A Quarterly Magazine by SMCCI MICA: Number 084/08/2012 • OCTOBER 2016 An Entrepreneurs' Tribute: Weddings On Trend Find out what's hot in the wedding scene. 60 HONOUREES 10 AWARDS MyWork, My Way Get up close and personal with our Working whenever, wherever, and Honourees and the top 16 Finalists. however you want, is now a reality. SPECIAL EDITION: 60TH ANNIVERSARY ISSUE OCTOBER 2016 1 2 BIZVOICE BIZVOICE OCTOBER ISSUE CONTENTS FEATURE FOOD REVIEW by CHEF MEL SME CENTRE @SMCCI 4 An Entrepreneurs’ Tribute: 38 I Am... 29 MyWork, My Way 60 Honourees, 16 Finalists, 10 Awards 32 Expanding Your Company's Horizon CLUSTER HIGHLIGHTS 6 Top Finalists 33 3 STB Grants You Never Knew About 39 SMCCI WE Cluster: Weddings On Trend 12 Award Honourees BUSINESS TIPS 28 A Shelter to call Home 34 Four Rules For Global Leaders To Live By Editorial TEAM EDITORIAL & DESIGN SUPPORT BizVoice is published exclusively for the Singapore Malay Chamber of Commerce & Industry (SMCCI). Fadilah Majid MIRROR SMCCI PR Working [email protected] Have an enterprising story worth sharing? Want to feature Committee, Chairman your products/services to a wider audience? Send you press Writers release, advertising enquiries and all other feedback to Shila Yatiman Muhammad [email protected] or mail them to: SMCCI Executive Director Nurie Arba'ah Nur Khalisah Singapore Malay Chamber of Commerce & Industry (SMCCI) Iylia Mayers Nisa' Tuzzakirah 15 Jalan Pinang Singapore 199147 SMCCI Marketing & Tel: 6297 9296 Communications Executive PRINTER Reproduction in whole or in part is prohibited without prior Syaiful Sam'an NPE PRINT permission from SMCCI. All rights reserved. MIRROR, Editorial Lead [email protected] OCTOBER 2016 3 Feature SMCCI60 Striding Forward, Reaching Beyond Written by: Muhammad Early Days Bussorah Street in 1997 before entrepreneurs through the sharing of relocating to its present premise. industry knowledge and expertise. Founded in 1956, the Singapore The relocation to the Kampung Glam Since 2010, MMBC has garnered Malay Chamber of Commerce (SMCC) district on 14th August 2009, proved participation from more than 1,000 has since made a vital impact in to benefit its members, many of local and overseas delegates. nurturing the vibrant entrepreneurial whom, had business connections in culture amongst the Malay/Muslim the area. • Industry Cluster Approach community. Seeking to improve not only their own businesses In November 1995, SMCC changed SMCCI has set up industry clusters to but also that of their brothers, a its name to the Singapore Malay strengthen Malay/Muslim businesses group of enterprising businessmen, Chamber of Commerce and Industry through collaboration. This is namely Abdul Hamid, Yusof Ishak, (SMCCI), also known as Dewan achieved by the sharing of resources Mohd Mahmood, Raja Mohd Yusof Perniagaan dan Perusahaan Melayu for profitable opportunities, Ahmad, Mohd Tom Manas, Habib Singapura, to reflect its wider role. raise industry standards through Mohd Shah and Syed Haron Abdul SMCCI was officially inaugurated in accreditation and provide a bigger Rahman Alhabshi came together to February 2001. Since its inception, voice in addressing issues facing set up SMCC. Starting with just seven SMCCI has served to facilitate its specific industries. companies in 1956, SMCC managed members’ trade activities by providing to garner 15 companies within the communication facilities and acting as Currently, SMCCI has seven first year and increased the number a liaison body between domestic and active clusters: to 48 in the following year. Today, overseas sellers and buyers. it has since grown to 690 members - SMCCI-F&B and counting. Key Milestones - SMCCI-Hospitality & Tourism - SMCCI-Learning Before its current location at 15 • Malay/Muslim Business - SMCCI-Retail Jalan Pinang, SMCC was situated at Conference (MMBC) - SMCCI-Tech 500 Victoria Street, which was the - SMCCI-Wedding & Events office of one of its founders, Abdul MMBC is aimed at showcasing - SMCCI-Wellness Hamid. SMCC then shifted to 72A successful Malay/Muslim 4 BIZVOICE Feature • Seed Funding & Scholarship Support • SME Centre@SMCCI continues to nurture promising home-grown brands through courage, In its inaugural year in 2015, the SME Centre@SMCCI was established tenacity and innovation. ‘Protégé Kita’ Competition saw 42 in 2006 with the support of SPRING • 10 Entrepreneur Awards aspiring entrepreneurs undergo Singapore to provide a one-stop rigorous training based on the Business centre for SMEs. In 2014, SME These 10 awards will be credited Excellence Framework. The Top 5 Centre@SMCCI assisted 2,110 to recognise the most compelling aspiring businesses received seed SMEs with complimentary 1-on-1 of the 60 Entrepreneur Honourees, funding of $5,000 each while the grand business advisory, 94 companies with determined by an independent panel winner won a $30,000 cash prize to business needs analysis to identify of judges. These ten awards are: contribute to spur further growth. and plug critical gaps, and assisted with $363,000 worth of support from 1. Honorary Entrepreneur Award SMCCI also awarded 15 scholarships government assistance