Mr Lee Yi Shyan at The Enterprise Day Forum 2007

OPENING SPEECH BY MINISTER OF STATE FOR TRADE AND INDUSTRY, AND MINISTER-IN-CHARGE OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP, MR LEE YI SHYAN AT THE ENTERPRISE DAY FORUM 2007 ON 28 JULY 2007, 10.30AM, AT ITE COLLEGE EAST

Ms Elim Chew, Co-Founder, The Young Entrepreneur Mastery

Mr Tan Seng Hua, Principal, ITE College East

Mrs Virginia Cheng, Principal, National Junior College

Students, parents, ladies and gentlemen

I would like to commend the various partners and agencies involved in this competition - The Young Entrepreneur Mastery (TYEM) and the Action Community for Entrepreneurship, the schools, colleges, universities and eBay.

This occasion reminds us of the fast changing environment that we are living in. In our time, we had no mobile phones and internet. As a student, we did not have much opportunity to learn about business. A lot of the learning came from textbooks and we memorized the things we learnt.

I see three main differences in the learning environment today. First, you have the opportunity to learn about being an entrepreneur and the opportunity to practice selling. While it is easy to consume and buy, it is difficult to sell. Through this eBay platform, you had to figure out what people want to buy, study the market and learn consumer trends. So there is a lot to learn outside the textbooks. You had to learn to be resourceful, solving real-life problems along the way.

Second, you have the opportunity to learn about human psychology and consumer behavior. Why do people choose brand A over brand B? What are they trying to get out of their purchases? You have to figure out the psychology and what drives consumer purchase decisions.

Third, you have the ability to learn a lot more in the technology field. This is where a science and engineering background gives you a competitive edge because you can pick up and learn about non-technology fields such as consumer behavior, sociology and psychology. However, if you specialize in the non-engineering fields, it may be more difficult for you to catch up on the technical field later on.

Entrepreneurship as a subject opens up learning opportunities outside your textbook. This kind of learning will prepare the type of students, entrepreneurs and working people that Singapore needs in the future.

The future landscape is one of a global environment where you can do business with anyone. Singapore’s future is not limited by our geographical boundaries. The world is our market.

With this, I congratulate all the winning teams and the teachers who helped the students to embrace the education of entrepreneurship, ACE, eBay, ITE, the colleges and universities for being part of this competition.

Thank you.