Opening Remarks by Minister of State Dinesh Vasu Dash at the Showcase Day of My First $1000

1.     Good afternoon, everyone. 

2.     I should give you a couple of insights as to firstly, what in the world does the Economic Strategy Review Committee do. 

3.     The purpose of the Economic Strategy Review Committee, especially the one on entrepreneurship, is to figure out what else we need to do from an economic standpoint in order to allow the country to then develop in the next phase, and we felt that it was important to then build the next generation and subsequent generations of entrepreneurs. 

4.     Entrepreneurship as a journey is not easy, because there are obviously ups and downs, but most importantly, it allows you to then reach for the stars if you have an idea that works well. So that's the purpose, and to me the key outcome of the Economic Strategy Review Committee on Entrepreneurship would be if I'm able to create a situation where the culture of entrepreneurship improves, then I think we'll be in a far better position than we were before the committee was formed. 

5.     Next, I want to just say thank you to Mr Willson for all the help that you have done. I think you should give him a lot of credit because, as you know, in our typical meetings, right, all sitting around the table asking for suggestions, and so on. So he came up with an idea, and said "Why don't we just start something like this?" and immediately some of us said, "Okay, carry on," and then it just resulted in what it is today. 

6.     Some of us, I must say, were a bit conscious and concerned that this could be something that might not take off. We didn't know whether it will take off, whether the schools will support, whether there'll be people who will step forward, or worse still,  you open up hundreds of places and then you know, like 20 people turn up. But we had an overwhelming response, as he highlighted, about 108 teams were selected, of which eventually became 104, so that's how it all started. 

7.     And I want to cite this, because it's not only the leadership and vision of one of our members, but the fact that you put in the energy and that entrepreneurial spirit starts from that committee and it grows and it spreads, and that is the key. 

8.     You have a catalyst event, but then from there it causes many, many entrepreneurs to form as a result of one particular event. So, I want to just say thank you once again to East Ventures. 

9.     I want to thank all the sponsors, Golden Agri- Resources, Temasek Foundation, of course, Carousell, ACE, and our community partners as well, without whom it will be very difficult to pull this off. We had a target of 100 entrepreneurs this time round, of course, we busted the target because it's 104. We wanted the age group to be between 14 to 18. There were two 13-year-olds who said we should be more inclusive, so we said okay, and we brought the two 13-year-olds in. 

10.  Wilson highlighted about the statistics, right, about $117,000 earned, as well as 72 participants who were successful. 

11.  I wanted to highlight the 32 who weren't successful, because the lessons learned by the 32 will be probably far more than the $1,600 that they would have otherwise had earned, because the experience that you get from failure will stay with you. You hold it for life, you know what exactly went on, and the next time you do it, you'll be even better than you were before. 

12.  The ones who are successful, it doesn't mean that you've made it in life. It allows you to then say this is a good experience you had, share your experience with others, and grow as you do from there. So, therefore, I want to just celebrate the grit and determination of all our participants. You have done fantastically well. 

13.  I want to just cite one of them, whom Wilson spoke to me about. One person who did drums, some drum lessons, and she earned $25,000 in eight weeks. Sometimes I am quite amazed at how these things happen, but obviously the business model works, because she was able to show the fact that there was significant growth in a very short period of time. Clearly, I don't know if this lady is going to be studying. I think you should continue studying, but don't forget your entrepreneurship journey, because clearly you can make a lot of money outside as well if you can make $25,000 in eight weeks. 

14.  The time limit, the experience you have gone through, is to give you a sample of what it is like to be an entrepreneur. Earning the money is just one part of it, but it's about the ideas, about pitching the idea, it's about sales, it's about failure, it's about bouncing back from there. 

15.  Some of you, I know, started a bit rocky, and then found some ideas, and moved on from there. All these things are useful journeys to have, so I want to just say thank you to all the participants. You are the true heroes, whether you made money or didn't make money. I think you are, you have earned and you have enriched yourself in this entire process. 

16.  And I want to say thank you to all of you. First, thank you. It's wonderful for me to be here today. It's important for me to highlight that there were many other people in the background who must have supported you, and I want to just acknowledge them. They are none other than your mentors and your parents. I'm sure the parents and mentors must have done a lot to support their children. I want to say thank you to all the parents and mentors, you are the engine behind the success of your children and of your wards. 

17.  So, well done, and thanks for joining us on this journey. I would like to just end by saying that, you know, it's not a smooth-sailing path, you know, where you just go to a job, and then you just get promoted, and you keep moving in a straight path, or a linear path. The path to entrepreneurship will always be ups and downs, but when you hit a down, it doesn't mean that it's the end of life. 

18.  A failure might be an opportunity for a further springboard thereafter, and when you succeed, your success will be eye-watering and unbelievable too, because there's no cap to your upsides, you can go as far as you want, and I would urge every single entrepreneur here, and you obviously have the smarts for it, to aim for the moon, aim for the stars, aim for something beyond. Don't just look at Singapore alone, think of the world, think of scaling your business to something that's beyond just one particular initiative, and being able to then grow into something that's way more than whatever your market in Singapore is. It's after all a small market, but I think we have enough brain power to be able to expand and conquer the world as entrepreneurs. 

19.  Now, therefore, the My First $1000 is a very important journey, as Mr Willson has highlighted. It's important for us to also, at this stage, indicate that there are plans for the My First $1000 to increase from 100 participants this year to 1,000 participants next year, so that means that the pot of money now moves from $100,000 to $1 million. 

20.  I want to just say it's an aspirational target. I will be behind you, Willson, as this entire journey takes place. Let me know what you need, and I'll be happy to help. 

21.  But the key point would be the ecosystem that's formed. All of you are the pioneer batch. I hope that you continue to nurture and groom the next batch, or the next, next batches that we have, and movements are started like this. It starts with a person with vision, people coming forward to support them, entrepreneurs stepping forward, families, mentors supporting the entrepreneurs, and it's an entire overall ecosystem. That's exactly what we are trying to do, and if we can do that for 1,000 people next year and moving on subsequently year after year, I think we can say with a straight face that we are developing this culture of entrepreneurship in a way that's meaningful and in a way that will make a difference to Singapore and Singaporeans. 

22.  And on that note, congratulations once again, and I look forward to talking to you later. 

23.  Thank you.