Spike in the number of social enterprises start-ups

Posted by SG Volunteer Team on in Happenings & News

The grand prize went to Avetics, a start-up that adapts military satellite technology for civilian purposes, such as surveillance of logging activities and disaster rescues

After months of business bootcamps, networking events and mentoring sessions, Start-Up@Singapore’s finest teams have finally pitched their way toward start-up success.

Start-up@Singapore said 275 teams submitted their business plans, a record in its 13-year history.

Pioneering this year is the social enterprise or co-operative category.

Director of NUS Entrepreneurship Centre, Professor Wong Poh Kam, said he was impressed with the spike in start-ups this year in the new category.

Professor Wong said: “This reflects a growing interest not just among the young who wants to make a good social impact, but also among some of the more senior members of the public. Some of them are senior executives who are semi-retired but feel that they want to give back to society and therefore want to start social enterprises and I really applaud their spirit.”

These budding social entrepreneurs want to tackle a range of issues like advocating volunteerism among Singaporeans to creating jobs in the food industry for low-income homemakers.

Acting Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS), Chan Chun Sing said the government will continue to support the growth of social entrepreneurship in Singapore.

The Ministry will look into developing new programmes such as internships, training grants, mentorships and scholarships.

The grand prize of S$20,000 went to Avetics, a start-up that adapts military satellite technology for civilian purposes, such as surveillance of logging activities and disaster rescues.

Avetics founder Zheng Weiliang explained how Start-Up@Singapore helped him to realise his business idea.

Zheng said: “Start-Up@Singapore provides very good quality judges who give us very insightful comments and suggestions to our business plans. From there, our company has actually tweaked our business plan to be more robust.”

The runner-ups from all categories featured unique innovations, including environmentally-friendly silk and shopping trolleys made from bamboo.

The winners of the Youth Category received S$8,000 to take their business forward.

Team leader of GoldPlus, Wang Hao, said they would use the money to further improve their diesel prototype, which already boasted a 15 per cent improvement in fuel efficiency.

Running for its 13th year, over 70 successful startups have been created as a result of the competition.

This article was first published in CNA

He’s auctioning off vintage bicycle for a good cause

Posted by SG Volunteer Team on in Inspiring Stories


A year ago, Mr Kenneth Wong put up one of his vintage bicycles for sale on the Internet.

It is a Hercules Roadster made by British-based Raleigh Bicycles company and its parts have been preserved in mint condition since 1967.

“Only offers above $1,800 will be considered,” his advertisement then stated.

But the bicycle remained unsold.

Yesterday morning, Mr Wong, 42, began putting up new advertisements on forums and on Facebook saying that the bicycle is now up for auction.

He will be selling the bicycle to the highest bidder and is accepting a minimum bid of $1,500. This time, however, he will be donating the proceeds to the family of deceased taxi driver Cheng Teck Hock, the sole breadwinner of a family of three.

The 52-year-old died on Sunday after a Ferrari crashed into his vehicle the day before.

‘I was moved’
Said Mr Wong: “When I read about his incident and how he died, I was moved.

“To me, he is an everyday Singaporean hero, doing his best to provide for his family.

“Who would have known that a car would come out of nowhere and destroy his life?”

He added: “I instinctively felt that I just had to do something for his family.”

Mr Wong, who works as a lecturer of business-related subjects, has been collecting vintage British bicycles since 2009.

Having spent his childhood in the 1970s, he has always felt a connection with the bicycles from that period.

After snooping around old bicycle shops and consulting fellow collectors, MrWong chanced upon the 1967 Hercules Roadster about two years ago.

He waxes and polishes the bicycle every few months and he has attached to it a Wright Olympic saddle from the early 1970s, a Taiwanese bell, and pumps and pegs imported from Britain.

He also personally fashioned a tag for the bike with the Hercules label reprinted on manila envelopes.

As a result of his upkeep, the bicycle looks barely a day old.

To Mr Wong, it is “a piece of history, built a few years after our independence”.

He also said that what matters is not about the bicycle or selling it; rather, it is about “stepping forward to make things right”.

Mr Wong has an offer of $1,500 for the bicycle and is waiting for more offers to come in.

“I hope to raise as much as I can, as it’s for a good cause,” he said.

Mr Cheng’s elder son, Dao Han, 19, told The New Paper yesterday afternoon that the family is very thankful to the kindness shown to them from strangers so far.

This article was first published in The New Paper.

OCBC raises funds for home building efforts in West Malaysia

Posted by SG Volunteer Team on in Happenings & News

OCBC Bank raised more than $50,000 at a charity food fair on Friday, May 18.

The “Back to School” themed 3-hour lunchtime event was manned by than 50 staff, including various heads of departments.

They donned school uniforms and served up dishes that can be found in a school canteen such as nasi lemak, fried beehoon, porridge, nonya kuehs, cupcakes amongst others.

The event was held at OCBC Tampines Centre 1.The proceeds raised from the 11 food stalls will all go towards a home building initiative in West Malaysia.

Over the years, OCBC staff has raised more than $260,000 through similar food fairs which built a dozen homes and renovated a local school in Banjaran.

This article was first published in Asiaone

Singapore Red Cross launches national life-saving mobile app

Posted by SG Volunteer Team on in Happenings & News

The Singapore Red Cross (SRC) has launched the "Rapid Rescue" app to enable a prompt response to emergencies

To commemorate World Red Cross Day, the Singapore Red Cross (SRC) has launched the “Rapid Rescue” app to enable a prompt response to emergencies.

Singapore Red Cross secretary-general Benjamin William said: “The Singapore Red Cross is also always looking for innovative ways to provide critical services to the community. We want to encourage the public to download the ‘Rapid Rescue’ iPhone application to access help in the case of emergencies and we also want to reach out to everyone to become volunteers.”

The innovative location-based application allows an injured person to send out an SOS to first aiders within a two kilometer radius.

These first aiders will respond immediately on their handphones.

The app will then map out the shortest route to the victim so the first aiders can provide help before the ambulance arrives.

Flagging off the launch was Minister of State for Community Development, Youth & Sports, Halimah Yacob.

The celebrations also saw more than 500 youths and members of the public learning some basic life saving skills at East Coast Parkway.

This article was first published in CNA