schemes 2. Entrepreneur of the Year at a total value of $75,000 to towards productivity. SMCCI together 3. Woman Entrepreneur of the Year outstanding students in the field of with its subsidiary SME Centre@ 4. Youth Entrepreneur of the Year business-related studies, in support SMCCI, advocate strengthening 5. Entrepreneur Innovation Awards (6) of the future pillars of the business core competencies while increasing community. This was made possible knowledge and enhancing internal In the following pages, we introduce to though generous contributions from capabilities to achieve growth and you the 60 Entrepreneur Honourees, members and supporting corporations success for businesses. coming from across the different though fundraising efforts like SMCCI’s business sectors. Get to know them as bi-annual Charity Golf. SMCCI 60th Celebration they vie to clinch the prestigious top 10 Entrepreneur Awards. • Singapore and beyond In celebration of its 60th anniversary, SMCCI is organising its Charity Gala This 60th anniversary event is in Over the years, SMCCI has broadened Dinner & Entrepreneur Awards support of Casa Raudha Women its efforts to provide members Night on 21 October 2016. With the Home, the home for vulnerable opportunities to venture overseas theme of “Striding Forward, Reaching women and their children. Find out through regional and international Beyond”, SMCCI celebrates 60 more about the shelter and their business missions. SMCCI has entrepreneurs who have successfully noble cause, as well as how you can conducted business missions to China, contributed towards positive contribute towards this effort. Vietnam, Jakarta, Malaysia, Philippines, economic and social impact. Bangladesh, Turkey and Japan. SMCCI is pleased to welcome • 60 Entrepreneur Honourees you in joining us to celebrate this significant milestone. Together, A tribute is made to 50 Entrepreneur let us continue to stride forward Honourees in recognition of their and reach greater heights as one spirit of enterprise; a journey that committed business community. OCTOBER 2016 5 Feature Entrepreneur Awards: Top 16 Finalists DIAN RASID (Director, Adi Media Pte Ltd (RoseValley)) Dian Rasid and her husband, Md Noor Hadi founded RoseValley in November 2014, an Award winning e-commerce startup that focuses on modest fashion and celebrity-centric products. To date, RoseValley has collaborated with more than 80 brands. Since they started out, they’ve received orders from countries like Brunei, United Kingdom and even Australia. Dian and Hadi were also crowned the winner of Protege Kita by YEN@SMCCI and ‘Shopify Asia Build a Business’ in 2015. Recently, the pair organised CelebFest2016: Ramadhan Edition, which housed more than 200 businesses from Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. CAPT. GIBBRAEL ISHAK (Managing Director, Aero Speed Aviation Pte Ltd) PT TRI-MG INTRA ASIA AIRLINES is the product of more than 40 years of the Ishak’s family involvement in the logistics industry. Established in 2002, it is an Indonesian cargo carrier operating a fleet of the freighter aircrafts from and within Indonesia to different airports in the ASEAN region and other destinations. Its list of customers are well known MNCs which includes the Caterpillar Group and other major courier companies like UPS, DHL, TNT and Fedex. In 2016, the Airline received an award for being the Top 5 Cargo Airline awarded by Changi Airport Group. To facilitate growth of the Airline, Aero Speed Aviation Pte Ltd was established in 2010, primarily as the General Sales and Services Agent for the Airline providing a one-stop service for the import and export relating to airfreight, seafreight and land transport. MOHD NOR BIN ISMAIL (Director, Amani Services Pte Ltd) Mohd Nor is a familiar name in the wedding industry. He founded Amani Weddings in 2009 and has since gained popularity with its 27,000 likes on Facebook. As an entrepreneur, Nor places constantly seeks new ways to generate through innovation. He’s a believer in sustainability and is proactive in resourcing for new and uptrending sources of revenue-generating processes. In addition, he strives towards raising his company’s brand presence by building strategic alliances with government bodies and attends charitable events held by local halfway houses. In 2011, Nor was awarded the SME ASIA1 Awards and clinched the Emerging Enterprise Award in 2015. AZHAR BIN OTHMAN (Regional Managing Director, Enercon Asia Pte Ltd) Azhar Bin Othman led Enercon Asia to offer various industries with a wide range of services to meet the needs in energy controls and management. Over the years, he set up offices in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Philippines and Malaysia with dealers in UAE, Indonesia and Vietnam. Throughout the years, Azhar overcame various obstacles such as the Asian Financial Crisis in 1999 and American credit crunch in 2008. Determined to emerge stronger, Azhar ensured that his team remained resilient and focused on upgrading themselves. His leadership has enabled the company to attain over 1,400 projects which were exported to more than 20 countries.