inaugural Youth Olympics here.
If he hits the big time, it will be a major trophy for a country that is insignificant in the world sports map.
With the country caught in a mid-life crisis, we need something that will give us a chance to celebrate.