2. Speeches
Opening Remarks by Minister of State for Trade and Industry Alvin Tan at the SCCCI Youth Entrepreneur Week Welcome Dinner
8 July 2026
Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,
Good evening.
It is a privilege to join you at the opening of SCCCI’s Youth Entrepreneurs’ Week as we celebrate a significant milestone: the Chamber’s 120th Anniversary.
There is a Chinese idiom that captures our purpose tonight: “前事不忘，后事之师” (Remembering the past serves as a guide for the future).
In 1906, Singapore was a colonial entrepôt in the midst of a socio-political awakening. Dr. Sun Yat-sen established the Nanyang branch of the Tongmenghui (同盟会) at Wan Qing Yuan (晚晴园) and Tao Nan School was founded to provide modern education to our community.
In that landscape, local merchants led by Goh Siew Tin and Tan Hoon Chew established this Chamber. They built the foundations and the bedrock of the legacy that many of us are now supporting.
Tonight, let us reflect on how the five core beliefs of the Chinese Entrepreneurial Spirit championed by SCCCI remain our vital compass as we navigate a changing world: 爱国, 诚信, 传承, 创新, 聚商 (patriotism, integrity, succession, innovation, uniting businesses).
Pillar 1: 爱国 (Patriotism)
The first pillar is 爱国. It means our commitment to our nation. Our ancestors arrived with the mindset of “落叶归根”, thinking of themselves as 华侨 (sojourners) who would eventually return to their original roots.
A historic turning point came in 1957 with the passing of the Singapore Citizenship Ordinance. This landmark legislation was the result of a decade-long campaign led by the Chamber to lobby the colonial government for citizenship rights. Once passed, the Chamber mobilised the community, setting up a massive registration hub at 47 Hill Street to help over 220,000 residents register, making the monumental choice from “落叶归根” to “落地生根”, which means they are sinking their roots permanently into Singapore’s soil.
This journey from being 华侨 to 华人, was a profound milestone because it forged a new identity and a shared commitment to building a sovereign, multi-racial nation.
Today, as we navigate a very complex global landscape, we remain deeply proud of our ancestral heritage. But let us always be clear: our first, foremost, and absolute loyalty is to Singapore.
And amongst you, our young entrepreneurs are the builders of our nation's future. The Government is with you. We just completed our Economic Strategy Review, and my team and I will continue to work with you to ensure Singapore remains a vibrant place to start, build, and grow a business.
Because when our young startups build enterprises, create jobs, and solve problems, they are practising 爱国 by securing Singapore's economic future. Your success is Singapore’s success.
Pillar 2: 诚信 (Integrity)
The second pillar is 诚信 — trust and integrity. In 1906, trade deals were sealed not with legal briefs, but with a handshake. That trust built modern Singapore into a trading hub. In our modern age of geopolitical trade and supply chain disruptions, 诚信 is our greatest asset.
In fact, we debated this exact point in Parliament yesterday. I spoke about trust as a critical pillar of Singapore’s competitiveness in a world where physical infrastructure can be replicated and the capability gradient between us and our regional neighbours is narrowing.
But what keeps Singapore ahead is our “trust premium”. As young business leaders, you are flying Singapore’s flag. Your business partners and clients trust you because of your reputation, your integrity, and because you are a Singapore business.
Global companies anchor their highest-value functions here in Singapore and make their most critical decisions here because of that deep trust. So our generation must fiercely steward our hard-earned reputation of trust and integrity.
Pillar 3: 传承 (Succession)
A 120-year journey is like a relay race. Each generation must pass the baton, but it is not just about passing down commercial assets. It is about passing down our values, our grit, and our sense of duty.
This sense of duty and grit is personal to me. My grandparents were Hainanese immigrants who came to Singapore with nothing.
My grandfather found work as a seafarer and later earned his living cleaning rooms and toilets at the Raffles Hotel. My grandmother worked as a domestic helper for a British family. They worked on their hands and knees to raise six children.
My mother, who did not go to university, attended Pei Chun Public School in Toa Payoh — the same school where my sister and I also studied. Pei Chun Public School was founded in 1933 by Hainanese merchants to provide education to the children of working-class families.
Later on, I attended Catholic High School, a school built on the very spirit of community philanthropy that SCCCI has championed for over a century. Catholic High taught me the value of “饮水思源” (gratitude and paying it forward).
Yesterday, Jackie Chan visited Pei Chun Public School and shared a deeply moving story from his childhood. Growing up poor, he relied heavily on charity. When he tried to thank his benefactor, he was told: “不用谢我。你将来有能力了，就把这份爱心传下去，去帮助更多有需要的人。” (“Don’t thank me. When you have the ability in the future, pass this forward to help more people in need.”)
That is the spirit of 传承. It is understanding that our success is not ours alone. As our startup ecosystem matures, we need a 传承 culture that embraces resilience and mentorship. Not every startup will succeed, and that is part of the journey.
By connecting seasoned business leaders with younger founders, SCCCI ensures that we can help our young business leaders with advice, mentorship and networks, and crucially, impart the courage to try, fail, learn, and try again.
Pillar 4: 创新 (Innovation)
The pioneers of 1906 were adaptive. Today, the pace of disruption is faster than ever. Technologies like AI are fundamentally transforming how we do business, but true innovation is measured by your ability to scale and solve real problems.
Singapore has built a powerful startup ecosystem. We rank 4th in StartupBlink’s Global Startup Ecosystem Index 2026. We have 4,500 tech startups, over 220 incubators, venture builders and accelerators, and over 500 VCs supporting the ecosystem.
And we are not resting on our laurels. I co-chaired the recently concluded Economic Strategy Review on Entrepreneurship, and we announced measures to help our startups better access capital, markets, talent, and spaces.
For example, to help our startups scale, we are catalysing our private investments by topping up our Startup SG Equity (SSGE) scheme by S$1 billion, targeting breakthroughs in deep tech.
Pillar 5: 聚商 (Uniting Businesses)
Before 1906, the local Chinese business community was divided along dialect lines. Merchants often operated in silos, setting up rival stages to compete—an act of 两败俱伤, or mutual destruction.
SCCCI’s founding was a revolutionary act of 聚商 where we moved from mutual defeat (俱伤) to collective business (聚商).
We transformed a lose-lose conflict into a win-win alliance. In today's fragmented world, 聚商 is more relevant than ever. No startup succeeds in isolation, and we must build bridges to regional markets and beyond. Through initiatives like SCCCI's World Chinese Entrepreneurs Convention and Enterprise Singapore's refreshed Global Innovation Alliance (GIA), we are helping our startups go abroad and break new ground.
It is encouraging to see SCCCI continue to be the launchpad where ASEAN’s brightest minds co-create opportunities.
Conclusion
When then-Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong officiated the grand opening of SCCCI’s building in 2022, he presented the Chamber with a highly symbolic wooden plaque inscribed with sixteen powerful words: “诚信为本、效忠为国、创新为先、回馈为民” (Integrity as the foundation, loyalty to the nation, innovation at the forefront, giving back to the people).
I think these words capture the values we celebrate tonight and the spirit of SCCCI’s 120th anniversary.
Thank you.